Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Day 3, 4 in Brisbane

Well after our excitement in Movieworld on Sunday all of us decided we needed a chillax day so Monday was it! Had a great sleep in and then had a lazy morning before heading out onto a long bush track that Jeanette had cleared on her property through the trees. Its like overgrown rainforest/jungle and it has an amazing feel to it when you walk through. We absolutely covered ourselves in aeroguard before leaving the house as Jeanette seemed to love telling us all the gruesome details of tick bites and subsequent infections and we even took a container of salt which I found strange until Jeanette informed us that it was for removing leaches, ugh! Its such a mountainous region and discovered that the track we walked on traversed many of these hence we got a good leg workout! Here are some more pics of the forest, I got a bit snap happy so I won't post them all on!



There were some pretty nice flowers around too:



Today we decided to do a little shopping so headed out to Chermside shopping centre which is apparently the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere. I can actually say that finally a shopping centre has gotten the better of me! I admit that I'm a bit of a shopper (not a shopaholic tho!) and can usually last a couple of different shopping centres back in Perth but today was definitely an effort! Suprise Suprise I didn't actually buy anything! Very frustrating when all that effort amounts to nothing :) Anyways tomorrow we are off to Noosa, a very beautiful coastal spot about an hour and a halfs drive North of Sunshine coast and we are staying at the Sebel Hotel, very fancy! So I'm looking forward to soaking up some sun and catching some waves:)

Posted by Jodes at 6:12 PM | | Comments

Monday, April 23, 2007

Day 2 in Brisbane- MOVIEWORLD!

Well no slowly getting into things, we were off to Movieworld on sunday so that Cameron, Jeanettes 6 year old son could come with us. I hadn't been to Movieworld (only Dreamworld and Sea World). I love theme parks, particularly the rides so it was a fun day. Hard to fit everything in though with all the shows that they do. May favourite ride was Lethal Weapon, which is where you hang down off the rails in seats rather than in a roller coaster. Very fast and that many twists and loops, you didn't have time to be scared! Scooby Doo roller coaster was really fun too. Saw the Police Acadamy stunt show (recommended by Tim if you see this post!) which was pretty funny. Unfortunately as we were walking into the stadium area I was singled out by one of the cops in the show, how embarrassing! I made it pretty fast to my seat so that he didn't make me do anything. Here are some pics of the day:
Me at the front gate and the Fantastic Four in the parade.

Wouldn't be Warner Bros without Bugs and Daffy.

Batman, shame he wasn't any closer! Wild west log ride we went on.
I didn't really get any other pics of the roller coasters and rides, I was just having too much fun to bother!

Posted by Jodes at 1:11 PM | | Comments

Brisbane here I come!

It was Saturday the 21st of April and I was on my way finally to good old sunny Brisbane for a week of relaxation and exhilaration at the theme parks! I decided to meet my mum and my auntie in Brisbane (who flew up from Melbourne) and stay with a good friend Jeanette who lives in the hinterland isolated in the beautiful rainforest. My flight was probably the worst I have been on. Being the end of school holidays the plane was full of kids and screaming babies. I was stuck right at the back of the plane on a tiny Boeing 737 on an isle seat where air hostess trays seemed to find their way into the back of my head on a number of occasions and where I was constantly pushed and prodded by the continual line up of people waiting for the toilet. But I decided to not let that ruin my excitement of going back to Brisbane and so patiently stuck it out, till that moment when I could finally walk off the plane into the airport. Jeanettes house is an hour away from the CBD of Brisbane up into the mountainous rainforest region and I was absolutely blown away with both the house and the 360 degree views from her balcony. She has 40 acres of rainforest surrounding her three story timber house with all forms of life contained within including koalas, possums, dingoes, snakes, leaches and ticks.

On the balcony outside and the stair case.
Master bedroom and small balcony on 3rd floor.

Lounge area and one of the two bathrooms. How cool is the shower! The house has all these massive beams throughout and the highest ceilings I have ever seen.



The view from the balconies, photos just don't seem to capture the immensity of the trees and the beauty.
Its so beautiful here, great to get away from suburbia. I will try and post regularly so you can see what I get up to, for those that are interested!




Posted by Jodes at 11:46 AM | | Comments

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Easter Good Friday

What an awesome day Good Friday was! I got up at about 5am in the morning so that I could get to church at 7am for rehearsals. I helped put the puzzle painting together for the two morning services with a bunch of really beautiful girls, not forgetting Craig and Andrew for all their support and problem solving skills. Of course it wouldn't be church without our fellow photographer Sergi snapping pics of anything and everything! He is an awesome guy and his photos are fantastic (thats when he's not sneaking up on you and suddenly you have a camera right in your face!). You can check out his photos of everything Easter Riverview style on his blog elranchorelaxo. I just felt unbelievably cheery yesterday and at the same time very nervous about how the painting was going to turn out. However I had no reason to be nervous cos God was there and every service ran smoothly. I just love to see all the people that come with their servant hearts who make the whole experience special to those who may not know God. Crowds of people flowed in through the doors and each service was filled to the brim which is awesome to see.
Beautiful Amy :)
Us back stage waiting somwewhat nervously.

After the services I went to blonde blogger Ronels house to organise a little suprise picnic on the south Perth foreshore for Cathy. She has just turned 21 so I just want to say a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a beautiful, talented woman who has such a generous warm heart, always wanting to help others :)
Happy 21st birthday Cathy!
Kate enjoying the sunshine.

I made cupcakes for our afternoon tea!
I just couldn't seem to get enough of church yesterday so I went again to the 6pm service with Ronel and Phil, then we met up with Cathy once again for dinner. Last night was the first session of "Facedown" a prayer meeting where those who want to pray can come. Us girls decided to check it out and was glad we had. It started at 10pm and went till midnight. They had set up different stations around the church where you could go and pray for things such as personal petitions, for the world, for other people, for our other churches- Riverview OC, north and south campuses and a confessional and repentance station. Many people attended and even though it was very quiet you could feel and almost hear the prayers of the people. There was such power in the room! What a way to end Good Friday and now I'm looking forward to Easter sunday morning service which will be just as great.
I love life and LOVE GOD!











Posted by Jodes at 6:28 PM | | Comments