BOOKS COFFEE GIFTS

THE STORY TREE

Boonah Saturday morning was a bustling little place, the size of the main street and the the number of shops made me think of Huonville back at home.  After chatting to Rachel some more and comparing our small country towns we found out there were similarities in where we live, even if one place is in Queensland and the other in Tasmania.  It's so good to see another family who have fled the lights of the big city for a calmer simpler life and have had their dreams come true.  

Rachel your passion in life for living life is so visible in your shop, thank you for sharing, it's an inspiration to me and many others I'm sure.

 Matt your coffee was one of the best I had drunk on the whole trip, thank you.

 The view across the table was a nice one, it's one I will never tire of.

I look forward to drinking many a coffee with this view.

 It's not often I am happy with a photo of myself but this is certainly an exception, I love it!!

I think I need to put this into practice more often. :)

Movie World

We took the kids to Movie World. Jon and I ticked the Lethal Weapon, Superman Escape, Road Runner (yes Road Runner lol) and Batwing Spaceshot off our bucket list.  Reuben and cousin Josh went on the Lethal Weapon 5 times in a row!  It was such a great day spending it with Sami, Vicki, Chloe and Joshua, good memories!  As the rules are on most rides we had to empty our pockets of everything, so the only photos I got around to taking was of the kids on the electric Taxi Cars.

Photos of the coast with the Olympus

Surfers Paradise

The Gold Coast beaches are just beautiful, we love them.

Q1

Undeniably the thing we had all been looking forward to was staying at Q1. 

Our family has a keen interest in tall buildings so here are some facts on Q1.
78 stories.
44th tallest building in the world.
3rd Tallest all-residential building in the world.

I got a bit excited about taking photos with an iPhone camera app.   

The view up.

The view from our room.

A reflection up.

The lobby.

So I didn't get the canvases straight in this photo, you get that.

One of the 3 pools.

A bird of paradise flower, I have always loved these flowers.

Waterfall.

One more look up on check out.

85 Years Strong.

It was pretty special to have celebrated my Dad's 85th Birthday while we were here.

Birthday Portrait.

The good old finnish layered sponge cake decorated with fruit spelling out the occasion.

Buena Vista Drive

Coming to Brisbane wasn't going to be complete without a trip to visit Les, Karen and the kids, and it was so good.  Being spoilt from the moment we stepped on the deck to moment we left, left us feeling really appreciated.  So until next time whether it be in Tassie or QLD we will always pick up from where we left off. 

The view from the deck... would have loved to have sat there for another couple of evenings.

Big Les cooking entree.

The beautiful Karen making dinner and a refreshing cold drink.

Pavlova - the best dessert!

 The kids. :)

Tommi's 10th Birthday

My Tommi turned 10!!  On the day of his birthday it happened to be the "gang hang" (as Reuben put it) a reunion of the Jarvela Family before we parted ways again with Aunty Mim going back to Austria and us returning to Tasmania.  The party was like the parties of old where all I had to do was invite the cousins and we had enough children along to make it feel like a real party.  (You know when you are avoiding doing the whole inviting kids from school, it's just on a whole new level of commitment party)!! Tommi loves his new hat!