Mum and Dad arrive

We got back from Vietnam the morning of March 31st, and luckily I didn’t have to work until the evening of the next day.  So we spent some time relaxing and getting settled back into life in Townsville.  I then worked the next 7 or 8 days, which were overall uneventful.  Lindsay used the time to get caught up with her work as well.  After that stretch, I had 4 days off in a row in anticipation of my parents visiting.  They had been gallivanting around the continent for the previous 2 ½ weeks apparently having a good time.  Of course, I wouldn’t have known that if not for my numerous phone calls around Australia trying to find out if they were even alive.  From my first trip to Europe to this current year in Australia and every trip in between, I have been hounded to call them and check in.  What do I get in return?  Some excuses about an inability to find an Internet café (there are millions!) and broken phone cards (not needed to call domestically).  I guess it a good thing that they were having so much fun that they just didn’t have time to check in and reassure their loving and caring son.

At 5pm on Thursday, Lindsay and I drove to the Townsville airport and picked them up.  The next four days were great.  The night of their arrival we had a Greek BBQ, sat out on our porch, and drank wine.  In anticipation of their arrival, Lindsay and I had gone to Dan Murphy's, our favorite discount liquor store, to stock up on vino.  We were initially worried we had bought too much and that we would have to give some away when we moved away two weeks later.  One hour after my parents arrived we no longer had that worry.

The next day we went for a walk on The Strand and then drove out to the Billabong Sanctuary, where they held koalas, fed kangaroos, and saw a croc feeding show.  After a quick picnic lunch, we came back home and cleaned up before heading out to our favorite restaurant, Osman's, for a delicious Turkish meal. On our way to dinner we drove up to the top of Castle Hill to watch one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.  

The next day started with another nice long walk along The Strand followed by a BBQ down by the Rockpool, where we met our friends Anders and Carina.  It was one of those typical perfect Townsville days.  That night we drove to Dairy Farmers Stadium for ¾ of a very uninspired North Queensland Cowboys rugby game.  We actually spent most of our time talking about how to the game could be improved....

On Sunday we got up early and took the ferry to Magnetic Island for our last trip on the island.  We picked up a moke and we were off.  We saw the rock wallabies and did the “Forts” hike, where we saw two koalas in the trees.  Later we had lunch and hung out at Horseshoe Bay.  After lunch I was able to convince Lindsay to join me on a tube ride around the bay.  Despite her paralyzing fear of the deadly irukandji and box jellyfish in the water, she agreed to do it - and what a great time it was.  After returning on the ferry to Townsville, we went out to the Seaview Hotel for a steak dinner…on them!!!

The next morning I went off to work while Mum and Dad watched the last round of the Masters before catching their flight to Sydney.  It was such a wonderful weekend and it was hard to say goodbye even though we knew we'd be back in the States soon enough.  On a selfish note, their visit was a perfect excuse for Lindsay and me to check out all of our favorite places one last time prior to moving.  It was great.