Sunday, 18 August 2013

Relaxing is exhausting!

 I think I need a holiday to recover from my amazing Brisbane holiday Extravaganza! Don't get me wrong, I feel quite refreshed and energised, but it was an intense couple of weeks. I was expecting leisurely days under trees just me and a good book (or my laptop), what I got was madness. Joyous, staggering, undeniable, non-stopping madness!

There were very few moments of peace and quiet and some days it seemed like everyone was clamouring for our attention. Mr Saunders and myself have never felt so popular. The downside to this of course was the overwhelming (albeit at times self imposed) pressure to give up things we really wanted to do, or time we wanted to spend alone to see everyone who desperately wanted to catch up. We didn't get to catch up with everyone and Truly we are sorry, but there are only so many hours in two weeks and we used every single one of them!

We began our holiday by going to Imbil and saying goodbye to Mr Saunders' stepfather, a truly amazing man. Alan will be sincerely missed by everyone who knew him, being able to see his memorial stone out in the forest on his favourite corner of the rally track was a touching moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life.




After the quiet and reflective weekend the Catching up began, not just with friends and family, there are places in Brisbane that mean a lot to Mr Saunders and myself, places we went together on dates as well as places we had never seen together before. There was shopping to be done and glorious food to be had, as much as I like Mt Isa it is not a town that offers the culinary or fashion choices of bigger city.
It seemed every day was a fast paced reckoning, a race to get as much in as possible, by the end of our first week we knew there was no possible way we could fit everything we wanted in and the sacrifices began. 

We didn't want to seem ungrateful or rude but it was just not practical to afford every person we knew an individual time to catch up with us. Some people may think it is rude that we did not chase them down and pinpoint precise times to catch up personally and at their convenience but if we allowed ourselves to work around everyone else's availability we would have gotten even less time to enjoy the sights. As it was we wasted a few days waiting for people who didn't make it to meet us at the time they said they would.

Rather then dwell on the parts of our holiday that didn't go to plan Mr Saunders and myself decided to prioritise our remaining time and make the most of the places we could see and the things we did do. We bought clothes and shoes and other products not available in Mt Isa, we walked around Brisbane city taking in the beauty and sights of a city we miss and spent much needed time with family. The highlights of the trip for me, were many, Yum Cha at King of Kings Seafood Restaurant (the place our wedding reception will be held) with a group of old and dear friends, Margarita’s at Cactus Republic with Mr Saunders and the Beautiful Timeetee, as well as Dinner at Le Classic French Restaurant with mum and Mr Saunders.
A lot of the highlights revolve around good company and good food, both of which are very important in my world. Mr Saunders and I treasure our friends and family, and being the die-hard foodies we are can not go past an opportunity to share amazing food with the ones we love. Indeed my two top highlights from the holiday also involve food, on our last full day in Brisbane we headed out to Red Hill and ate lunch in a small, local kebab shop called No No's, a place we would eat at every week when we lived in the area. Walking through the old neighbourhood and eating the best kebabs on offer in Brisbane was a great way to reminisce. We even bought some other Lebanese goodies to bring home with us.
The best day of the entire trip however was definitely our anniversary (or what would have been our wedding day if we had not postponed it.), We spent an entire day together with just the two of us. 


After a nice breakfast we walked through the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and stood in the lychee garden which is where we will stand again next year when we finally get married. 



We had Mexican ( Cactus Republic again) for lunch before a relaxing walk through South Bank, a reservation at Sono for dinner was the perfect ending to the day. We had the Zen Course complimented with sake tasting, plum wine (for me) and Japanese beer (Mr Saunders), one of the best anniversary dinners ever!


It was an amazing holiday but I'm so glad to be home, we both missed the babies very much, I am even looking forward to returning to the day job and will be making an effort to find more time for writing. I look forward to our next trip away though perhaps we will go somewhere a little less hectic then a city where we know so many people, I’m going to have to put my thinking hat on and find a place where unlike the bar Cheers, nobody knows your name.

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