Job Hunting

My smart(ish) clothes saw their first outing on Thursday 8th August as I made my maiden voyage south to the Gold Coast, for an interview rather than to sightsee. The Gold Coast is quite a distance from Brisbane and was not the easiest trip on public transport - hours, and plenty of walk, bus and train travel later, I made it to Coomera train station! From here I took a bus to theme park Dreamworld for a quick look and walked to my interview location (some distance but the bus only runs hourly). I was glad to make it unscathed to Upper Coomera and once the business was done I met up with Ian, the cousin of mum's father, who mum has never met! He took me over to Helensvale for a chat and coffee before I headed off on the return journey... Marie kindly picked me up at Cooper Plains to save me some of the travel, and we found a Japanese place in Sunnybank for dinner, followed by a self-service frozen yoghurt shop.

Next morning I was dressed up once more for an interview - this time in the somewhat easier to reach Lutwyche area of Brisbane! From here I followed the tall buildings towards Fortitude Valley, passing the EKKA (Brisbane Show or Exhibition) but not feeling like forking out the $28 entry fee. I continued on through The Valley to the town centre, heading back to Oxley after picking up a few freebie drinks and confirming I would not be able to donate blood in Australia :( The Aussies have a long memory for anything concerning beef - mad cow disease, and the recent 'only fools eat horses' episode... 

Sneak peek of EKKA

On Saturday Marie and I travelled Southwest through Warwick to Stanthorpe, crossing the Great Dividing Range at Cunningham's Gap. We had a delicious lunch at the Barrell Room Cafe followed by wine tasting at Ballandean Estate, Hidden Creek, Twisted Gum and Symphony Hill wineries. Another enjoyable but long day saw us return well after dark...

Heading home from Stanthorpe