Down Under Update-007

Sarah's boss let us borrow her car over the weekend and we went back to Tamborine Mountain to refill our wine stash and do some bushwalking. We barely got up some of those hills with her little Proton Gen 2, I think a scooter would have done it better. We made a quick stop for another case of wine and then to the trailhead for Curtis Falls. This was one of the more unique falls in the area because you can view it from the base as most of the others are from the top. It was a very short trek but the forrest was beautiful! We were just walking around with our jaws in the dirt. We continued the loop trail for even more beauty that was hard to comprehend and landed at a giant rock on a creek for lunch. Sometime you just feel like you are in an REI ad or one of those granola bar commercials. We ended the day at this bistro owned by the brewery and had one of the best meals we have had - not just the best in Australia but in Seattle too. They also own a cheese shop and all businesses are next to each other so it could possibly be the best piece of property in all of Australia. We started with a cheese platter with some triple creme brie and woody English flavors then onto the mains. Sarah had a gnocchi dish made with cheese from next door and some of the richest creme sauce I have tasted. I had a steak topped over roasted mushrooms and spinach with onion jam and a au juis sauce. Hands down, the best steak I have had - you can't beat that combo, I still think about it.

Christmas this year was very different but we seemed to make it feel very normal. We were surprised with a call from Aunt Marsha, Skye and Erik on our Christmas morning then we called my mom, then Lee and Lynn called us. After an incredible breakfast we finally got to our presents. We put a $50.00 cap on our spending and got each other little silly things. It was super fun and almost better then real presents. Usually after all of the family celebrations we have our own Christmas and it felt very much like this. Mellow, comfy, and just S and me enjoying the day. It was very comforting for it being our first Christmas without family. We did the Australian tradition of spending the afternoon on the beach. We packed up a cooler and chairs and watched the insane waves all day. There was a Typhoon somewhere which caused chaos in the water with 10ft swells and white caps throughout. Surf Patrol wouldn't allow any swimmers so the entire beach was full of people. We made another incredible meal that night and made plans to take the bus to the mall for Boxing Day in the morning. We picked up cleaning supplies, pans, cups, linens, and towels for our new apartment. That night we made our final meal at our castle in the sky and watched another mind blowing sunset that topped both of our lists.