This weekend was pretty close to the perfect weekend.
We found a drive-in theatre about 40 minutes south of Brisbane. We went the weekend that Batman came out (much to our chagrin) and it was obscenely packed. We decided to venture back this Friday night, hoping it was a calmer crowd. We called ahead and ordered Dominos pizza, picked it and some chocolate up and made our way to the theatre. We got a perfect spot and although 2 movies in our little Hyundai i20 was probably a bit much for my lower back, we still had a blast. It’s so sad that there are so few drive-ins anymore. We need to bring them back to Philly. It’s the perfect combination of movie-magic. You get to have the big screen, you get to bring your own food and you get to talk through the whole movie without pissing people off around you. Hubby and I are notorious for making fun of movies and these two (The Expendables and the Bourne Legacy for crying out loud!) were no exception. We always try to be funnier than each other and we love it. We are able to curb it if we have to – so don’t be afraid to watch a movie with us if you ever get the chance.
On Saturday, we had to get up super early to head down to the Gold Coast for our scheduled Whale Watch. We had purchased a Groupon and had been really looking forward to this. It ended up being simply awesome. The weather was cool, but not unbearable. We saw a lot of whales. Hubby had never seen one and the last one I saw was in 6th grade, so we got pretty into it. I took about a zillion photos. We tried to ignore the fact that this was a touristy thing to do and just embraced it.
We found a drive-in theatre about 40 minutes south of Brisbane. We went the weekend that Batman came out (much to our chagrin) and it was obscenely packed. We decided to venture back this Friday night, hoping it was a calmer crowd. We called ahead and ordered Dominos pizza, picked it and some chocolate up and made our way to the theatre. We got a perfect spot and although 2 movies in our little Hyundai i20 was probably a bit much for my lower back, we still had a blast. It’s so sad that there are so few drive-ins anymore. We need to bring them back to Philly. It’s the perfect combination of movie-magic. You get to have the big screen, you get to bring your own food and you get to talk through the whole movie without pissing people off around you. Hubby and I are notorious for making fun of movies and these two (The Expendables and the Bourne Legacy for crying out loud!) were no exception. We always try to be funnier than each other and we love it. We are able to curb it if we have to – so don’t be afraid to watch a movie with us if you ever get the chance.
On Saturday, we had to get up super early to head down to the Gold Coast for our scheduled Whale Watch. We had purchased a Groupon and had been really looking forward to this. It ended up being simply awesome. The weather was cool, but not unbearable. We saw a lot of whales. Hubby had never seen one and the last one I saw was in 6th grade, so we got pretty into it. I took about a zillion photos. We tried to ignore the fact that this was a touristy thing to do and just embraced it.
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| The beautiful Gold Coast - Surfer's Paradise from the sea |
The one thing that could have irritated me to the point of distraction was that they played the local radio station the whole time. Not just music mind you, but the radio station so that our magical moments of viewing these amazing beasts and the wonder of God’s creation was set to the backdrop of insurance ads, car promos and political banter. The only thing to do in situations like that is to smile knowing that you’ll have an inside joke later on. This has already proved to be true: sometimes Hubby plays the radio really loud for a certain song he likes then forgets its blaring during the commercials. I’ve already had the pleasure of asking him if we are on a whale watch or something!
On Sunday we visited the church that Hubby has been volunteering with. He’s been working in their equivalent of a food shelf a few days during the week to stay busy while we are here and to get a chance to contribute. So we went to their Sunday morning service and it was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because we house-church and love a small community of believers all interwoven in each other’s lives and in some ways it spoils us when we visit big churches. We generally leave feeling a bit of home-sickness to what we long for, but this time was really enjoyable. Maybe it’s because we’re far from home in all senses and we don’t have a community of believers in any size, but it just felt nice to sit in a room with fellow sojourners. Hopefully we’ll get to go back again. We try to get away most weekends while we are in Australia for this short time, but if we’re in town, we’ll make sure we go back.
And then…
We went to a footy game! If you are Australian your next question would be which footy? This is the nickname used for 3 entirely different sports. We went to an Australian Rules Football game and it was a blast. The cost of most everything in Australia is higher than the US, but sports are still accessible here it seems. A colleague at my work got us tickets and we joined him and his wife. When we arrived, we followed the seat numbers on our tickets and we were in the FRONT ROW! We would have to sell our house to get seats like this in the States but he told us they were just $37!
Amazing.
The game was so much fun. The field is huge. I have no idea how huge, but it felt like at least 3 American football fields! The Brisbane team won like 122 to 40 so that made it sweeter. The most amazing thing happened at the end though (if you are an American, sit down for this part) – when it was all over and the teams left the field, they opened the gates and everyone got to go out on the field and throw balls around (that ppl had brought with them). Can you even imagine this happening in the US??
Someone would get into a fight and someone would probably take a dump on the field!!
Someone would get into a fight and someone would probably take a dump on the field!!
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| Everyone playing on the field after the game |
Oh, another highlight when I brought my purse in through security the guard opened it and without looking into it said “I trust you”. I really love Australia sometimes!
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| Me on the field wearing my Brisbane Lions gear |
So, the perfect weekend. We also took a nap on Saturday afternoon and laid and read by the pool on Sunday so it was the sweetest blend of doing things and relaxing. I need to remember this when we go home. We have a terrible habit of either doing nothing and feeling like we wasted the time, or we jam pack it and feel like we need a holiday afterwards!
How was your weekend – anything noteworthy?
How was your weekend – anything noteworthy?
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