Floods in Queensland

Family and friends in Singapore have asked me if I am affected by the recent floods in Queensland. Thank God for His protection, we are not affected here in Brisbane. But many have been evacuated, many lost their homes, many animals died, much crops destroyed, increasing threat of crocodiles and snakes, etc and it saddens anyone reading about it... just as the bushfires in Victoria some 2 years ago.

The truth is, the floods are pretty far away from Brisbane. The badly affected areas are north and west of Brisbane. See the map below. Bundaberg is about 5 hours drive away. Rockhampton is about 8 hours drive away, 500km from Brisbane (For comparison, driving from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur takes about 4 hours. The distance from Singapore to the Peninsula Malaysia/Thailand border is between 800-900km.)

These floods are also costing a lot to repair and it would take a while to get 'back to normal'. Singapore will also feel the effects of this by increased food prices. The Singapore Armed Forces has also offered help to the flood-hit areas.

Read about how did the flood happen and how you can pray.

It rained so much in the last 2 weeks of 2010 and accompanied with the warmer temperatures, we are seeing more incidences of snakes in our backyard. Beyond the fences of our backyard, is a creek area. When a lot of rain falls, little puddles/ponds can form. We can see them, just a few metres away from our fence. This prompts the snakes in the area to want to go drier land (e.g. our backyard). So far, it has not been too dangerous for us but it certainly deters (especially) me from stepping out into my backyard to do things like throwing the rubbish (into the bins), gardening and even putting out our laundry. Thank God for a husband who would sacrificially do all that. Where possible, I will not step into the backyard if husband is not at home.

Thank God for His protection over us but may we be sensitive to those who are and pray for those who are. This can happen to us too - we are not spared from storms and hailstorms. Remember those affected by the floods in your prayers...

A Day to The Australia Zoo

Kelloggs had a promotion that when you buy their cereal, you and someone get to go to the zoo for the price (A$55) of 1. You have to cut out the voucher on the cereal box. Hubby and I have never been to the Australia Zoo (aka Steve Irwin Zoo) so we thought we will go have a look during one of the days when we are not working between Christmas and New Year, before the voucher expires on 30 Dec.

There were many people at the zoo that same day that we were stuck in a jam 8km away from the entrance to drive into the parking area. It was supposed to rain (there has been thunderstorms since a week before) and it rained a few times when we drove there (1 hour 15 min journey) but thank God that He protected us from the rain when we were there. It only drizzled very lightly on a couple of occasions.

Actually, both of us are not big animal lovers, which also explains why we don't and will probably never have a pet. So what did we do there? I had a go at feeding an elephant a piece of sweet potato, we got to pat a koala and also a kangaroo. We also spent 1.5 hrs at the Crocoseum watching Bindi Irwin danced, some birds fly and saw the owner of the zoo, Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin and watching a crocodile being fed.

The cutest animal has got to be the koala. It really looks so cute and lazy. Other ones that impressed me were cassowary (the way it swallows its food), otter (cute and swift) and the kangaroo (which I got to touch and it will not run far away from me). Oh, I must not forget the many snakes I saw, with the Burmese snake being the most impressie and fattest! Eeks!

It is interesting to read and know how Australia Zoo came about. Steve Irwin used to own the zoo but since his death in 2006, his wife Terri owns and manages it. Steve has once remarked that he considers Singapore Zoo as Australia Zoo's sister.

At the end of the day I reckon that Singapore Zoo has many more species of animals than Australia Zoo and it was true as I compared the statistics on wikipedia. Singapore Zoo has a smaller land but more number of animals and species. However Australia Zoo has a strong wildlife conservation message and also allows you to come up close and personal with the animals which can be fun. Just to assure Singaporeans that they are not missing out a lot, especially with Night Safari too. However apparently Aust Zoo will be expanding soon and there will be more exhibits! But I will think twice though, since I can really just head to the much-nearer Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to see some koalas, kangaroos and some others. But who knows, I might be convinced to go again in future when the zoo has expanded. Nevertheless, we are still thankful to be able to visit the zoo and spend a day out looking at the animals that God has created :)

A Really Short But Needed Getaway

A week ago last Friday, we drove to Coffs Harbour for a short vacation, although the real reason was to attend M&L's wedding. It was a good excuse to be there since I have not been there (except passing by) before.

A pano shot of the harbour

Coffs is a small town of about 70,000. I was wondering if I should call it a beach town as it is home to about 3-4 beaches and people like to go there to surf. Hubby and I are not into water sports in general (I have only probably ever tried kayaking) and hence that does not appeal to me. At most what I like to do is to walk along the beach and enjoy the sound of the waves and the view of the horizon. But we did not go to the beaches at all this time...

We did not have much time to do our own vacation activities... arrived there late on Friday, only in time to sleep. Most of Saturday was the wedding. We left 12.30pm on Sunday to drive back to Brisbane so that we could have dinner with my brother and his friends. With that Sunday morning, we had a little of a sleep in and head off to the market at Jetty Village Shopping Centre (which was just an "okay" market) and then to Mutton Bird Island, in the hope of catching the sight of some humpback whales. As we walked from the jetty area to the island (it is walking distance away), we stopped by a seafood shop (with heaps of fresh seafood) to buy some fish and chips and calarmari for our brunch. Really like that feeling of eating fresh seafood near the waters, with everything in Brisbane cast aside and to enjoy that relaxing moment with hubby. The walk along the jetty to the island was also a nerve calmer, with chips and calarmari in our hands, munching away... I finally made the way to the island and back (requires quite some physical workout) but did not see any whales... but we definitely took a lot of photos!

Thank God for this short but timely vacation so that we could relax, chill out a bit and be a bit more refreshed to face Brisbane (which by now, I am tired again... :p).

Kooroomba Lavender Farm & Winery

Hubby knows that I'd like to visit a lavender field one day and he knows I like wine-tasting. So what more appropriate when he found out about a place where they have a lavender farm and a winery! Hubby did some research and publicised it to some friends to see if anyone would be keen to join us. And so last Saturday, family, friends and friends of friends join us, driving 1 hour and 15 minutes to Kooroomba Lavender Farm and Winery.

(From top left, clockwise) Wine-tasting, lavender products, lavender flowers and lavender tea (blend of China black tea, lavender and fennel)

Although it fell a bit short of my expectation of seeing fields of purple everywhere, I also realised that it is not the best time of the year to see lavender in bloom. The reason why Kooroomba has some in bloom is because of the various species that it plants. I really love it there... standing in the midst of the flowers, looking at the vineyard (which was bare now because it is winter) and the mountains nearby... and with the silence of creation around you (except for the sound of some birds chipping)... the feeling was really amazing as I admire God's creation of nature. It immediately makes you feel very relaxed and everything that you worry about seemed so much less important. I love the moment where I could just breathe in the fresh air and just enjoy the few seconds where I am just simply absorbed by nature.

Lavender in the foreground, bare vineyard in the middle/right and the mountains in the back

Free wine-tasting is also available. It was really nice to enjoy their good selections of wine. I particularly like their Alba and Port. The wine also kept me warm and so I was not very cold when I was out in the open fields.

My lunch - Havens croft free range chicken with Kooroomba Alba wine, streaky bacon,
creamed spinach and a mushroom chive galette

And of course all of us also gave our cameras a good workout :)

The bees love the lavender too

Me and my niece

Now I have another place to bring overseas visitors to when they visit Brisbane :) And I may go back there in Spring to drink more wine and see more lavender and also to buy more lavender flowers so that I could put them in my wardrobe, bake them in my cakes and cookies and give away to some close friends in Singapore.

Beautiful Jacarandas

Jacarandas are flowers that are purple and shaped like a bell. They are in bloom in Spring in Brisbane around this time. I always marvel at the sight of the purple bloom whenever I drive around and seeing some along the streets.

2 Sundays ago, W brought me to UQ park to see the many Jacaranda trees there. And last Saturday, after my trial wedding make-up, we went to New Farm Park to take more (kinda like pre-wedding ones) photos with Jacarandas :) (with the help of W's friend)

Beautiful Flowers

Last Saturday, 5 of us drove about 1.5 hours west of Brisbane city to another city in Queensland known as Toowoomba. Every year this time in Spring, the flowers in Toowoomba attracts many to go see the gardens of beautiful flowers.

The sight of the flowers is not something you can get in Singapore. We also visited the Chows who were there for 6 months because Daddy Chow needs to work there. The Chows brought us around to 2 gardens and the garden of an award-winning house. It was a pity that we were a bit rushed for time and hence there was no time for us to sit down and smell the flowers. We were mostly busy with clicking our cameras to take photos. It would have been an ideal way to spend a Saturday afternoon in Spring time, in the garden of pretty colourful flowers and jazz music playing in the background (there was a jazz band playing in one of the gardens). I told myself that I want to go back there next Spring.

The highlight of the day (for me) was to visit the garden of the winner of the house garden competition. Yes the house was big but the garden is *might be* even bigger. Every corner you turn, you see flowers. There were nice sitting places at certain locations, plus various bushes of plants and some trees, walking in that garden was a really cozy and happy feeling... with the thought "if only this was my house's garden... (except that I cannot maintain this!)" The owner had been staying there for the past 27 years. Anyone can tell that maintaining that garden is the work of a (if not 2) full-time gardener! The owner does his own maintenance and gardening. How I wish I could go there to take wedding photos...