The month started with a big argument between my younger sister and I that got a little ugly (what would Christmas be without some family drama?). All good now, or so I hope.
Matt and I went to my work Christmas dinner at Criniti's in Woolloomooloo.
As I am starting a mostly gluten free and dairy free diet as of 2017 I went a little crazy on getting in my favourite foods. We had Little Caesars pizza a couple of times, burgers, gelato, and even had date night at a Brazilian churrascaria. Needless to say, I am ready for a better diet as I have now gained half of what I lost in the last 3 months.
I did a lot of sewing for my Christmas gifts this year and so each night I worked on the next project. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of what I completed. Matt and I also caught up on a lot of new movies including Finding Dory, The BFG, Secret Life of Pets, and Rogue One. Star Wars was the best!
After all the sewing, movie watching, and daily activities it was finally time to head to Brisbane for our holiday! We decided to do the 12 hour drive over two days and make stops along the way. The day before we left Matt had his car checked and found it was in really bad shape and not even safe to drive! Luckily my car is fine and had recently been serviced so he just left his car at the mechanics for them to do the $4500 repairs while we are away. The message behind this story is to not abuse your car by driving aggressively and to remember to take it in to get serviced regularly.
Friday the 23rd we headed off. We stopped at Wangi Point at Lake Macquarie which is a hot spot for camping right next to the water. Although we didn't get in the water, it was a nice break to walk around, take a nap with the ocean breeze, and eat lunch.
Our next stop was Seal Rocks. We cooled off in the ocean for a bit and Matt decided to go snorkeling. I wasn't convinced it was a good spot for that so only Matt went while I climbed the rocks and watching. To his surprise he saw a huge stingray and nearly collided with it head on! From his description it was around 2 meters wide and made him a bit nervous at first, but it swam under him and he just followed it around for a bit.
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| By Maksym Kozlenko - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47745580 |
The next day of our trip we stopped at Coffs Harbour which is a popular beach town, but we weren't very impressed by it. The Big Banana is found there and instead of stopping I just took a picture as we passed it. Good enough for me!
Our last stop was Watego's Beach in Byron Bay, which was a popular place for surfers. It was late so we didn't take time to get in the water, but we at least got to watch the sun go down there. Finally, we arrived in Cleveland QLD to spend the rest of the time with Cate.
Due to the time change and no daylight savings in QLD, the sun is up at 4am. I woke up at 5am and was surprised to find that her two daughters weren't up yet (they did wake up soon after though). I got to enjoy my early Christmas morning reading a book and listening to the girls open their gifts from Santa. Cate's family came over and we had a big breakfast before going to church. Since it was Christmas day we just had sacrament meeting and went back home. The kids were eager to jump in the pool while the rest of us worked on preparing for lunch/dinner. We had a wonderful roast turkey and ham dinner and relaxed for the rest of the day.
For the next several days we stayed in Caloundra at a unit near the beach with Cate, her husband Dan, and their two girls. We spent every day going to the beach, relaxing at the pool, playing games like Disney Family Feud and Uno, and watching movies. It was the perfect relaxing holdiay. We went to see Moana and Sing together, and then Cate and I watch La La Land together. Out of the three Moana was my favourite. I liked a couple of the songs in Moana so much I was constantly humming them. The best part of Caloundra though was the beach. The water was very warm, like bath water, and there were constant waves perfect for boogie boards. We had hot and sunny weather the whole time with the beautiful ocean breeze to help cool us off. I am so grateful they let us spend some of their holiday with them and it may for a wonderful relaxing and fun holiday!
Friday we started our drive back to Sydney. We stopped to look at some suburbs we had considered living in and were surprised at how much it felt like California. At the North Lakes Shopping Centre, we found it fun that it had a layout much more similar to the U.S. where the stores go outward from a central point rather than up multiple levels. Somehow it made the area seem more home.
Afterwards we headed to Gold Coast where Matt's favourite crepe place is. When we stayed at the Gold Coast two years prior Matt found this crepe place and he has still not found a better place.
Again we stopped in Byron Bay, but this time we swam on the main beach. It was already past the time when the lifeguards leave so I was a bit nervous as that area has had many shark sitings. The water was crystal clear so I wasn't too worried until as I was swimming along I saw a large jellyfish about the size of my hand float past me. As I didn't recognise it, I wasn't sure if it could be a deadly one or not. Where there's one there are always more so I got out. Further up the sand there is a large inlet of water from the ocean that I decided to lay in and wait for Matt. It was very warm and seemed like a very large hot tub with all the people sitting in groups in the shallow water.
As we grabbed dinner before moving on I decided Byron wasn't my favourite place. The beach was really nice, but the demographic of the area seemed like a lot of 20 somethings that you would expect to be partying all night long. I've been told Byron Bay is very hippy and it was pretty obvious. We did like that you aren't allowed to have alcohol on the beach or the streets, but as I passed a unit where people were clearly having a massive party I wondered if the alcohol staying in the home had it's own problems.
Most places were booked so we stayed the night in a Motel in a small suburb on the way. Our final drive went by quickly with only a long stop in Newcastle to check out the beach. It was so hot that day and as we walked over the sand dunes to view the beach our feet were burning from the sand. I thought if I ran and dipped them in the water it would be better, but as we walked back to the car my feet were burning again. Although we didn't get in the water we really like the beaches in the Newcastle area. Since there are so many, they aren't very crowded. One thing I didn't like about boogie boarding in Caloundra was you always had to try to avoid the other people on boards or body surfing. The beaches we saw near Newcastle wouldn't have that problem.
It was great to finally get home, but it was so hot and humid. I was dripping with sweat as I put all of our stuff away. I had to change before heading to our friend's place for New Years Eve celebrations. Josie and Lachie invited us over and we had pizza for dinner and played games including Chinese checkers. We thought we would be too tired and would leave after the 10pm fireworks, but we stayed up and watched funny youtube videos until the midnight Sydney fireworks. The fireworks show was spectacular and it was a great way to end our 2016 year.
Upon reflecting on the last year I feel like overall it's been a pretty good year for me. Here is just a summary of memorable events for the last year.
- My sister came to visit me for a couple of weeks
- I saw my friend Cate get married in Queensland
- Matt and I went to the Easter Show
- I got to see the movie that Matt was an extra in (Gods of Egypt)
- I had lots of fun times with the youth in my Ward and was released
- Pokemon Go
- Finally met my 10,000 steps a day goal
- Learned about property investment strategies
- Set up our will
- Made some new Canadian friends
- Visited friends and family in the US
- Cruise to Alaska
- Created a habit of exercising 6 days a week
- Visited Melbourne
- Found out why I have had health problems - MTHFR gene
I look forward to the new year and I already have my 2017 goals written out. I don't know what the new year holds, but I know I will do all I can to achieve my goals and strive for a little more than the previous year. Happy New Year!
