Eye Spy... adventures

I'm going to choose my funnest (and often silly) adventure, dating back to 1998 (before digital cameras!), where my best friend and I packed her parents camper van up and traveled from Geelong (Vic) up the east coast for 3 months. We started late September..... had the time of our lives!
We had a business called B'zerk Objects! and were selling off our products at markets along the way for extra money. Photo above is us at Albert Park in Brisbane on market day for radio 3zzz.fm. We had been up all night enjoying the night life of Fortitude Valley and met a guy from the radio station who told us about the market day on the next day and the next thing you know we had a stall set up!

This was our ever faithful van "Noggie" (number plates were NOG....), who, as you can see, had many uses! We're at Gympie market here. We did a stint of zucchini picking in Gympie and sorry to say will never return to that town again!

It was not all work... we did do stacks of exploring and seeing the touristy spots as well. (This shot is in Mount Warning N.P. and that's me) Some of our 'highlights' were:
* Me crashing the van at the start of the journey (we were fine, Noggie would have to be put down after our travels though...)
* Doing the 900 steps of the Giant Stairway in the Blue Mountains
* Discovering fave spots like Glebe, Byron Bay area (inc. Nimbin and Bangalow)
* Freebie nights (saying in the van somewhere public) and getting caught in the morning! (Noosa)
* Helpful neighbour thinking we found a snake in our van, when all it was just a spider, ready to get it out (Grafton Park)
* A tick in a neck.... freaky experience for those not use to ticks! (Thanks Tea Tree Plantation, Ballina)
* Playing pool (billiards) OUTSIDE at the pub! (Nth Straddie Island)
* Feeding dolphins (Tin Can Bay)
* Sawing coconuts in half and drinking cocktails on the beach, while sitting on a broken blow up bed (Inskip Point)
* Commando Kev (!) our tour 'guide' on Frazer Island (and the Island itself)
* Scuba diving lessons at Lake McKenzie
* Hot chips with chilli sour cream (Railway Hotel, Byron)
* Tasting different rums (Bunderburg).
I'm sure there was lots more, but these ones seem to stand out.

Ahhh, the days of freedom, where all you had to worry about was yourself! Anyway.....

Thanks to Weezie's Woolies for this theme, was a good one for flipping through photo albums!
Head over to Bug and Pop's for more adventures.

Theme Shopping: Pirates (Aarrr!)

1. Pirate play set by Kaper Kidz $16.50 (everything you need to play Pirates matey!)
2. Pirate and his treasure puzzle by Djeco $28.00
3. Pirate stickers by Djeco $4.95 (Having a partee me harties?)
4. Pirate cone puppet by Kaper Kidz $7.00

A bit puzzled about Djeco!

Have been stocking a tiny bit of Djeco for a while now, planning to introduce a larger range of their fantastic products as the months go on..... FINALLY have done so!
This round is mainly to work the mind of little ones - in the form of peg puzzles (like the one above) for the smallest of hands.....

... including 4 and 9 cube picture puzzles (this one is titled "The Nap" - where every animals is taking their nap!)Then there are the traditional puzzles for older kids, like this one above, The Queen of Hearts. Every puzzle is beautifully illustrated and comes in a great shaped box - looks good on display!

One of my favourites - the Geoform box set. Endless magnetic picture fun here! I might ask Santa for this......


Lastly, not a puzzle, but cool sticker packs! We've got 3 designs so far. Little Juliette is too sweet - you can stick her body some where and then dress her with other stickers.... oooooohh, maybe I want this instead?

Check out the rest of Djeco products at bpab. Your Christmas list has just gotten a little bit longer....

Sydney to Melbourne ride for Macular Degeneration

Do you bike ride?
We sometimes go as a family for a ride along the tracks near our house. It's enjoyable, a bit of hard work at times (esp. for me as I don't do it much!) and we always have a child sitting in front of us to talk to (thanks to the Weeride).
We once rode from Balwyn North to Melbourne CDB along the tracks. It took about 4 hours and the thought of riding back home again almost bought 3 of us to tears. (So we took the train home and rode from the station.)
Mat rides all the time and wants to ride to Frankston along the Eastlink track soon. I won't be his companion! Lucky our brother-in-law wants to do it too...

Okay, now, who has ridden the stretch along the coast from Sydney to Melbourne (or the other way around)? It's over 1200 km long.
Well the two guys pictured above have departed today (at 7am from the Sydney Opera House) to do just that. So what you say? Well one of them is legally blind!

Matt Formston has 5% vision. At the age of 5 he was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration.
My awesome friend Scott Williamson is riding with Matt to act as his verbal guide to obstacles on the road that Matt may not see (pot holes, changes of road surface, up coming hills or sharp bends... that sort of thing).
The team aim to ride along the coast and end their amazing journey at Federation Square in Melbourne on 24th November.
They are raising funds for Macular Degeneration. Please consider giving a donation to this worthy cause, even if it's to just show these two guys your support.
Find out more about their journey (there's photos, a blog) or to learn about Macular Degeneration on the official site.
Become a fan on their Facebook page.

I know they can do it and wish them a safe and beautiful journey.

Theme Shopping: Fruit

1. Cherry denim swap pocket mirror by Lark $4.95 (lots of other designs too)
2. Felt Apple Pear Orange by Papoose $13.95 for the set
3. Knitted Watermelon Rattle by Lark $14.95
4. Fruity Orange Easy Wash Paint by Micador $6.95 (there are 5 other colours too)
5. Pink Apple Hoodie by Monstar Kids $38.00 (comes in grey with yellow apple too)
6. Alfred Berry Card by Poppies For Grace $6.50
7. Knitted Strawberry Rattle by Lark $14.95
8. Knitted Blue Cherry Cupcake Rattle by Lark $14.95 (comes in pink too)
9. Knitted Strawberry Ice Cream Rattle by Lark $14.95 (there are 3 other flavours too)
10. Green Cherry Tee by Monstar Kids $29.00 (comes in red tee with white cherries too)

Playing in Peekaboo magazine

A new FREE glossy magazine has hit the streets of Brisbane (QLD) and in letterboxes beyond!
It's Peekaboo and we're in it... in the play section. The breakfast set, pencil set and animal bell ring rattles make an appearance.
We are also giving away a Smoothies and Juices book, as just one of the tons of freebies you could win in this first issue.
The mag. is set to be released every quarter and is a brilliant addition to every Queensland parents coffee table or baby bag - with a map of local child hot spots (shops, parks, cafes...) plus a list of markets in the area too.
If you are not in the Brisbane area, you can subscribe to Peekaboo and have it delivered to your door anywhere in Australia. There's a cooking corner, on-line shopping goodies, lots of give-aways to enter plus articles on travel, fashion, food....
Download the first issue of Peekaboo magazine and tell me what you think.

Project18 video

This video was made as a response to the Australia Zoo competition.

They've won 2nd place, which shows how great their efforts are.

Please take the time to look into the Project18 cause and spread the word around. (website not launched at time of writing this)

beyond pink and blue will be an active participant in Project18 fundraising this coming year, as they will be our chosen charity for 2010.

There is a widget on the right hand side of this blog for you to make a donation to Project18 anytime you feel the urge to give and click on the 'info' symbol to read more.

I will be unveiling more of bpab efforts soon.