6 months in Oz.

It has now been 6 months since we moved out to Queensland, we can't believe it's gone so fast! But life is good and we are both enjoying it and hopefully Bradley will think it's cool when he's a big boy!

One of the things I thought I would miss about England was the seasons but as this week I have bought a big cosy hoodie and furry slipper boots maybe there is more variation in temperature than expected! But maybe I acclimatised to the warm weather as Neil is still a shorts and t-shirt man.

This week on Wednesday was Anzac Day so Neil had the day off, which was a lovely mid week treat. We decided to go to Glass House Mountain country as we've been to the coast lots lately. There is a small rain forest next to a lookout, so we went for a walk through there first. It's a great track for a taster of Aussie rainforest with really impressive trees and pademelons(small wallabies) jumping around.




Neil took some shots of the view and chatted to a local painter who was doing his own interpretation, while I fed Brads in the ute.





All this was followed by a yummy lunch in the cafe!

We did a tour around driving up to a couple of the mountains.

Firstly Mount Coonowrin,



and then Mount Beerwah.



We had an afternoon coffee and cake stop at Lookout cafe which ia a beautiful little cafe with a stunning view and really good cakes too!

On Friday, Bradley and I went to Coolum to meet our friends, Amy and Ryan for coffee and then lunch. Amy used to live in Carlisle and Ryan is a month older than Bradders, so good company for both of us not that Bradley has noticed his playmate yet!

This weekend Neil escaped the mad house for a weekend camping with the boys! It was a camp set up by a paint firm up at Double Island point which is in the Cooloola National Park. It involved sleeping under a shelter on the beach, drinking beer, fishing, drinking beer, a barbeque, drinking beer, a camp fire and drinking some beer! He had a great time but didn't bring any fish home for us!



His work mate, Yak (Storky lurking in the background)



Neil's boss Fred



A few beach shots







A small visitor which we found lurking on a plant on the patio. He was identified as an Eastern Sedgefrog by my Mum.





And last but not least a photo of Bradley smiling!

Lots and lots of Bradley!

As promised lots of photos of the young Paskin. He is now 2 months old and weighs 5.4kg and has grown 6cm! He has started smiling but is not over generous with them as he can be a bit unsettled as he still struggles with his digestion! His sleeping at night is excellent, going to sleep straight away and last night he did 9 and half hours without waking(Unfortunately its not like that every night but usually about 7 hours) But he's not as good in the day tending to have cat naps instead of proper sleeps.



Bradley is now enjoying facing forwards in the sling and can now watch the world go by!


Last weekend, was a pretty quiet one with just one trip out to Noosa which proved a bad idea as it was still the Easter Holidays, so it was jam packed. So we didn't stay long, then as we were leaving we saw a koala from the car!

On the way home we decided to explore a small bay near Coolum, it was a pretty uneven and steep path but worth it when we got down there. Neil took some nice photos while me and Brads marched up and down the beach singing the grand old duke of york, one of his favourites!





During the week, I took Bradley to have his passport photo done with pretty good results, only took 20 attempts!!



Friday, on the way to work, Neil went to Military Jetty for sunrise, this is the 3rd time he has photographed this location and while he is quite happy with the shot, he still wants to improve on it.



Saturday morning we decided to do a family sunrise, Bradley timed it perfectly waking at 4am in time for a feed before heading out towards the beach. There wasn't much colour in the sky but great early light for Neil's photos. Me and Bradders enjoyed a brisk walk and then a little lie on the sand.









Sunday was a quiet time apart from Bradley's crying! As he was quite unsettled we decided we might aswell go out in the car(not usually Brad's favourite thing but thought we would give it a go). We drove up the Blackall Ranges where Bradley finally fell asleep, he then woke up in time for coffee and cake in Mapleton, one of the villages on the range, he was then on better behaviour!



One of the more usual Bradley Paskin faces(he can now squeeze tears out when he really wants too!)



We took a detour via Mapleton Forest Drive, thinking Bradley would like the bumpy track, I think it was a hit! Nice for Neil to take Tanky for a spin on some rougher terrain.



The final stop for the weekend was at the new house, which now has internal and external walls(to be rendered) and is looking good.



I got chance to take advantage of the nice light and get behind the lens to take some shots of my two boys(aren't they gorgeous, or am I biased?)

Easter Weekend

Very bravely we decided to go away for a few days over Easter weekend. As our last couple of getaways were cut short by rain and snakes we were hoping for better luck this time! Two days before already it looked like we were doomed again when the clutch started slipping badly on Tanky, no way could we risk going any great distance in it. We couldn't get a refund on our accommdation so we had to hire a car, but they only had a small one left; which was fine but there was no room for the pushchair with all the other baby gear! Bradley didn't seem too worried as he prefers his sling anyway!

So on Good Friday we headed north along the coast to Hervey Bay which is about a 2 and half hour drive.





We stayed in a lakeside villa (which was really a cabin!) but it was nice with a great verandah on the front with a fab view of the lake.

The view from our verandah.



A 6am look at the lake, me and Bradley haven't seen the hairbrush yet!



We spent our days wandering along the beach getting our feet wet, having lunch and coffee and cake stops and just generally exploring the local vicinity.



The local marina was very pretty place for a stroll.



Bradley was very good, with just one unsettled afternoon so we just went back to relax at the "villa". We took some of his familiar things to put around him so it wasn't all too strange for him. He likes his bath before bed so we had to do a makeshift job with the bathroom wash basin! He didn't think it was quite as good as his proper baby bath but he still went to sleep quickly after it!



On the Saturday we went to the local aquaruim which was very small but worth a look, the highlight being able to stroke the turtles but you have to watch out as they bite!





Of course we couldn't go through a weekend without a photo shoot, here is a couple from sunset at one of the shorter piers.





On the way home we passed through Maryborough, it was like a ghost town with it being Easter Sunday. It's a great place to explore with all the old buildings lining the streets.

Some of Maryborough's buildings.





Hiding amongst the local residents!



The local park.




It was a great first trip as a family and lots of fun with no real problems until we get home and to find out the cost of fixing Tanky!

Promise to have more photos of Bradley on the next post!
PS, Neil does have Bradley in the sling just as much as me but doesn't seem to be caught on film (well, digital?!)

Busy week for The Paskins!

It's been an active week for us but all self inflicted!

Bradley's new sling is proving very popular, so far he is not so keen on his pushchair but loves dangling up close to you! It's ideal to go for evening walks on the beach which we have done alot of this week, it's good for all of us; sunset photography for Neil; fresh air without sunburn for Bradley and nice walks and getting out the house for me!

Monday night we headed to Mudjimba, it was a very windy day so definitely blew the cobwebs away! But Neil got some great shots.





Wednesday night to North Shore to investiage some cool rocks, it was quite a long walk down the beach, so good exercise for all(well Bradders got forty winks listening to the waves crash!)





Mummy and son enjoying a late evening stroll on North Shore.



Friday night to Point Arkwright, which again had some good rocks.





After sunset we headed to Coolum for fish and chips,little did we realise it was Queensland rally this weekend, the main street was shut off to show off all the rally cars; give it a couple of years Bradley will love it!

It must of done him good as Friday night he slept for 6 and 1/2 hours without waking, a record and pure bliss for his parents! Lets hope for more nights like that!

We decided to go off exploring for the day on Saturday, we headed south west to visit some inland towns and lakes. Inland towns in Australia are what you would imagine wild west America to be like, here's a snap of Woodford to prove it! (yes, you guessed it, we did have coffee and cake here after we took this shot!)







Lake Somerset, which you can see is deseprately short of water. It was dammed to make a resevoir but not the cleverest idea as it hardly rains in this part of Queensland.

This is the boat ramp, the water should reach the end!





You don't have to go that far inland until the countryside is dry.



We headed back to the coast via Mount Glorious and of course a lunch stop at this cute cafe in the rainforest(literally).



We cut across some suburbs of Brisbane and over to Redcliffe Peninsula, its a seaside town where the beaches have very english seaside names like Margate and Scarborough!



After a walk around we got back in Tanky for the trek home.
As sunset looked promising we pulled off the Bruce Highway to take this photo of the Glass House Mountains with the pineapples growing in the foreground.



Sunday, a bit more of a relaxing day. This afternoon we just had to head out to buy rechargeable batteries, Bradley may only be 5 weeks old but is already costing us a fortune in batteries. So we decided to invest in some as I'm sure he may have a few more battery operated toys in the future! So as we were out we called into the new house on the way home. It's coming on well, a roof, plumbing and the basics for the electrics are all in. The windows and doors are on site ready but still no sign of any bricks or walls! The kangaroos were there in numbers today.

This will be Bradley's room.



Spot the roos in the next 3 shots!