G'Day Grants!

Finally getting started on recapping my parents' visit to Australia.  Here's a look at their first couple (very jet lagged) days here in Gladstone. 

As if the fourteen hour flight wasn't already long enough, my parents were unfortunate enough to have a flight delay that involved them having to land on some random island that I had never even heard of near (ish) the coast of Australia in order to refuel (kind of scary, right?).  Luckily, they were still able to arrive on the same day... just about 7 hours later than scheduled.  Needless to say they were exhausted, but we were so excited to have them here finally! 



Welcome basket & the embarrassing airport greeting sign I made :-)

The next morning, we went for brunch at Gladstone's own Gecko Valley Winery.  As you can tell from the photo below, this vineyard is still in major recovery mode after some pretty major bush fires two years ago.  But it's still a pretty spot nonetheless. 

 

 

The rest of the day, I played drill sergeant tour guide and tried to keep my parents moving and out and about in hopes of quickly getting over jet lag.  My motto was, "no naps allowed!"  I'm so mean :)  So off we went for the grand "tour de Gladstone."  This mostly included exciting things that I didn't take photos of like, driving past the school where I work, pointing out landmarks such as the ever exciting K-Mart, and driving down the one street that is "down town" Gladstone.  Oh small town life... So glamorous.  But we did make it to some of Gladstone's more scenic spots, such as The Auckland Lookout Point. I actually discovered this place pretty recently, and it has a great view of the harbour (look at me spelling things like an Aussie- sheesh), the marina, and a few lovely industrial eyesores that can't be overlooked. :-) 



Auckland Lookout Point

Auckland Lookout Point


 


Auckland Lookout Point

Next up was a quick stop at the Marina, which is actually one of my favorite parts of Gladstone.



Spinnaker Park at the Marina

We ended the day with a visit to Canoe Point so that my parents could get their first glimpse of the Australian Pacific Ocean!  We ended up being there at such a pretty time of day- the lighting was awesome.  And we got to see a pretty amazing sunset!  I don't think I'll ever get over what a strange feeling it is to watch the sunset over the ocean here and think about my day ending and a new day just beginning "back at home."  Usually this makes me feel kind of lonely thinking about my friends and family, literally on the other side of the world.  But this time it was such an awesome feeling to finally have some of the people I love most on my side of the world to experience it with me! 



Heading down to Canoe Point