TONI'S BLOG

Bryon Bay

2011-04-01T22:12:00.002+10:00

1 April 2011

A group of my friends had planned a weekend away in Byron Bay.

I needed a bit of time out, so I joined them for the night.

They were staying in a lovely 15 bed home, close to the bars and beach in Byron.

On Saturday avo we all just hung around the house and then went to Cheeky Monkeys that night.

Was good fun and nice to get away.

At Cheeky Monkeys

Myself, Trish and Paul

From back

Carolyn, Vivian, Damo, Kelle, Trish, Andy, Brett, Hilton, Me, Paul, Amber and Jody

Trev's Water Sports

2011-03-12T22:10:00.004+10:00

12 March 2011

Today I headed out with a group of friends to "Trev's Water Sports"

$20.00 for two hours and we got to try stand up paddle boarding, sailing, kayaking and water boat peddling.

It was great fun and stand up paddle boarding is something I have always wanted to try.

Stand up paddle boarding

Water boat peddle things
Kayaking

The Group!

Brigid's Farewell

2011-03-05T22:09:00.003+10:00

5 March 2011

Brigid is a friend of ours who has a really awesome job!

She manages a house in the Caribbean! She used to do it alone and now she job shares with her mum. She goes for three months and then comes back for three months.

Brigid lives in the apartments above The Grand so perfect location for a few drinks at her house and then down to the Grand for some dancing.

Brigid also used to work on super yachts, she said she would be able to help me out if I decide that I want to do that in the future ... woo hoo!

Me, Kelle, Amanda and Brigid

Kelle and I

You will recall from a few posts again that my "friend" called me 32!! There was a labelling machine at the party and he made this label for me :)

Story Bridge Climb

2011-02-26T22:08:00.002+10:00

26 February 2011

Today was the day of the R U UP 4 IT! Story Bridge Climb

From base headquarters at Kangaroo Point you make your way via a suspended walkway within the approach spans of the bridge to the halfway house. Your climb leader will enlighten you with extraordinary facts about the history and heritage of Brisbane and it’s iconic Story Bridge.
The route then ascends through the road level on to the anchor arm on the eastern side of the bridge. Here the incline is at its greatest as you make your way to the viewing platform approximately 80 metres above sea level. It’s from here that you will first experience the awe-inspiring 360 degree view of Brisbane, its river and surrounding mountain ranges.
From the eastern summit the route gradually descends along the eastern cantilever arm towards the central platform.
The central platform allows you to traverse the width of the bridge above the six lanes of traffic. Once on the western cantilever arm, climbers begin the gradual ascent to the western side, or city side of the viewing platform for another opportunity to take in the panorama.
The route continues down the western anchor arm of the bridge back through the road deck to the halfway house.
You then leave the halfway house and make your way south via the suspended walkway to base headquarters.

Upon getting to the place where we were to meet to climb we had to go through rigorous training and searches to make sure we didn't have anything on us that could be dangerous or could fall. They even had a metal detector!

We did a twilight climb so were able to see the views from the day and the night.

Was a fun climb and only a little bit tiring.

Glow Worms

2011-02-19T21:45:00.003+10:00

19 February 2011

Today I headed out to see the Glow Worms at Mt Tamborine with my girly group.

The glow worm caves are in Cedar Creek and were artificially made in 2004

Cave construction took fourteen months finishing in mid 2004. We introduced our first 100 glow-worms,Arachnocampa flava, into the cave in February 2005. Once this colony established we opened our doors to the public on the 1st March, 2006.

Did you know after glow worms hatch from their cocoon things they don't have any mouths, therefore as an adult form they don't live for very long.

The girls who went

Outside the caves

Some fun pictures

After the caves we decided to head a bit more into town to have some lunch and go cheese, beer, wine, chocolate and liquor tasting.

How big is this chip!!

See more pictures here

I wish I was a glow worm,
A glow worm's never glum.
'Cos how can you be grumpy
When the sun shines out your bum!

Sara's 25th Birthday Party

2011-02-12T13:42:00.004+10:00

12 February 2011

It was Sara's 25th birthday this month and so she had a "no frills" birthday party in the back yard to celebrate.

She had loads of friends around, bbq, fire and a pinata which was filled with glitter.

It was a fun night, had by all.

I ended up leaving the party and heading to the Grand for some drinks with friends. My night wasn't so fun!! I had a cockroach crawl up my arm and a so called "friend" call me 32!!!!! 32!!!!! Do I look 32!!!!! to you!!!!

Courtney and I before the party got too crazy! Has anyone seen my pink glasses??

Birthday cake shot!

Sara and I

The Pinata

Post pinata glitter!

Courtney and Sara

The Partay!!!

Birthday girl having an awesome time!

Actual birthday - 16 February 2011

More pictures HERE

Lazy

2011-02-10T16:05:00.002+10:00

Hi All

For this last year I have been somewhat lazy and not doing anything particularity exciting, so instead of writing blogs I might just adopt the easier approach of just posting some pictures and writing a few words about them.

Toni xo

Seaworld Adventures

2011-02-05T10:06:00.000+10:00

5 February 2011

Some pictures from my trip to Seaworld

80's Party at Pat's

2011-01-29T11:13:00.003+10:00

29 January 2011

It was finally time for Pat's 80's party.

I had my costume all ready and was rearing to go!

Can you guess who I am?

I was impressed with all the effort people put into their costumes!

This is one of the funnest parties I have ever been to!

There was dress ups, a bar, singstar, swimming and sparing.

I think I finally got to bed around 6am!!!

Thanks Pat

Awesome party.

More pictures here

Rockclimbing and Night at the Grand

2011-01-22T11:12:00.003+10:00

11 January 2011

Today I headed up to Brisbane with a friend to go Rockclimbing. At Kangaroo point you can just grab your rockclimbing gear and have a go yourself.

My lovely friend Richard was experienced in rock climbing and gave us all a go.

I only managed to get one abseil in before it got dark and as this area was heavily affected by the floods the lights weren't working

Murky flood waters in Brisbane

Me having a go at abseiling with Richard on careful watch

After abseiling it was time to hit The Grand to catch up with the others for few drinks!!

Kelle and I

Jager bombs all lined up and ready to go

Races

2011-01-15T10:13:00.006+10:00

15 January 2011

Today we decided to head to the races for some fun in the sun and to "frock" up.

Upon trying to get into the gate, I was accosted by the security guard and made to wear an "age" bracelet for the whole day to say I was over 18. However, the people at the bar didn't believe me or my "age" bracelet and made me show my ID again!

We had a fun day at the races, I even won some money by accident.

As a group, we won some money on the horses.. We ended up at Amber's with drinks and pizza's before heading to Broadbeach for some dancing.

Great day!

Successing out winners with Hilton

Sharon and I

Winning ticket and age bracelet!

Making a paper hat

For some random guys we met

Jager baby!!

Trish and I

More pictures here

New Years 2010 / 2011

2010-12-31T11:11:00.004+10:00

31 December 2010

This year I had heaps of lovely new friends to spend New Years with.

We all headed to Amber's for BBQ and drinks before heading out to Liar's bar to see out the New year.

Robertt, Kelle and Amber

Kelle, Paul, Amber, Robertt, Trish, Pat, Toni and Alex

Group pic before heading into Broadbeach

Me, Sylvia and Alex (Toilet stop on the way!)

Richard, Pat and myself

Sharon, myself and Tracey

More pictures here

Courtney and I hitting the town on Tuesday night

2010-12-28T13:18:00.005+10:00

28 December 2010

Courtney had the night off, I was still on Christmas holiday so Courtney and I decided to hit Surfers on a Tuesday night and we had an awesome time ..

Get a picture with the DJ!

Pat came and hung out for a while

????

Shots!!

More pictures here

Strassman

2010-12-19T10:13:00.001+10:00

19 December 2010

I saw in the paper a couple of months ago that David Strassman was in town. Sara and I used to watch his show all the time and went and saw him, with Zac, in about 2001.

His show was just as good as I remembered and as Sara had made friends with him the night before, we got to meet him after the show where he gave us a signed ted e bear each and invited us to his after show party.

Work Christmas Party

2010-12-18T20:38:00.005+10:00

18 December 2010

I was hoping that this Christmas party would be a bit better than last years debacle ...

Lets just say, some people just have no idea about social etiquette and just because myself and others didn't bring a partner, doesn't mean one of us should get shunned to another table to sit with another company ...

Despite all the dramas it was still a pretty fun night, here are some pictures of the people I work with

I love this photo, however I have no idea what is going on ...

Kristen and I showing everyone how its done!

From left

Hayley (my boss), Joy and Kelly (both other secretaries)

Pravanita (solicitor), Sharon (WP) and me

After the work party ended we got limo rides home, I wasn't ready to head home so I asked the limo driver to drop me into Surfers. I met up with Sara and her new friend, David Strassman, Courtney later joined us for this group photo!

Drinks with Steph and Sharon

2010-12-11T10:13:00.003+10:00

It was too rainy to go to the races so Sharon, Steph and I decided to meet up with the others after.

We had a fabulous night and even managed to score a free cocktail!

Christmas Party

2010-12-04T10:12:00.002+10:00

Girl Time Christmas Party at Miriam's house!

BBQ Landmines

2010-11-27T10:12:00.001+10:00

A nice afternoon BBQ with cricket

Followed by a few drinks at the local!

RSPCA Santa Photo for Toffee

2010-11-27T10:11:00.001+10:00

How could you resist! It was for a good cause ...

Mount Warning

2010-11-14T10:10:00.003+10:00

I had always wanted to Climb Mount Warning and a bunch of people I knew were doing it so I thought I would try it out. I can tell you its a tough walk, virtually all uphill, when you get nearer the summit you have to rock climb up a cliff of rocks which have chains on the side. Am half way up those chains I was dying. The view from the top was amazing though and something ticked off my list.

Towering over Murwillumbah and the Tweed Valley in far north-eastern New South Wales, is Mount Warning, the central core of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest extinct shield volcano.
named "Wollumbin", meaning "cloud catcher", by the Bundjalung people who inhabited the region before European settlement, it is the first place on Australia’s mainland to be touched by the morning sun.

Paintball

2010-11-07T10:10:00.001+10:00

Something I have wanted to do for a while but don't think I will try again, owwwwwwwwwww!!

Daniel's visit

2010-10-23T10:09:00.002+10:00

Daniel was over for the week so I thought I would take him and Dustin down to my local. Oh my, I haven't been that trollied in a long time (I blame Daniel) I am very suprised we didn't get kicked out! What with Daniel dropping me on the floor and then going behind the bar to start serving! hehe

Austin - Seeing Eye dog puppy

2010-10-19T09:59:00.002+10:00

This is Austin now - 7 months old. I have also included the letter he has written to us.

Tomorrow When the War Began

2010-09-16T15:59:00.002+10:00

If you are looking for some good books to read I would recommend the Tomorrow series. I was reading one book a day I couldn't put them down. The movie just doesn't give them justice.

The Tomorrow series is a series of seven young adult invasion novels written by Australian writer John Marsden, detailing a high-intensity invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novels are related from thefirst person perspective by the main character, Ellie Linton, a part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrillawar on the enemy soldiers in the region around their fictional home town of Wirrawee. The name of the series is derived from the title of the first book, Tomorrow, When The War Began.

Lazer Skirmish

2010-09-12T16:00:00.002+10:00

Outdoor Lazer Skirmish.

Heaps of fun

Barefoot Bowls

2010-09-11T16:00:00.002+10:00

Today I thought I would try out barefoot bowls. It was actually quite fun and not as easy as it may look

My Bowling team

My Gold Coast besties

Rewarding our effots at the bar

Friday night - 10 September 2010

2010-09-10T15:59:00.002+10:00

Courtney wasn't working so we decided to go out for a few drinks.

Us in the VIP area getting our drinks made for us! One bottle of Grey Goose Down

Photo op on the way to a new bar

Kayaking Adventure

2010-09-04T15:59:00.002+10:00

Today I went on a Half Day Dolphin & Straddie Tour.

We paddled across the tranquil waters of the broadwater, snorkled at Wavebreak Island and then paddled across to South Stradbroke Island before heading back.

Snake tracks

Fishie

Adventure Parc

2010-08-22T15:58:00.002+10:00

Adventure Parc is situated in the lovely Mount Tamborine. Its not for the faint hearted and those dam horse stirrups were tough! Am proud to say I made it though through and had a great time doing it!

Adventure Parc™ is a High Ropes course which is designed to be progressively more challenging as you move through the different levels : 2 green, 2 red and 1 black (easy, moderate, & difficult). The height throughout the course varies with the terrain and ranges between 2m and 20m above the ground. There are 83 games in total throughout the 5 courses including 11 flying foxes ranging between 20m and 125m long, bridges, a Tarzan swing, barrels you have to crawl through and nets you must climb across, etc

Rock Climbing

2010-08-07T15:56:00.001+10:00

Attempting to make it up the pole, unfortunately my shoes were too slippery. Next time!

Toffee - Updated pictures

2010-07-19T11:57:00.002+10:00

Here are some updated pictures of the cutest puppy ever!

Saturday Nights on the Gold Coast

2010-07-17T20:00:00.004+10:00

Few pictures of silly Saturday nights on the Gold Coast with some new friends

Courtney and I - me and my friend "shot"

Swingin' Safari last Sat night - those curls stayed in for all of five minutes!

Friends birthday party in Surfers

Couple of Saturdays ago with some girls from my netball team.

Surfer's Jets

2010-07-17T11:58:00.003+10:00

For Mum's birthday she wanted to go Jet Boating!

So on Saturday we headed into Surfers Paradise and jumped on the Surfers Jets. It was actually really fun and there wasn't a dry seat in the house, the spins were cool and we got nice guided tour of the broadwater.

Seeing Eye Dog Puppie

2010-07-08T16:29:00.003+10:00

Hi All

I would like you to meet Austin. Austin is mine and Courtney's puppie that we sponsor for Seeing Eye Dogs Australia.

We writes us letters and he sent us this photo of him sitting on the grass. Hopefully we will get to meet him in October.

He even made it onto the webpage - www.seda.org.au.

Toni

Gold Coast Marathon

2010-07-04T16:28:00.004+10:00

I was a bit into running after the Mother's Day Classic and thought I would try the 5km challenge in the Gold Coast marathon as after breaking my leg that was about as far as I could go pain free.

I had been running it up on the treadmill and was hoping to get in around 30 minutes.

I managed to finish in 30.07 which I was pleased about.

If you click this link you can see me running it, I am 844.

My Trophies

2010-06-08T21:29:00.002+10:00

I was so excited that I won these I had to do a post ASAP!

We were in the grand finals for netball tonight and unfortunately we lost by one measly goal! but we still got a trophy for runner up and I WON the PLAYER of the match trophy so, totally stoked!!

Left one: Runner up

Right one: Player of the match!

Scuba Diving

2010-05-30T16:28:00.002+10:00

I recently joined an Adventure group on the Gold Coast to meet new people and do fun adventure stuff. My first adventure was scuba diving. Something I always wanted to do. It was good fun, but not sure the Gold Coast Broadwater compares to the Blue Hole. Maybe I might try next time up the Great Barrier Reef!

Flash Mob Performance

2010-05-22T11:21:00.002+10:00

I am wearing pink on the right.

As part of the Surfers Paradise Festival the Common People Dance Project were doing a Flash Mob performance and were looking for participants. Sara and I decided to join the bandwagon and spent the next three weeks learning the performance. We finally performed it in Surfers Paradise on Saturday and even made it in the Gold Coast Bulletin. Was heaps of fun and sad its now over.

I am wearing pink on the right.

RSPCA Million Paws Walk

2010-05-16T16:22:00.006+10:00

The Annual RSPCA Millions Paws Walk was today and actually having a dog this year I decided to take Toffee along. Toffee dressed up for the occassion and off we went.

The Million Paws Walk is the biggest fundraiser the RSPCA has. It costs $12.00 to enter and you can do the 1.5 or 3km walk. Toffee's little legs managed to walk it around the full course and we had so much fun with all the other puppies!

Toffee wasn't the only one that dressed up though!

That guy in the white shirt, third from the left, Lincoln Lewis aka Geoff from Home and Away

All pooped after our walk, what a great day!

Mothers Day Classic

2010-05-09T08:00:00.001+10:00

Earlier in the year I decided to set a few goals for myself and one of them was the 8km fun run in the Mother's Day Classic.

I had been running about 5km's on average on the treadmill and only managed to do two 8km runs, but I was still hoping to run in a relatively good time.

A week before the run, I got the Chicken Pox so I couldn't do any more preparation for the run, so fingers crossed.

On the day, I was feeling less itchy and less spotty and was really looking forward to the run and doing it in a good time.

The run went relatively well, luckily I ended up running with another girl who ran at the same pace as me, because otherwise I don't think I would have made it. Being sick and not training and also with my dodgy ankle was making my life hell.

I did however manage to finish the run and was pleasantly surprised that I managed to do it in under 1 hour which was my goal.

I don't think I will do another 8km run as my ankle was just not coming to the party and due to my ice skating injury doesn't work the same any more. I have however signed up for a more manageable 5km run in July which I am hoping to do in around 30 - 35 minutes.

I really want to thank everyone below and was stoked to have raised $140.00 to help breast cancer research. Thanks heaps guys xoxo

Casey Macfarlane (Sun 7th Mar 2010 13:01)	I love your strict training diet - beer & gelati! Good luck, my friend!	$20.00
Justine Turner (Mon 8th Mar 2010 06:24)	Go you! I'm a hater of cancer so in support of all things anti! tehehe.... And because you're a star for running! Luck lil miss xx	$10.00
Louisa Strange (Tue 9th Mar 2010 12:20)		$15.00
Rachel and Cam Jordan (Wed 24th Mar 2010 23:04)	Go Toni!! This is for all those out there who have or maybe effect with breast cancer.	$15.00
Zac Rutledge (Mon 3rd May 2010 05:38)		$10.00
Emma Robinson (Mon 3rd May 2010 20:49)	Great cause Toni, good luck on the run!!	$15.00
Hayley & Niki Laban (Wed 5th May 2010 06:44)	Go You Good Thing! Hope those pox don't slow you down chicky xx	$10.00
Donna Jobson (Mon 10th May 2010 08:36)	You made it.Wow. 40km next lets see how u handle that. Mum	$20.00
Donna Roycroft (Sun 16th May 2010 08:51)	Well done!	$10.00
CAITLIN ALLEN (Tue 25th May 2010 01:26)	HAVE FUN ON THE RUN. :)	$15.00

Raised so far: $140.00

Toni's 27

2010-04-10T11:09:00.002+10:00

Few pictures from my 27th birthday - dancing in Surfers Paradise.

There isn't that many because most of them were blurry.

Thanks to everyone for their text and messages!

Toni xoxo

Last days in New Zealand

2010-04-04T16:17:00.000+10:00

Sunday 3 April 2010

After my exhilirating Bungy jump I said goodbye to Jason and Juliet again not knowing when I would see them again and headed back to the batch to have a shower before heading out of town. Before leaving Taupo though we went for a quick walk to view Huka Falls.

After our tourist stop we headed on to Auckland to stay with Daniel for the night before I flew out the next day back to Aussie.

Daniel was staying house sitting (they obviously didn't know Daniel that well! :)) in an oh so fancy house so Zac and I rocked up

with booze on hand and as it so happens Pam was around so the four of us sat around in the spa for hours, and hours and hours, drinking, reimising about the old times and generally having a great catch up.

There were a few minor spa incidents but nothing that couldn't be handled by four drunk people, plastic cups and the first aid kit!!

The camera unfotuantely didn't come out, but maybe thats not such a bad thing ....

It did make me miss my life back in New Zealand though and my old friends, but I look forward to the next one - maybe you could all come over here!

New Zealand - Part 4 - Taupo Bungy

2010-04-03T22:00:00.000+10:00

Sunday 3 April 2010

After saying goodbye to Debra, Jason, Juliet, Zac and I headed to Taupo Bungy!

I had always wanted to do a Bungy Jump, but with my leg never thought I could, I decided to give it a try anyway. As Jason didn't want to do it and Juliet having already done one, me and Zac paid up and waited our turn in line.

As the line got shorter the more nervous I got, OMG what am I doing, ok so I jumped out of a plane - well helicopter actually - I can do this. But the thing with skydiving is that you don't have to push yourself your instructor does.

As I go up there, I was feeling even more nervous, as I got closer to the edge and looked down I thought WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING. One count down goes by with a little nudge from the instructor, before I grab onto the rail, ok, ok I can do this, give me a minute. She tells me its only going to get harder the longer I stand there, but when you are looking down at a little elastic band that is supposedly going to hold your weight and not let you die, the harder it is to convince yourself to jump off the edge.

After a couple of minutes I told myself to stop being so stupid and I couldn't back out, what would my friends say - Wussss - so I sucked it up, did the countdown, she pushed me a little harder this time and wwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee - well if you watch the video you know that is not what I said - but it was fantastic, great, excellent and would totally recommend it!!

The videos I have below - one is from the pack I brought and the other one is kindly taken by Jason and Juliet.

This movie is me at the top, getting ready to jump

This is me jumping - from spectators view

This is Zac jumping - not quite taking as long as I did!

Trip to New Zealand - Part 3 - Taupo

2010-04-02T15:22:00.001+10:00

Friday 2 April 2010 (Good Friday)

Zac picked me up on Friday morning and after a quick stop to the chemist and servo we were on our way to Taupo. I used to drive the Hamilton Taupo Road all the time when I lived in Taupo and its always a nice scenic drive.

View of Lake and mountains from our batch
Upon getting to Taupo we meet up with Debra, who had come from Tauranga and went to explore our abode for the next couple of days. The batch we hired was really nice and if you are going to Taupo let me know and will give you the details. It was a lockwood home but was toasty warm, especially with the fire and had plenty of space. The only thing wrong with it was I am sure there are GHOSTS, there were a lot of strange noises ... although more "less believing" people put it down to the fact that because it was a lockwood home there was a lot of wood creaks especially when it heated up with the fire.

As we got there early on Friday Debra, Zac and myself headed into town to have some lunch and then stopped by the information centre to find out what sort of fun things we could do in Taupo. We decided to head out to Craters of the Moon - Craters of the Moon Thermal Area is a region with geothermal activity north of Taupo, New Zealand. It has numerous steam vents, constantly shifting, collapsing and reforming giving the whole area desolate appearance. All the craters at The Craters of the Moon are the result of hydrothermal eruptions. The pressure of the steam beneath the surface exceeds the pressure exerted by the weight of the overlying ground. This results in an explosion. A mixture of hot water, steam, hot mud and pumice is ejected into the air. Material may be blown up to 100 m, leaving behind holes or craters as deep as 20 m. Hydrothermal eruptions occur about once a year.

Maybe if I ever come back to New Zealand I thought I might start a business at the craters called "White Woman Cooking Food in a Hole" where I will cook delicious meals in the craters and play

relaxing mud bubble sounds ...

After Craters we headed into town to get some dinner, little did we know that the supermarkets would be closed for Good Friday, damm it, so we headed to a servo and stocked up on (expensive!) snacks and by chance found a butcher and vegie shop open where we got some sausages and salad for dinner.

When we arrived back to the batch Hayley and Sarah were there. The rest of the day was spent drinking in the sun, playing fun drinking games and then we headed into Taupo town for a bit of dancing

Drinking Games

On the right we have the fish game. Where everyone makes their own fish and then blows it across the table.

On the left we have the coin drinking game where people have various amounts of coins between their legs and have to walk so far and put them into a cup. You can see that Sarah and Zac both have different, but effective techniques. Below is Hayleys!

Saturday 3 April 2010 (Easter Saturday)

Today we all had a leisurely lie in and then went into Taupo town for a bit of a wander. Sarah and Hayley were leaving today and it was a sad goodbye because I am not sure when I will see them again.

That afternoon we decided to head to the prawn farm and try our hand at prawn fishing. Full of hope we grabbed our rods and bait and sought out a "good spot". Rods baited and in the water, we waited, and waited, and waited and then decided to move and waited, and waited, and waited and then moved again and waited and waited and waited, and then ... I think you get my drift.

Apparently prawn fishing isn't that easy, after an eternity I finally caught one, yah! I can tell you prawn fishing is quite an art. After a while we decided we couldn't be bothered anymore and went on a tour. Whilst we were on our tour, Zac caught a big prawn and someone gave him a few so at least we had a few to take home and taste.

Me feeding baby Prawns

That afternoon Jason and Juliet turned up to spend the night so as we wanted to go to some hot pools whilst we were in Taupo we thought we might try the free ones. When we went to the information centre we were given a free map that showed a section of the Taupo River that had hot water so we thought we would try it out. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there to find that the river was not only warm but actually quite hot and it made for a relaxing afternoon soak.

We spent the rest of the evening playing this really fun board game, which I forgot the name of now, but will have to get, eating the prawns (they weren't that nice, as they were freshwater they had quite a different taste) and eating birthday cake as it was close to my birthday. Thanks Zac for making a yummy cake, love the decorations!

Sunday 3 April 2010 (Easter Sunday)

That morning I said my goodbyes to Debra, I wasn't sure when I would see her again and wished her well on her journey to Wellington to start her new job!

Trip to New Zealand - Part 2 - Hamilton

2010-03-30T15:50:00.000+10:00

HAMILTON

30 March - 2 April 2010

On Tuesday, instead of catching a busy at 7.30am to Hamilton which is only 1 hour away, I was fortunate to be able to hitch a ride with Nicky's mum as she was heading through Tauranga from Gisborne on her way to Hamilton to see her new grandson.

We got to Hamilton and I spent the time until 5pm looking through Centre Place and Downtown Plaza, which I can tell you have very much gone down hill since I left. At 5pm Kimmy finished worked and I headed back to her house for the reunion with Katie my beloved kitty. Once she was feed and had a run around she was ready to be embraced in my arms. Me and Kim were talking and decided that Kim and Quentin have probably had Katie now longer than I had her!

On Wednesday I had a sleep in and then put my jeans on, yes Hamilton was a bit cooler than I was used to so after 5 months in storage they came out. I unfortunately missed the bus into town so had to walk from Fairview Downs into the city. It wasn't that bad and was a nice piece of exercise to combat all the food I had been eating. I meet up with some old work mates for lunch, wherein I got my long awaited potato and then spent the following two hours catching up with the goss from my old firm.

That night I wasn't feeling so well, ugggg my tummy said, I told my brain that it was maybe just some wind and went to sleep.

When I work up feeling as good as I did in Egypt, I decided that maybe my long awaiting potato gave me a bit more that satisfaction of my potato cravings - a touch of food poisoning maybe because all I ate was toast, potato, bag of potato chips and $1.00 worth of lollies before I started felling sick (no not all in one go throughout about 6 hours).

I did manage however to hall my arse out of bed and head to Chartwell to meet up with Delia for a light lunch and catch up on the goings on in her world. The night I still wasn't feeling flash but that didn't stop me going over to Jason and Juliets. Jason and Juliet built their new house, gosh must be at least three years ago, and I still hadn't seen it. So after the meet and greets of all my Gisborne friends I hadn't seen in ages and Alies baby, Hayden which I hadn't meet yet. I had a grand tour of the house.

I still managed to stuff myself silly on dinner and Jason and Juliet's fabulous homemade creme egg ice cream - YUM! I must get that recipe. The rest of the night was spent playing board games, I especially liked Ticket to Ride which I saw in my local games store the other day and I might be tempted to purchase.

On Friday morning I got up early and packed up all my gears before heading to Taupo for the weekend.

Trip to New Zealand - Part 1 - Tauranga

2010-03-27T16:00:00.001+10:00

TAURANGA
27 March - 30 March 2010

The time had finally come for my long awaited trip to New Zealand. I hadn't been to New Zealand for over two years and was very excited. I arrived at Auckland airport at 1am - after having to wait an extra 20 minutes for late (foreign) passengers - leave without them I say! I can say that because I haven't been late for a flight ... yet! The wonderful Debra picked me up and we drove back to Tauranga to have some sleep before the wedding at 2pm that day. All dressed up in our glad rags we headed off to Kauri Grove for Hayley and Niki's wedding. The weather was perfect, the garden beautiful and the Bride amazing. The ceremony was lovely and I pocketed away a few ideas for WHEN I have my own wedding. After the ceremony it was back to Debra's for a few drinks and dress adjustments and then off to the reception at the Tauranga Rowing Club. The rest of the night was spent drinking and dancing on the dance floor including a conga line, macarina and the limbo.

Hayley and Niki it was a fantastic wedding and I had heaps of fun, well worth the trip over the ditch to come. Hope you have a fabulous honeymoon and look forward to seeing the professional photos. xoxox

Sunday we headed to Bayfair to do some shopping before heading over to Sarah's leaving bbq and leftover wedding food. The rest of my trip in Tauranga was spent catching up with old friends and eating lots of food.

Good Vibrations 2010

2010-02-20T14:41:00.003+10:00

I saw various ad's for the Good Vibrations Festival all over the Gold Coast and as there were a few bands I liked the sound of I decided to buy a ticket and have my music festival virginity taken away.

As the weeks crept closer I went onto the Good Vibrations site and had a look at all the artists. I am useless when it comes to matching songs and singers so I thought that I would youtube all the artists and listen to a couple of their songs. I got more and more excited as I kept on going cause I actually knew a lot of them.

- Killers

- Basement Jaxx

- Gossip

- Busta Rhymes

- Salt-n-Pepa

Gold coast page - Good Vibrations Festival

The day finally came around and what a fantastic day for it. The weather was good but a little overcast so wasn't so hot.

After a few drinks at a friends house we walked around finding a taxi to take us there. Once we mish mashed ourselves inside the venue and after purchasing drinks tickets we were ready. We ping ponged from a lot of the various music and drink tents listening to the artists that took our fancy. There was one big downpour during the night, fortunately it was when I decided to go to the toilet and as it was a quick shower I didn't get wet.

Killers were the big act of the night and they didn't disappoint.

Unfortunately, because I am an idiot (this has happened before) I brought my fully charged camera to the festival but I didn't bring my memory stick so I only took a few photos.

I had a good time at the festival but at $145.00 probably won't be going to another one any time soon.

Toni

Sara's 24th Birthday

2010-02-13T18:22:00.001+10:00

Its was Sara's birthday this week so we decided to go out into Surfers Paradise to celebrate.

The night started with free drinks at Bedroom nightclub. The Bedroom nightclub is where Ms Coutts-ma-loots works. For your birthday you can bring at least 10 friends into the nightclub with free entry and free drinks from 8-10 and the birthday person gets free fishbowls from 8-12! How good is that?! Making the most of the free drinks

So thats what we did. The Bedroom isn't really for me and I was the oldest one there but was good to hang out with the sisters and see what I am not missing by not going to this club on a Saturday night!

Oh how we all look alike!

Me again!

2010-02-12T15:45:00.009+10:00

You will all remember this picture from my blog - TNT - where Debra took my picture at La Tomatina and I sent it into TNT magazine where I won free tickets to Stonehenge and Bath.

Well not only did it get featured in TNT magzine its also a picture on the banner on their site - click here!

PS - this might be more exciting for me rather than the readers of my blog!

New Years 2009 - 2010

2009-12-31T15:32:00.004+10:00

I hadn't really made any plans for this New Years as I didn't have a lot of money and was feeling a bit down after the fantastic New Years I had in France the previous year.

But, I put on my happy face and my party dress and headed round to Tracey's house for some drinks with her cousins and their friends.

As I didn't really know anyone these are the only two photos I took.

I did however have a good New Years and was ... a little bit tammer this year!

My Box - Simpsons wouldn't recommend

2009-12-16T13:24:00.000+10:00

I had decided to ship some things home to the Gold Coast and only organised two days before I left - which I don't recommend.

I decided to go with Simpsons because they were the cheapest. I lugged all my stuff down to London Bridge as because I wasn't going to be home that is where they were going to have to collect it.

I had packed, no more than 30kgs worth of things into my box, securely sealed the top, sides and bottom and then went on to fill in the paperwork.

- Did you pack it yourself - Yes

- Is there any alchol in there - Nope, I remembed to take that small bottle of sangria out

- Is there anything there that was used to package fruti - No ... as a image flashes through my mind of me putting all my magnets into a plastic container that I had washed, that did once house strawberries ... she'll be right I said for the next three months, secretly hoping they wouldn't notice the container and that I had lied on my declaration form. I watch Airline, I know thats bad!

I got an email in December from the Australian company telling me that my box was due to arrive in Australia, yah, and also letting me know that if I wanted it to be delivered to the Gold Coast that will be another $80.00 plus GST.

Hold up! I got a quote that was for door to door service my invoice was issued to my address in Southport and there is no mention of Brisbane whatsoever. I promptly wrote back to them to say that I paid for door to door service and this is my invoice for door to door service.

This is what I got back

Dear Ms O'Neill,

Further to your email, I have reviewed your file, and at the time of obtaining a quotation, you selected the first option of Brisbane, QLD Fremantle/Perth, Sydney Adelaide Melbourne or within 30 mile radius of port., and this is the quotation which you accepted.

Southport is 75 kms / 47 miles from Brisbane, and therefore outside of the zone you selected and paid for. If delivery is required to this address, then additional charges are payable to cover this. Whilst our records show an address in Southport, this is correspondence / postal address based on the details provided.

We can instruct our agents to forward and deliver your consignment to Southport, however we would require payment of GBP 15.00, this being the difference payable in zones. Please let me have your instructions / payment at the earliest opportunity, to resolve.

So I wrote back and said

Dear Tracy

As per my email above I did not prepare the quotation - so I did not select the first option.

I provided the information to your office at the quotations email address and then to Steve at your office. Steve prepared the quotes on my behalf with the information I provided - as per the attachment I forwarded in my previous email .

As a person who is not familiar with the zones, etc you use in your office, how was I supposed to know that

Destination:Australia,

Australia(Zone AU-A)

was not in fact what I wanted? That it was in Brisbane and not in Southport where I clearly wanted my box to go?

As professional people in this industry I expected that what information I gave would be put into my quotation and when I accepted that quotation that my box would be delivered to the address that I specified.

I have been very unhappy with the service I have received from Simpsons my emails go for days/weeks unanswered or delayed, I had to chase up my invoice to try and make a payment and then when I got my invoice it didn't reflect the deposit I have already paid, I couldn't get the website to work and now I am having this issue. At the end of the day all I want is for my box to be delivered and I think its very unfair to ask me to pay for the additional costs when it was your office that did not provide me with the correct quotations and the correct area on where my box was to be delivered to.

I am asking you to consider changing your position and telling Ocean Sky that they are to deliver my box free of charge to my chosen address in Southport. I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

And this is the reply I got

Further to your email, I have referred your email onto my manager, and on this occasion he has authorised me to have your cartons delivered at no additional cost to yourself. I will contact Ocean Sky Int'l and inform them of this accordingly. Please accept my sincere apologies on behalf of our company for the inconvenience which has been caused with this matter.

Yes I won this time Simpsons

I now have my box, it got delivered looking like the dogs attacked it but at least its in one piece and I have all my pretty souveniers.

Now I don't tell you this story to bore you to death I tell you this story to warn you about the problems I have had with my box. I will also let you know that another friend who shipped her box back to New Zealand got an email from the NZ port authority telling her that her box had been lost! They then called her back and told her that in fact her box was not lost but it was left in the UK. She then had to wait another 3 months for her box.

When you look at shipping your things home to whereever you may live, maybe Simpsons isn't the best company to use ...

Courtney's 21st

2009-12-09T15:14:00.006+10:00

From 18 (couldn't find any younger ones on the system)

to 21

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUTTS

In celebration of her 21st she had an Aztec themed party in our back yard.

Toni

Toffee, Tof Tof, Toffe Pops, Toffee Tops, Tofinator, Puppy

2009-12-05T14:56:00.013+10:00

Toffee - Toffee is my sister's 21st and christmas present from her boyfriend.

She is a little puppy dog - chihuahua silky terrier or Silkyawa for short.

Courtney wasn't really allowed to have the dog becuase we rent and aren't allowed dogs, we don't have any grass in the fenced off section and she isn't responsbile enough for a puppy (phew, it wasn't a baby!)

But ... Toffee has become a much loved pet in the O'Neill household and you really miss her when she isn't about.

As we have never really had a dog cause we are cat people, having a puppy is a real challenge, and something the whole family has had to adopt and adapt to.

Toffee is a smart puppy, she can sit, drop, beg and roll over but when it comes to toilet training she is just not interested! Any suggestions on the best way to get her understand that when we put you outside for a couple of hours its so she can got toilet and not come inside and immediately pee on the floor - lucky we have wooden floors.

I love having Toffee around and she is just so funny when she runs around the house like her tails on fire but not so much when she runs out the front door, down the street, across the road and into the neighbours lawn and you have to chase her in your pj's yelling Toffeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

You might be mad for a little bit then she looks at you with her puppy dog eyes and you can't resist ......

Nights out in the Goldie

2009-11-05T15:16:00.000+10:00

Tracey, the blonde girl above whom I met in London and now lives on the Goldie, was going out for a few drinks with some friends from Brisbane (she used to live in Brisbane) I tagged along and had a good night out in Surfers but ... man oh man ... some of the worst blisters ever!

What a mish!

2009-11-01T14:36:00.000+10:00

Wow, what a mission.

It may not look like a lot to you, and its a bit of a mess with the formatting and fonts which is really annoying because I spent ages trying to fix them, but that post took ages, especially since it had lots of pictures.

It may be boring to you but I like to write the history as well so I remember what I have learn. This blog is as much a diary for me as well as something fun for you to read thats why I spend a while trying to get it right!

Now onwards and upwards to my tales back in the Southern Hemisphere!

Stay tuned they should be much easier and faster to blog.

Hope you all still enjoy reading my blog. I am loving the new bloggers, Tim and Louisa and Debra's commitment to their blogs. Keep it up!!

Love Toni

Michael's Visit

2009-10-14T15:10:00.007+10:00

Michael, my flatmate in London was over in Austrlaia for a wedding at the same time I just arrived back home so he came down the Goldie for a visit.

Michael getting IDed - not something he is used too!

It was really nice having him here for a couple of days and made the transition a little easier.

Miss you Mike!

Back in Oz

2009-10-13T14:17:00.010+10:00

SURFERS PARADISE BEACH

Well I am back ... from outer space. I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face ...

Ok, so I didn't go to outer space but it was a 24 hour plane ride away and that's pretty far. I had a pretty good plan trip and managed to watch lots of movies, I wouldn't however, recommend wearing jeans for the whole trip - WHAT was I thinking!~

I have arrived back on the Gold Coast safe and sound and ... HOT. It must be 35 degrees today, lucky Courtney's fancy, pancy brand new car has good aircon. It was nice of my sister's to make the effort to come to the airport to pick me up in Brisbane, where my mother was? ... can tell she missed me!

After 24 hours of flying and 30+ hours of being awake I tired my hardest not to go to bed straight away. It was nice to be back home with my all my STUFF that I NEED - well so I told myself 1.5 years ago when I packed it away.

It was nice to come back to clothes, even though they are over 2 years old, they are new to me now and even though I can't find most of them, damm Heathrow injection, I am working on it.

Being back home has been different and has been a little hard to adjust to a regular job, not having many friends, no holidays and just not the fun loving atmosphere London has. I miss London and my friends like crazy I am trying to make the most of being back home. I have had some fun adventures which I will share with you in separate blogs.

Miss all my friends both in NZ and London and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Toni
xoxxo

Ireland

2009-10-05T14:50:00.009+10:00

IRELAND

5 October 2009 - Monday

This morning I dragged my post church body out of bed, because this morning I was catching a flight to Dublin with Debra to spend a week of sight seeing around Ireland before heading back to Australia.

Once we landed in Dublin, we picked up our hire car and headed to Belfast for the night. I wanted to start in Belfast because that is originally where the "O’Neill" clan came from and I also wanted to go to all four UK countries before I went home. - Belfast is situated in the North East corner of Ireland and is the second biggest city on the island. Belfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom Prior to its recent political troubles Belfast built the Titanic, invented the Tractor and gave the world George Best, Van Morrison and CS Lewis.

The O'Neill clan had a presence in the area. In the 14th century, Clan Aedh Buidh, descendants of Hugh O'Neill built Grey Castle at Castlereagh, now in the east of the city.Conn O'Neill also owned land in the area, one remaining link being the Conn's Water river flowing through east Belfast.

6 October 2009 - Tuesday

BELFAST

After a somewhat disrupted nights sleep in the hostel we got up and headed out on a Black Taxi tour of Belfast city. Debra recommended this tour as she had done one before. You are taken around in a Black Cab and the driver explains the history of the city and takes you around to all the important landmarks. Most of the tour was about the politics/religious problems that the city had and still has.

Belfast has been the scene of various episodes of sectarian conflict between its Roman Catholic and Protestant populations. The most recent example of this is known as the Troubles - a civil conflict that raged from around 1969 to the late 1990s. Belfast saw some of the worst of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, particularly in the 1970s, with rival paramilitary groups forming on both sides. Bombing, assassination and street violence formed a backdrop to life throughout the Troubles. The Provisional IRA detonated twenty-two bombs, all in a confined area in the city centre in 1972, on what is known as "Bloody Friday", killing nine people. The IRA also killed hundreds of other civilians and members of the security forces.

There is still a lot of conflict between the populations in Belfast and the areas in which each "side" lives is clearly marked out with colours portraying their faith painted on the road side, on the houses and flying various flags. You need to be a bit careful where you choose to live around here.

On the tour we got taken to Shankhill Road where the photos of the murals, below left, were taken. I can't remember where I took the other ones. There are lots of different murals painted all around Belfast city.

Here is a little extract I found which explains a bit about the politics and trouble in Northern Ireland and what it looks like from a tourists point of view

The Sandy Row area is a Protestant zone. I saw my first Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) mural. The UVF, UFF (Ulster Freedom Fighters) and the like are Northern Ireland (NI)'s Protestant paramilitary groups, set up primarily to counter the influence of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the INLA (Irish National Liberation Front), which aims to unite NI with the Republic of Ireland.

As in all other conflicts elsewhere, such paramilitary groups - both the Protestant and the Catholic ones - were initially established to protect the local community or to achieve specific political aims, but frequently degenerate into glorified versions of local criminal gangs and terrorist apparatus. At the Sandy Row, other themes glorified by the murals include the Union, the Queen and the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary). The RUC is the local police force of NI and an object of hatred among the Catholic community, who sees the RUC, rightfully or wrongfully, as pro-Protestant and anti-Catholic.

The Union Jack and the NI flag - St George's Cross with the Red Hand of Ulster in the middle - were hung from many buildings. I have never seen so many Union Jacks in my life - even more than the UK "Mainland", where people flying the flag are more likely to be seen as those in the extreme right wing.

Walking northwards through a run-down deserted area - the "no man's land" with barbed wire, fortified shelters, shuttered shopfronts and lots of rubble - and then I saw my first Irish flag. I have entered the Falls Road area - the Catholic Ghetto of Belfast. Here the theme is the opposite – an united Ireland, peace, the Potato Famine (during which more than a million people starved to death - the "Genocide" of Ireland, as some slogans here claim), Hurrah-To-IRA, Down-With-RUC, etc. Some road kerbs were even painted green-white-orange, the Irish national colours. Plus murals on Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Catalonia.

Just north of Falls Road is the Shankill Road - Protestant area. A "Berlin Wall" separated the two parts.

Gates (the “peace line”) separating the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. These are actually some of the shorter gates I saw. There are much taller ones that look like they came from a maximum security prison.

Protestant neighborhood. I’ve never seen so many British flags in my entire life – even the curbs were painted red, white, and blue. This place has really gone on a jingoistic binge – it seems as if they are desperately trying to prove themselves loyal to an increasingly ambivalent British government.

After the Black Taxi Cab tour we headed up to Belfast Castle for a quick look around - The familiar landmark of Belfast Castle, overlooks the city from a prominent site 400 feet above sea level on the slopes of Cave Hill. This magnificent sandstone building, recently restored by Belfast City Council's Parks Department, has close associations with the city's history.

ANTRIM

After the castle we headed to Antrim - It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland - where the O'Neill's were quite prominent and apparently there is a castle up there somewhere that is the "O'Neill castle", although thats not its actual name. All we found was this ruined castle, but I am claiming it as my own O'Neill castle. Apparently the O'Neills were quite prominent up there so surely its an O'Neill castle!

Shane's Castle this is the one I was hoping to find, but we couldn't - Shane's Castle,--or, as it was once called, "Eden-duff-carrick,"--has been, since the year 1345, the home of the O'Neills. The Royal house of O'Neill traces its history back to the very beginning of Ireland's story. They were kings of Ulster for one thousand years. Like the branches of a great oak tree that has its roots twined about the very heart of the earth itself, it would be impossible to record a tithe of the events connected with such a people as the O'Neills.

O'Neill History

Imagine this: Off the coast of a faraway, misty land, two chiefs on separate boats were competing to reach the shore. The stakes are high: the winner will get all the land beyond. Both tried their best, rowing as fast as they could but it soon become apparent that one of them was way ahead of the other. Just as the winner was about to reach the shore, the losing chief cut off his hand, threw the blood-dripping hand onto the shore and won the race.

You will see from the murals above that there is a hand on the rock, that is a mural of this story.

Bizarre ? Spare me that hair-raising tale, you may say, but a whole people have adopted the Red Hand as their national symbol. The Red Hand was originally the symbol of the O'Neills, a major Irish Catholic clan in Ulster.

The Red Hand of O'Neill, also known as Red Hand of Ulster and occasionally even as Red Hand of Ireland, is perhaps the most prominent symbol in the province of Ulster. The Red Hand of O'Neill is derived from the coat of arms from the Uá Niáll clan. The Uá Niáll, meaning Grandson of the Champion and later anglicised to O'Neill, have reigned over large parts of Ulster for at least two millennia.Nowadays the symbolism of the Red Hand of O'Neill is completely ripped off its historical context.

- Interesting site - Mythical or Biblical decedents?

LONDONDERRY

After Antrim we headed to Londonderry - is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and home to the Bloody Sunday masacures.

On Sunday January 30, 1972, 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march in the Bogside area. Another 13 were wounded and one further man later died of his wounds. This event came to be known as Bloody Sunday.

We visited a museum in Londonderry dedicated to the Bloody Sunday Masacures which had lots of information about Bloody Sunday and lots of ... momentos from the day. This was a massive event in Londonderry and there are murals everywhere depicting it.You will find that this event touched many lives and that some artists even wrote songs about it - maybe the post popular one you have heard is by U2

Shots were fired by a mindless military,
The people ran they were unarmed
Across the world we will read of Derry
And those who died by oppressive hands.
—Cruachan, "Bloody Sunday"

Well it was Sunday bloody Sunday

When they shot the people there

The cries of thirteen martyrs

Filled the Free Derry airIs there any one amongst you

Dare to blame it on the kids?

Not a soldier boy was bleeding

When they nailed the coffin lids!
—John Lennon and Yoko Ono "Sunday Bloody Sunday"

And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?

The trenches dug within our hearts

And mothers, children, brothers, sisters

Torn apart.

Sunday, bloody Sunday.

Sunday, bloody Sunday.
—U2 "Sunday Bloody Sunday"

After visiting Londonderry we headed to Sligo where we found a cute B & B to stay in for the night.

7 October 2009 - Wednesday

Today we got up early and headed to Galway. We didn't stay in Galway long as we just needed to pop in there to find out the best way to get to the Aran Islands - The Aran Islands a group of three islands located at the mouth of Galway Bay, on the west coast of Ireland. Irish is the main spoken language on all three islands, and is the language used naming the islands and their villages and townlands.

ARAN ISLANDS

We found out the way and headed to Galway Bay and brought a ferry ticket to get across. Ferry is the only way to get across to the Island and there is only a passenger ferry so most of the locals who live on the island have to have cars on the mainland as well. These islands were really nice to see as they were off the beaten track a bit. Not many people live on the Island and the official language on the Islands is Irish, which everyone spoke.

We visited the biggest island - Inishmore (Irish: Inis Mór) is the largest of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay in Ireland and has an area of 31 square kilometres (12 sq mi).

When we got off the ferry we thought we might bike around the island but were told we didn't really have enough time so hoped in one of the local's vans for a tour around the island.

First stop:

Dun Aonghasa - this is the most famous of several prehistoric forts on the Aran Islands. It is located on Inishmore at the edge of an approximately 100 metre high cliff.

View back over the Island from the fort

After looking at the fort we stopped in this little cafe for a delicious meal. I had a Guinness and beef stew and it was so yum, and nice for a cold day. After lunch we headed to the seven churches and graveyard for a wander around the monastic ruins.

These cute little houses were all over the island and we were told they were for the fairies!

8 October 2009 - Thursday

Today we got up and headed out and about on our road trip again. Today we stopped at:

Dungarie Castle - Dunguaire Castle is a 16th-century tower house on the southeastern shore of Galway Bay The castle's 75-foot tower and its defensive wall have been restored to excellent condition, and the grounds are open to tourists during the summer. It is thought to be the most photographed castle in Ireland.

Beautiful panoramic view from Dunguarie Castle

Corcomroe Abbey is an early 13th-century Cistercian monastery located in the north of the Burren region of County Clare. The abbey is noted for its detailed carvings and other rich ornamentation, which are not commonly found in structures from this period. It features a typical cruciform church facing east, with a small chapel in each transept.

Poulnabrone Dolmen is a portal tomb in the Burren, County Clare, dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC. A crack was discovered in the eastern portal stone in 1985. Following the resulting collapse, the dolmen was dismantled, and the cracked stone was replaced. Excavations during this time found that between 16 and 22 adults and 6 children were buried under the monument. Personal items buried with the dead included a polished stone axe, a bone pendant, quartz crystals, weapons and pottery. In the Bronze Age, around 1700BC, a newborn baby was buried in the portico, just outside the entrance. With its dominating presence on the limestone landscape of the Burren, the tomb must have remained a centre for ceremony and ritual until well into the Celtic period.

We then drove to a wildlife centre in County Clare. I can't remember the exact name but it included The Burren Birds of Prey Centre and Ailwee Cave.

At the Burren Birds of Prey Centre we looked around all the birds on display. My favourite bird was the Great Grey Owl. It was cute and everywhere you walked you felt like it was watching you, which I guess could be scary but was fun to try and trick out! After looking at the birds we sat down and watched the bird show. I even got to hold one of the birds.

After the bird show we headed up the road a bit to Ailwee Cave.

The cave system consists of over a kilometer of passages leading into the heart of the mountain. Its features include an underground river and a waterfall as well as some large stalactites and stalagmites. The remains of bears can also be seen inside the caves. It was discovered in 1944, when a farmer named Jacko McGann followed his dog who was chasing a rabbit. The farmer did not explore very far into the caves, and did not tell anyone of the find for nearly 40 years. He told cavers of the cave in 1973 and that summer the cave was explored as far a boulder choke.

This is where a bear used to sleep.

After the caves we stopped at another tourist destination - The Cliffs of Moher The cliffs boast one of Ireland's most spectacular views.On a clear day the Aran Islands are visible in Galway Bay . See picture below. O'Brien's Tower is a round stone tower at the approximate midpoint of the cliffs. It was built by Sir Cornelius O'Brien, a descendant of Ireland's High King Brian Boru, in order to impress female visitors. The Cliffs of Moher is amongst the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland, and topped the list of attractions in 2006 by drawing almost one million visitors.[5]. As of June 2009 the Cliffs were in 5th place in the Seascapes section of the "New Seven Wonders" competition. The "New Seven Wonders" winners are expected to be announced in 2010.

After the cliffs we headed towards Dublin. We thought we would stay in a cute little B & B or something on the way before heading to Dublin the next day. We drove around but after being quote 40 euros each to stay above a smelly pub for the night we decided to keep on driving to Dublin to stay for free at Debra's house.

The picture on the left - On the way to Debra's house the GPS decided to take us on an adventure of the back roads to Dublin. There were very narrow roads and lots of twisting and turning! Well done to Debra for staying on the road and for managing to pull over far enough to let cars pass going the other way.

9 October 2009 - Friday

Today as we still had the rental care we headed out to Powerscourt Estate is a large country estate which is noted for its house and landscaped gardensThe house, originally a 13th century castle, was extensively altered during the 18th century by German architect Richard Cassels, starting in 1731and finishing in 1741. A fire in 1974 left the house lying as a shell until it was renovated in 1996.

The house and the gardens would of been beautiful to look around in but ... not so much when its pouring down with rain and you can't even see in front of you because the rain is so hard. So instead of looking around the gardens we walked though the house and learnt about the history of the place and the fire. There were lots of shops inside too which we browsed through. It looks like a really nice place from the pictures I have seen and if you are over there might be nice to go and have a look at.

Last weekend in London

2009-10-02T15:05:00.008+10:00

2 October 2009

After getting back from Athens it was time to quickly head home, get changed and then head back into London Bridge for some leaving drinks. We went to the Wheatsheaf which is a nice bar under the building I used to work at. Thanks to everyone that was able to come it was really nice to see you before I went home.

After everyone left Casey and myself headed to the Slug and Lettuce for some more drinks and some dinner, we ended up going to some bar in ... Angel maybe ... which wasn't that good so as per usual for me, I ended up in the walkabout at Finchley Road.

4 October 2009

Today was my last trip to the Church. Debra and Casey were both in town for the weekend and so we all headed to my favourite Sunday past time for one last Sunday session.

Louisa and I had been working on our costumes for some time, as you can see we dressed up as a bee and a lady bird and Debra joined in dressing up in a fairy outfit, with Tim as a doctor and Casey as a hippie we were ready to go!

Besties

All my lovely friends who I had to leave when I left London - miss you all heaps and heaps!

Lovely wings that we made for our costumes

After the Church we headed to the She Bu walkie differently that we usually do. Amanda's friend Dan gave us a ride in the back of his van.

Movie of van ride!

We found Nicola at the Walkie, pie stop on the way to the walkie, picture of my pretty wings!

Miss you guys all heaps and heaps and here is a re-cap of my other Church experiences

- Time One - joined by Hayley and Niki
- Time Two - joined by Richard and tall Michael
- Time Three - joined by Debra, Karen and Amanda
- Time four - joined by other Michael

Part 5 - Santorini

2009-09-28T15:33:00.003+10:00

Santorini

28 September 2009 - 1 October 2009

28 September 2009

Today we were leaving Ios and heading to Santorini, which is said to be the prettiest island. Unfortunately our ferry was 1.5 hours late but we eventually made it. We found a place to stay, it too was up and down another hill but it was okay and I think we paid around 15.00 per night which was good as Santorini is also quite expensive.

That avo we walked through the winding streets of Santorini browsing at the shops and taking in the scenery. Santorini - is a small, circular archipelago of volcanic islands located in the southern Aegean Sea. The largest island is known as Thēra . Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion.

The township of Thera is positioned on top of a hill. You will see from the photo above that most of the houses and business are actually built on the side of the hill. So that means that the only way up and down to the township are specially built paths. You can either drive up in the car or get a lift with the donkey. The donkey rides were 5 euros each way so we decided to walk down the donkey path to the port and then take a donkey up. They were huge donkey's, I actually think they were mules. I never knew the difference before but mules are actually a cross between donkeys and horses. The locals tried to scam us, they told us that you can't get donkeys at the bottom and that we had to go up and down on a donkey, but that so isn't true so just keep a watch our for that.

This is the donkey path here.

29 September 2009

This morning we got up early and took the cable car down to the port instead of the donkeys as we were going on a boat ride out to the volcano, a tour of the volcano, a stop at Therasia and a stop off at Oia.

The Minoan eruption of Thera was a major catastrophic volcanic eruption which is estimated to have occurred in the mid second millennium BCE. The eruption was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history.

We took a boat ride out to the hot pools near the volcano. You can't get that close to the hot pools with the boat so we all had to jump off the side and swim to the hot pools. Luckily I had a new waterproof camera and was able to take it with me to get a pic. You can see our boat in the background.

After our dip we headed for a walk around the volcano. Our tour guide was in a bit of a hurry so we power walked up to the top of the volcano. Volcanic rock is quite different from normal rocks to walk on and can be extremely sharp if you slip and fall (which I didn't for the record:))

<------The volcano from Santorini

Casey and on on the volcano with Santorini in the background -->

After our walk around the volcano we stopped off at the port of Therasia - is a small Gr eek island west of Santorini in the Cyclades. The population was 268 inhabitants in 2001 . The island is part of the community of Oia . Santorini and Therasia were separated by the Thera eruption.

We only really had time here to have a walk along the port front (as you had to take a donkey up to the top as well) a quick swim and something to eat. It was however worthwhile stopping there as its the only place we saw flags on the windmill.

After Therasia was went over to Oia which is another township in Santorini - Oia remains one of the foremost tourist attractions of the Aegean Sea. The famous Oia sunset, considered by many as one of the most beautiful in the world - to have a look around and watch the famous sunset and we weren't disappointed. It was amazing and looked even better with one of the Greek Island windmills in the picture.

30 September 2009

Today we decided to head to the beach. There were a few to choose from and we choose Perissa Beach. It was nice to have a relaxing day down by the beach for our last day to soak in some more rays and a relaxing massage.

That night decided to check out the Santorini nightlife we headed out around midnight but, as with most other places we found there weren't that many people out. We stayed out for a few hours and had a dance but came home fairly early.

1 Ocotber 2009

Today we spent the morning laxing out by the pool and last minute souvenir shopping before getting back on the ferry to Piraeus Wharf. Unfortunately for us we didn't really time our trip right as we originally planned on getting a night ferry back but they only ran every second day which was annoying so we ended up having to get a ferry at 3.30pm and wasting the rest of the day on the ferry. We did however get aeroplane seats which were nice as the ferry didn't dock until 12am. We stayed that night at Piraeus wharf and then headed to the airport for out 10am flight back to London.

Part 4 - Ios

2009-09-26T15:39:00.003+10:00

Ios

26 September - 27 September 2009

People waiting for you to get off the ferry - this was actually quite tame compared to some of them. In the second photo, the guy in the blue is who we went with.

26 September 2009

This morning we quickly checked out of our hotel (someone broke the shower...) and went for a walk around Old Town Naxos as we had to wait sometime for our ferry. Today we were leaving Naxos and heading to Ios - the party Island, apparently...

Ios -is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides, situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It has gained a reputation and a half as the party island. In the height of the season - mid July until end of August - its ludicrously over crowed, with the attendant problems of noise, poor sanitation, alcohol and theft - all of which are more evident than on the other islands and with the locals getting in on the act with god-knows what in your spirits it can be quite dangerous if you are not sensible.

That afternoon after getting a lift to our new room (15 euros a night I think, and this one had a kitchen) we walked down the hill (and I can tell you that hill wasn't fun - think we walked up and down it about 3 times per day !! phew) we went for a quick walk around town. As with most islands the town was a mass of windy streets, but imagine the slippery, sloping steps that are awkward enough when sober, never mind when totally sozzled and in the dark and which is why there is always someone hopping around with their leg in plaster!

After trekking down the hill and up again after dinner we decided to get on our glad rags and head into Ios town on a Saturday night. this should be good we thought, it was the end of the peak season being mid - late September but surely it should still be going off. At around 10ish we went into town for a few pre-clubbing drinks, mmmm quiet, but thats ok its only early. After a few cocktails we decided to have a look around and check out the potential "hot spots". Alright 12 rolled around and we looked but there was still not much going on then I saw a group of young people "must be a tour. We need to be where they are going!" I said, so we secretly followed them to this bar, their group were the only ones in there but it was enough to look lively so we followed them in and had a few drinks.

After some dancing they left and so did we to this next bar that had all kinds of shots, including Creme Egg and Malteser ones which were my favourite. After a few shots we had another look around, but to be honest for a Saturday night on the party island it was pretty much dead. There weren't a lot of people around and most of the nightclubs seemed to be closed for the season. Unless you come in the peak season I don't recommend coming to Ios as there isn't a lot to do here.

This photo was taken with the beauty setting on my camera, don't we look lovely for 1.30am!

27 September 2009

View from our accommodation - we walked up to those three churches

This morning we had a nice sleep in before exploring Ios. From our accommodation at the top of the hill we could see into the town and in the middle of the island is a hill with three churches perched on top. That we decided would be our destination.

We walked down the hill into town, after going the wrong way a couple of times in the windy streets we made it to the top of the hill and to the churches. It was a good walk and was sooo windy at the top but had fantastic views of the island. The hill actually looks a lot steeper and harder to climb than it actually was.

After our walk we decided to head to the beach. It was a pretty overcast day so wasn't great for swimming but we wanted to check it out anyway. We walked to Milopotas Beach which is one of the best beaches in the Aegean. It is large enough to accommodate even the High Seasons crowds and looks like it would be a little village town. When we were there however it looked like a deserted ghost town. All the shops were closed for the season, renovations were being done and hardly anyone around.

After an afternoon rest we headed up behind our accommodation to the Amphitheatre - Odysseas Elytis Theatre: Odysseas Elytis was considered to be a revolutionary Greek poet who wrote modern and defining poetry unlike other poets who used ancient Greece as a source of inspiration. The Odysseas Elytis Amphitheatre named after the famous Noble prize winning poet himself is located at the top of the hill of Chora in Ios behind the whitewashed windmills that stand there.Though the amphitheatre is made of marble in ancient Greek style, it was constructed relatively recently as compared to other architectural wonders of Ios. It is a colossal structure and can hold upto 1100 people at any given time. It has breathtaking views over Ios.

Part 3 - Naxos

2009-09-23T11:18:00.016+10:00

Naxos
23 September - 25 September 2009

23 September 2009

We decided to leave the beautiful Mykonos today and brought two tickets to Naxos. Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture.

We brought the wrong tickets but ended up on a super fast boat and got there in half the time, which wasn’t such a bad thing. Today we managed to get accommodation for 10 euros (it was the worst place we stayed at) whilst it was still clean and fine, it was a mish and a half to lock the door with the ancient key!

As we were still close to town that avo we walked around the headland to have a look around.

Whilst Naxos wasn’t as pretty and maybe that is because it wasn’t as touristy it still had its highlights – which we see tomorrow.

24 September 2009
Today we decided to check out all the touristy things in Naxos

The Venetian Castle - Naxos town is located under the Venetian Castle built by Marco Sanudo after the fourth crusade. The Kastro was built on dense constructions of the Middle Ages. The "Barozzi" House is located at the southwestern gate of the Kastro and is still in property of the family. The Barozzis were one of the 7 families who founded Venice and were barons on Santorini. One of the houses has a nice shop "Antico Venetico" selling old dishes, furniture and textiles in the backroom, reminding the rule of the dukes. Actually, it is more or less a museum and has 4 columns of classical temples.

The castle is basically a whole bunch of buildings (mostly the brown in the photo above) and winding paths up the top of the hill. We decided to do a castle tour which included:

- The Venetian House Museum - which is a small private museum run by the decendants of the original owners.

- Taste of the traditional drink which I can't quite remember the name of

- History of the castle

- Archaeological Museum

- Byzantine Museum

After the tour we headed to The Antico Veneziano Shop which is just down the path from the Venetian House Museum. The Shop is housed in another Venetian House and is well worth a visit.

We were also told about the The Mycenaean city – which is located in the area of Grotta, in Naxos Town. Some ruins still stand, while part of the city is under water. According to recent findings, the agora of the ancient city stood in the area.

This is a little church on an island in the port of Naxos, there seemed to be some festival going on whilst we were there. --->

After the tour we headed to the gate which you can see for miles. Naxos Gate: This is all that is left of what was once to become a grand Apollon temple. The construction of the temple was started during times of prosperity around the year 530 b.c, but was never finished, and throughout the years most of the blocks of marble have been removed and used in the construction of other buildings. What is left of the temple today is only this 6 metre high frontal gate, as well as parts of the foundation wall. The idea of this gate standing like this for more than 2500 years without collapsing is incredible. Especially considering the number of powerful earthquakes that have hit the area throughout the years.

On my Greek Island Hopping book I got there was a picture of this gate on the front cover with someone standing in the doorway. The gate however was fenced off with, well, a fence that is just asking to be jumped over. When the coast was clear me and Casey jumped the fence and took our picture in the centre just like the book and quickly ran away again just in case 2009 was the year it was all going to come tumbling down! Can you imagine it – “Struck down by Ancient Ruins” “Two female tourists living in the UK were struck down my ancient ruins in Naxos Greece whilst trying to copy book cover”.

After spending the morning at the castle we decided to catch a bus to shark rock. I had been looking forward to this since I read it in my book and had the instructions on how to make it look like a shark to hand! (anyone who knows me, especially Debra, will know how excited I would get about something like this!). We jumped off the bus and walked towards shark rock, as we walked up the hill I was starting to get excited and then Casey yelled “there it is” I took one look to my right and then started power walking away. “What are you doing?” yelled Casey. “OMG did you not see that man, that was all I saw, I didn’t even see the bloody rock”. “No” she says and has a look again. Ewe ewe w ewe ew was all we could say and quickly walked away. OMG what a freak, lets get out of here and come back later and hopefully he has gone. Now you are probably all wondering what we saw, lets just say … this man must get excited by rocks that look like sharks and wondering tourists. So we walked down the other side of the hill, down the board walk and stumbled upon a nudist beach, eyes down we kept walking and then I saw somebody on top of the sand dunes, naked and staring right at us. OMG I say, what kinda place is this, just a free for all to pleasure yourself. Ewe w ewew ewwe ewe. So we kept walking and after about 30 minutes decided to brave it and walk back to take a very far away picture with super zoom, of shark rock. The boardwalk was clear, phew and we got to the top of shark rock hill. We made it and creepy man wasn’t there, snap, snap, snap and then suddenly from behind the rock creepy man pops out. "Run!" I yell he was coming towards us and because I had sneakers on I just bolted through the bushes, once I stopped I thought crap where is Casey? Some friend I am, just running and leaving her behind. Fortunately she made it down again and we power walked back to the bus stop to get out of this creepy place!

25 September 2009

Today Casey decided to do a bus tour of the island whilst I decided to go to the beach for a tan. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that flash hot so just had a few quick dips and had an afternoon nap.

For dinner we headed to Susanna’s an Italian Restaurant that had amazing mussels and homemade wine. We walked home and then settled in with the ipod speakers and some drinks to get ready to go out. Being a Friday night and being in the know (ie. Don’t go out until midnight) we were ready for a good night. So we walked into town at 12ish and looked for the hot spots. Hmmm, there was music blasting but no many people, so we walked up and down the main street for a bit, hmm no one, ok lets just sit down and have a few strawberry frozen daiquiris and hang out and wait for a bit at 1.30am we were like, what this sucks, lets go home to bed. I am not sure where you are supposed to go there but it was pretty dumb!

Part 2 - Mykonos

2009-09-21T11:12:00.012+10:00

Mykonos

21 September 2009 – 22 September 2009
Mykonos is part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. There are 9,320 inhabitants. It is believed that the island was named after a local hero, who is considered an offspring of the god Apollo and was worshipped locally in antiquity.

Today we got up at 5.30am and headed to the Metro station to jump on a train and head to Pireaus

Wharf which is where the ferries leave for the Greek Islands. Unfortunately we didn't pre-book seats, which I would recommend for the long ferries (this one was 5 hours), so I found a possie outside with my trusty blankie braving the elements to have a snooze whereas Casey did the traveller’s hunch over a table inside.

A little later in the morning when the sun came out --->

When we were planning for our trip we did a lot of investigation into tours, books, etc. We were told by everyone that the best thing to do is just cruise! Don’t pre-book your accommodation or ferries as its easy peasy when you get there. People will just be lining up at the docks with places to stay. Ok we said, we are independent woman, we can go on holiday and not pre-book accommodation, gulp! As we were due to dock we grabbed all our things and hoped what everyone said was as easy as they said. Fortunately for us it was. As soon as we got off the ferry all these people came towards us, bombarded us (I felt like a celebrity) offering accommodation. We took the first guy who talked to us, Bobby, because he was patient and didn’t pester us and also because it seemed that they were all the same price. We were travelling just off peak season so we paid 20 euros each per night, which we thought was pretty good – Mykonos was the most expensive place we stayed but it was our favourite. You will find as well that the people will drive you to and from your accommodation which is great! No wondering around in the dark looking for your hostel.

That avo as we were close to town we decided to walk down the hill (note: most islands are hilly!).

We had a look around the harbour, the famous Greek Island windmills - The windmills of Mykonos are the trademark of the whole island. They can be seen from every point of Chora (main town) village and they are the first thing to see when the ship gets close to the harbour, as they stand on a hill overlooking the area. There are 16 windmills today on Mykonos. Most of them were built by the Venetians in the 16th century and till the early 20th century, they were used to grind the wheat. They were an important source of income for the inhabitants and supported a lot the economy of Mykonos in difficult times. With the evolution of economy, their use gradually declined till they stop working in the middle of the 20th century -

We also saw the filming of “Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos” - is set to star both Nick Giannopoulos& Vince Colosimo (Vince also starred in Underbelly) and is set for a 2010 release. The sequel will be filmed on location in both Melbourne and Greece, and will involve Frank (Vince Colosimo) following Steve (Nick Giannopoulos) to Mykonos in order to collect a family inheritance. It was pretty exciting and we even had a word to Vince.

22 September 2009
This morning we slept in (after having to get up at 5.30 the previous morning) and then went to the beach. Unfortunately for us we caught the wrong bus and this beach wasn’t as good so we jumped back on another bus and headed to Paradise Beach. In peak season this beach would be packed but it was quietening down so wasn’t that bad for us, we managed to secure two chairs right near the edge of the water and spent the afternoon reading, sitting in the sun and just generally relaxing.

That night we decided to get dressed up and see what the Mykonian night life had to offer. We had a few drinks at home and headed in around 9.30ish. When we got there we were told it was far too early for dancing and that midnight was the time to go out. Ok then, so we went to a busy restaurant called Nikos for dinner. We were seated close to a local man and ended up chatting to him through

dinner. He grew up in Mykonos but now lived in San Francisco. He was really nice and chatted to us about growing up on the island, helped us with some Greek letters, shared his wine and even paid for our dinner! After dinner he took us to his brother’s bar that had amazing views of the windmills, where we had some drinks, listened to some traditional Greek music and watched some Greek dancing – I even got dragged up for a bit of a dance. We then headed to the Downunder bar for a shot before heading to Scandinavia Bar where we spent the rest of the night dancing and chatting to Syros who told us he was a male Gigolo!

When it was time to go we decided to try and walk home, now imagine the streets of Mykonos in the day time like the labyrinth, how’s about in the dark with two semi fully intoxicated girls. I was convinced we could find the way home, but after we ended up in sooooo the wrong direction, I agreed to get a taxi home.

- being a bit silly on the way home!

** TONI'S BLOG **

Bryon Bay

Trev's Water Sports

Brigid's Farewell

Story Bridge Climb

Glow Worms

Sara's 25th Birthday Party

Lazy

Seaworld Adventures

80's Party at Pat's

Rockclimbing and Night at the Grand

Races

New Years 2010 / 2011

Courtney and I hitting the town on Tuesday night

Strassman

Work Christmas Party

Drinks with Steph and Sharon

Christmas Party

BBQ Landmines

RSPCA Santa Photo for Toffee

Mount Warning

Paintball

Daniel's visit

Austin - Seeing Eye dog puppy

Tomorrow When the War Began

Lazer Skirmish

Barefoot Bowls

Friday night - 10 September 2010

Kayaking Adventure

Adventure Parc

Rock Climbing

Toffee - Updated pictures

Saturday Nights on the Gold Coast

Surfer's Jets

Seeing Eye Dog Puppie

Gold Coast Marathon

My Trophies

Scuba Diving

Flash Mob Performance

RSPCA Million Paws Walk

Mothers Day Classic

Raised so far: $140.00

Toni's 27

Last days in New Zealand

New Zealand - Part 4 - Taupo Bungy

Trip to New Zealand - Part 3 - Taupo

Trip to New Zealand - Part 2 - Hamilton

Trip to New Zealand - Part 1 - Tauranga

Good Vibrations 2010

Sara's 24th Birthday

Me again!

New Years 2009 - 2010

My Box - Simpsons wouldn't recommend

Courtney's 21st

Toffee, Tof Tof, Toffe Pops, Toffee Tops, Tofinator, Puppy

Nights out in the Goldie

What a mish!

Michael's Visit

Back in Oz

Ireland

Last weekend in London

Part 5 - Santorini

Part 4 - Ios

Part 3 - Naxos

Part 2 - Mykonos

TONI'S BLOG