Aussie Trip {Part 16} Grace's Birthday

I love how Grace's 20th was one of the main reasons for my trip but I barely took photos! :/ From what I heard, she and Aileen spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing an African-themed meal for a number of us; I love cooking but a whole day is pushing it! :O It was really nice though, so thanks ;)

So anyways when we arrived at the cousins' place I walked straight in and announced I was home ;P and then greeted the cats as I found them ;) Uncle Richard had come down so it was great to finally see him (he was away for work when I was in Brissy and we headed south before he returned), and the one week I'd been away from Maclean seemed like a long time . . . it was nice to be back with the cousins and Aunty Vicki there as well.

Some of the second or third cousins came as well, we saw them back on our '05 trip and some of them have been here since then, but I'm still not sure I can remember who's who . . . :O Oops ;P

: : Okay so most of these photos I just pointed the camera in the general direction and hoped for the best; : :
it was too dark to see much of anything on the screen 

Thanks Grace and Aileen and Bethany and Uncle Richard and Aunty Vicki, and everyone else who helped pull this off!
And happy birthday Grace! Hope you enjoyed being 20 . . . since that year's actually over now ;P

Aussie Trip {Part 8} Miscellaneous Maclean Snaps

This post will be a collection of the rest of my photos from Maclean, in random order. :) I ended up spending a week in Maclean which was nice. We stayed with our cousins in the same house during our '05 trip, so it was cool going back to a familiar place and remembering things from the last visit. Of course some things had changed, with two of the cousins married and moved away now, and working out parking spaces for cars and motorbikes, instead of rules for the toy guns and flying fox in the backyard! 

: : Aunty Vicki with Paton and the two cockatiels : :

Aunty Vicki shares our love of animals, so it's always fun comparing the pet count. ;) I missed my cat back home but managed to win over most of the cousins' ones while I was over (mission accomplished ;P). And a cat buddy to snuggle up with you during movies is always a good idea ;)  

Love those beautiful clear skies!

And no traffic! :O #takemeback

: : Loving those palms : :

Oh look, more sunsets :P I think I actually have at least one similiar photo (those were the days of film, guys ;)) from 2005, maybe I should compare how much the landscape has changed in 10 1/2 years ;P

: : And that would be the cockroach Luke flicked off the wall towards me . . . : :
When I jumped away he decided throwing it at me might be more fun . . . 

: : Aurora, Grace's cat : :
Um yeah, that would be the bathroom light she's on top of!

: : Luke and Jenna : :

: : Please, feed me?! : :
Seriously, it's too bad I couldn't bring him back in my suitcase!

: : Let's get a photo while are hair and make up are still fresh. lol : :

: : One animal we actually haven't had as a pet! : :

: : Please appreciate this photo; : :
I didn't think to check the grass for prickles before walking over to snap it :P

: : Call me strange; I keep admiring those red bricks every time I scroll past this photo : :

: : Hehe another one :P : :

: : Aunty Vicki's fish tank makes our one look pretty pathetic :P : :
There actually are a fair few types but looks like they've just about all gone to hide from the camera lol

: : Apparently these flowers only last a day or two I think; pretty cool they bloomed while I was there :) : :

: : Awww so beautiful : :

: : Oh, hello! : :

Sadly I didn't take as many photos as I should have, and now my memory won't stand up to super-long recounts I'm afraid. :/ I'll make note of a few things though. Grace and I had planned to do a bit of trekking around and such while I was in Maclean, but she ended up having uni assignments to work on for a lot of the time. We ended up settling with a few good talks over coffee or on the kitchen floor ( . . . #equallystrangecousins ;P) and walking up to the lookout a few times. 

Cynthia, Faith, and I went over to Yamba one night to see PAN and then grabbed Macca's on the way home. Love how we dressed up and didn't take any photos . . . lol. 

Aunty Vicki took some of us down to browse some of the shops one day and book my bus ticket to Port Macquarie.

Luke organised lots of movies for me to watch, and then one night when my stamina for that gave way (I discovered it isn't what it used to be :P) I decided to go back to what I knew and brought out the washing to fold ;P Turns out the lighting wouldn't allow my phone to get a good shot, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that Luke helped ;) lol

And I think that will about wrap up my recap. Chances are I'll remember a couple more things a month or so from now. ;P Thanks for having me guys -- miss you all!

Aussie Trip {Part 2} Brissy to Maclean

Friday was somewhat overcast and still a bit chilly (so not exactly the weather Aussie is usually associated with :P). We got up at a much less unearthly hour than the previous day, although it seemed fairly early after a long day and a late night. Grace and Aileen cooked breakfast for us all, and we loaded up and left Brisbane. Went to Coffs Harbor since Aileen had an exam or something for uni there. Meanwhile Grace and I got coffee and sat down to talk for a while and catch up on things. (We hadn't spoken extensively since April.) Then we drove around, got lost and took a couple of wrong turns before picking Aileen up and continuing south.  

: : Travelling in your cousin's flash Mazda beats busing any day ;) : :

: : Looks just like NZ :P : :

: : Not too bad for a shot out the windscreen, I reckon  : :

I'm not entirely sure who's idea it was or how it came about, but we decided to drop by Mount Warning and walk up. For those of you who know me well, don't worry; I did change into running shoes ;P Armed with phones, cameras, and a couple of snacks, we started walking (briskly; de Bruins don't do slow). Turns out a lack of fitness, slight breeze, presence of asthma, and lowish temperatures (and possibly some dampness) weren't a great combination.We made it maybe one-third of the way up and by then I was pretty short of breath and the chill breeze was making me slightly light-headed. We decided heading back down was preferable over them having to carry me back, and they proceeded to practically run down :P Thankfully no snakes turned up to alter my pace, and I took it a little easier. Survived the trip and got back to the car, deciding that regular exercise had to become a regular addition to my schedule lol. (After arriving back in NZ I started walking regularly probably would have managed this track fairly easily by the end of summer.)

: : Imagecredit: Grace : :

: : Image credit: Grace : :

We continued our drive south, eventually arriving in Maclean at my cousins' house in the late afternoon. It's amazing how big the toddlers I remembered from our last trip over had grown! ;P We chatted and caught up for a while; they discovered their NZ cousin could also be pretty sarcastic, and might actually be some fun. Luke even decided I was cool enough to share his snacks ;) Aunty Vicki had very thoughtfully prepared a roast dinner for us, which we all enjoyed. More talk and catching up ensued and another late night followed. lol