Mountains

Driving to Maleny, the scenery are awesome. Lush trees and mountains are surrounding the roads.







*****

South Bank, Brisbane

My friend and I went to Southbank as well. We played tourists of course and have some food there and browse at the markets.


The Brisbane River.

The Brisbane sign is never without people taking photos.

The "Eye of Brisbane" side view. 

*****

Queens St Brisbane

A friend of mine visited for a weekend so we did a bit of exploring in the city. First stop, of course, is coffee at Starbucks. We shopped a bit too at the H & M, it's somewhat new in Australia.

Queen St is a bustling part of the city as most of the shops are there.  The part that I know of is mostly for pedestrian.  There are restos and cafe in the middle.

Here are some view of the buildings.  There are always buskers.






*****

Super Market War

In my first few years here, I have only been shopping at Woolworths.  I am not really sure of the reasoning.  Mcj has always been shopping there.  May it be due to convenience?  And I remember now that he said, because Woolies are fully Australian owned.  Okay, I am okay with that.  

My MIL had been shopping everywhere, Aldi and Woolies.  Plus she bought meat from the butcher.  

We moved suburbs and then the prices of groceries are just sky-rocketing.  I found myself shopping at Aldi for our main household items that I can get there like coffee, washing powder, frozen veggies and some fresh veggies.  I still shop at Woolies though for items like ice cream, good quality meat, treats and drinks.  I also shop at Costco.  Can't be a member without shopping there.  I buy some bulk products but primarily stuff that we don't need.  Lol.

So where am I leading to this?  With my location, I can shop to any supermarket.  The competition is so high that it is good for the consumers as the price is really competitive.  But I found that price is not the only driving factor why people shop at their favourite shops.  It's also the quality, convenience and there's still some loyalty in there and I am not talking of the loyalty cards either.  

I heard, there's another german shop coming up but I am not sure that we will get one near our place.  I just hope that you don't have to be a member to shop there.  

Fuel Prices

When I first got here, the price of fuel per litre was less than a dollar.  I am talking about petrol or unleaded.  That was the end of 2005.  Now, when the cycle is on it's peak you get to pay almost $1.50.  When it's the cheapest, you pay about $1.20.  And that is in Costco where you have to pay $60/year to become a member and avail the discounts on the fuel and groceries.  

My question is why is the prices so high.  It can't be due to Australia dollar.  When it was almost at par or over with the US dollar, the fuel prices didn't change at all.  Now, it's around 70c and the price is almost the same.

Another question.  Why is the diesel dearer than unleaded.  You would think that a fuel that requires less processing would be cheaper, isn't it? 

Somewhere in the Philippines

This I got from Facebook.  And look at the house and the view.  I could retire here.  Amazing.


Bathurst 1000

Today is Bathurst 1000.  Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race.  It's a 1000 km circuit in Mount Panorama, Bathurst, NSW.  It's considered the pinnacle of the racing in Australia.  It is called The Great Race by the people.  


Every year, on the second weekend of October our lounge room is dominated by the sound of cars engine revving and whatever else noise the cars make.  But this is normal in our household.  We mainly watch sports of any form.  I don't complain as I like sports myself.

I got the chance to see the opening of the program and it was electric even on TV.  It's in Mcj's bucket list to see it live.



Some of the snaps I took of the super hornet at the start of the race.