I didn’t twig that last Friday (the 25th) was the last Friday in July so I missed posting this. Oh well. I’m going ahead with it today.
- Seeing whales from our apartment in the Gold Coast
- A fun race weekend with our friend M and our daughter S at the Gold Coast. Lots of laughs, good food, running and race spectating. (I’ll just ignore my slow time)
- Not getting COVID from our daughter. She picked it up from work, got sick on the Saturday morning, but was feeling well enough on the Thursday to fly up and meet us at the Gold Coast. She wore a mask on the plane but once with us that obviously wasn’t going to be practical, but she didn’t pass it on so mustn’t have been contagious by then. She did give to her sister who she lives with and flew off leaving her sick at home.
- Our dinner at St Peter in Sydney. A bucket list experience and a lesson in the versatility of seafood. They aim to use the whole fish and achieve about 90% use as opposed to the usual 45-55%.
- Staring out at the big blue ocean from our balcony. There is something so meditative in doing this.
- The weather in Noosa. We have been up here most of July and it has only rained a couple of times and we’ve only had one day where it rained a lot. As I type this I’m sitting at the table in our apartment and I can look out the window at the sun sparkling on the river. Enjoying the blue sky and sun on the water on my walks and runs. So beautiful!
- Sunsets over the river
- The kids coming up to stay with us while we are here. S came from the Gold Coast up to Noosa for our first week up here. E stopped in on his way home opping his friends wedding in Townsville. He overlapped two nights with S. H stayed with us for ten days, going home on Tuesday.
- Good food. We have had some great meals while we’ve been here.
- Having mum and dad up here. My parents come up most years and this year we’ve overlapped for the majority of the time we’ve been in Noosa. They stay just up the road from us, so we’ve gone for walks, had pre-dinner drinks, gone out for lunches and dinners and on Monday we had slideshow night—my photos from the UK, then their photos from Sicily and Malta.
- Getting back to my favourite Noosa runs. Enjoying the natural setting.
- While H was here she wanted a return visit to the Noosa Chocolate Factory, so we went on Saturday. She bought rocky road for her siblings and for us and my parents to share and we bought a honeycomb block for us and chocolate bullets for my parents. We also had their yummy ice chocolates while we were there.
- Lasagne from Ari’s Italian deli. So, so good. Just like homemade. We will be having it again before we go home.
- Joining the gym for a month while we are up here. I’ve managed to keep my strength training going
- Meeting up with W (G’s good friend from school) and his wife M. I haven’t seen her for years so it was good to catch up.
- Spotting a Blue Wanderer … and getting a photo with the wings out
- I’ve been having the occasional Ginger beer while we’ve been away—definately my favourite soft drink. We also got some Heaps Normal XPA, our favourite non-alcoholic beer. Gives the holiday vibes without the downsides of alcohol. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been enjoying the odd cocktail or glass of wine when we our out at restaurants.
- Carmen’s Low Carb Granola. The peanut butter makes it tasty.
- A cheeky kookaburra on the oval fence as I finished my workout. It had just gobbled up a worm it pulled from the mud.
- Blood Orange Connoisseur Icecreams
- Easy meals: Partially Pre-cooked pork ribs from the supermarket. Boiled microwave potatoes slathered in butter and mint. Pre-cut coleslaw.
- Potato Cakes
- This recipe for a big batch of beef mince that can be made into a variety of bowls. I made this when S was up and we had it for two meals and froze some for later.
- 100% on Bracket City. An addictive word game that I’ve been enjoying doing each day.
What have been your recent highlights?
Comments
11 responses to “List #27: Good Things Friday July 2025”
Ahhhh what a beautiful country you live in!!! Great photos, Melissa.
I’m glad you didn’t get sick. I always kind of forget about Covid, and then someone will get it, and I’ll be like “oh yeah, that thing.” I haven’t had it for a while, obviously. My son told me his coworker was back to work after 2 weeks away. He had Covid, super high fever, and then while he had the super high fever, walked into his metal shelving unit and broke his toe. Sheesh, talk about a crappy summer.
I know what you mean about July getting away from you, I feel the same way. IT IS AUGUST!! How did that happen? Time, it flies, etc.
When I had COVID I was pretty unwell and fainted and landed on my face, so not great. It’s been a few years since then, but I was glad not to get it again. Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess?
It sounds like your parents must still be in excellent health given their recent travels! What a thing to celebrate! We have vacationed with my parents quite a bit but only to low key beachy places. They did a Vikings cruise in January and plan to do a river one next spring so I am glad they are able to do some bigger trips (it was my mom’s first time in Europe when they went in January!!).
Good things for me was finding out I don’t need another colonoscopy for 7 years. I was worried it would be every 3 since they found a precancerous polyp. I also got my airpods back that I left on a plane when a flight got canceled in early July! I did not expect to get them back. That saved me $170!! Lastly, we’ve had drier air this week so the weather is gorgeous! Unfortunately our air quality is not great since we are getting smoke from Canadian wildfires but luckily I’m not very sensitive to the smoke. I hope this cool air sticks around for my 7 mile training run tomorrow. Last week’s was such a SLOG since it was horribly humid.
Your pictures of the Noosa area make me miss my time in Australia when I studied abroad in that area! I’d love to go back with my husband when we are retired for a big NZ/Australia trip for like 3 months ideally!
My parents are in pretty good shape. Mum especially. Dad had a heart valve replacement earlier this year, and that has helped.
Great news that you don’t have to go back for 7 years and amazing getting your air pods back, I bet that was unexpected.
Yes, you would need at least three months to see a decent amount.
What amazing photos. I’m honestly envious of many of your good things. It looks like a wonderful month. I might have missed something – do you have a condo where you vacation for a month every summer? I love that your folks are also nearby and you enjoyed spending time with them/comparing vacay photos. I’m glad you avoided covid.
I’m in the midst of getting ready to send two kids to college – one will be a freshman. On top of that, Rae will be starting at a new to us high school and that’s stressful as we still don’t know how she’s getting there. I’m on a mission to tackle the house – it is in a state of disarray. Our weather is really mild – unseasonably so at the moment, and I’m wondering if Coach, myself and Kay can clean out the garage this weekend. Fun stuff. We did have a fun beach day last week, and that went really well. It was a last minute plan and yet, perfection.
No condo, we just rent an apartment for four weeks, the rate is cheaper once you get that long. This is our escape from the cold winter at home.
Ah, of course it is winter for you. Getting a beach rental for the week sounds amazing. Glad you enjoy being there so much.
Loved reading how life is treating you. Looks like a blessed July. So much family time. So many tasty meals.
I agree with Nicole – such a beautiful country.
That kookaburra looks so funny. It’s hard for me to picture this in the wild as we obviously wouldn’t have that flying around Berlin.
July was a good month for us.
Amazing pictures! The butterfly and the bird specifically. You’ve had some amazing sunsets, and aren’t whales amazing? We get so excited but we’re seeing so little of them. I went whale watching in Alaska a couple of years ago, and it was magical.
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed so much family time.
Last time we were up in Queensland for a while we saw a lot of whales, but this time just the once. I love seeing whales, a number of years ago we were coming back from a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef and a whale was swimming all round the boast for part of the way which was pretty amazing.