Australia Day!

Yesterday was Australia Day. The 26th of January is the annual celebration which marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Sydney Cove, New South Wales and the raising of the flag of Great Britain by Governor Arthur Phillip. For many it is known as 'Invasion Day' or 'Survival Day.' I can see their point. If the day falls upon a weekend the following Monday is a National Holiday...which was the case today. I hardly noticed it

We travelled from Frogknot to Toowoomba. We visited our friend Julié (pronounced Ju-lay). She used to live in Stanthorpe but has now bought  house in Toowoomba. It was a lovely house which has a fabulous pool. We sat and chatted on the verandah. She loves her pool.

"I just float in the noodle," she said.

I thought she was saying she swam in the nude. The pool was not that secluded and I was thinking she was brave but she explained a 'noodle' is a long thin cylindrical float.

She had a 'cunning plan' for us...we put up some pictures, and carried two large bookshelves from her garage into the house as well as some boxes of books. Will passed a box of books to me and in picking up another brushed off a spider clinging to it.

"Was that a red-back?" asked Julié. He nodded. I dropped my box and checked it thoroughly before picking it up again.

It was lovely to see her and we hope to go back and see her again soon and avail ourselves of her pool and float in the noodle.

We stayed the night at Andrew's who also lives in Toowoomba and caught up with some great British TV including some of the new 'This is Jinsy' series.

We are back now in Brisbane. It is feeling a bit cooler than when we left. The school holidays are over and the new school year starts tomorrow. Trace and Jen are coming up to stay tomorrow and a week tomorrow we fly to Fiji.

Good times!