Time for another update on my life in Australia!
The recovery of my knee is going very well! Every day I can bend my knee a bit further and I am at 130 degrees now! I can walk 99% normal. Only in the morning and after sitting down for a while the knee gets very stiff and then I am limping the first steps to get the knee warmed up. I did my first walks along the Broadwater! Last weekend I went for a 4km walk and yesterday I did a 6km walk! But I can feel that that is enough for my knee at the moment. I have to build strength in the muscles of my leg further before I can walk faster or longer or before I can run. I also went to the pool on my bicycle yesterday! I did a 1km swim, mainly with my arms because the legs are not very efficient yet.
I am working again on my PhD since 3 weeks now. Every day 8am to 4 or 5pm or longer. I am happy to be back into it and I had a very inspiring meeting with my supervisors last week.... Lots of ideas, lots of work to do.
Here are some things I did during the weekends:
BBQ with PhD's
We had a BBQ at the Broadwater Parklands with the PhD students of our department to celebrate the successful completion of the PhD of 2 colleagues. On the Gold Coast there are lots of public BBQs along the Broadwater and along the beaches, so everyone brought some food and we spent the afternoon all together. Here are some pics
Yanguwah show @ Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
I went with Katrin (a German Friend) to a Yanguwah Show at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. This is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dinner and show. The show started with a welcome ceremony and a nice didgeridoo performance. Then we had a Kup Murri (a traditional method of cooking in the earth) demonstration. We saw the Tasmanian Devil, we fed the Kangaroos and we held a baby crocodile in our hands. Then we had an all you can eat buffet while we could watch an aboriginal dance show and a show of the Torres Strait Islanders. At the end of the evening I held a Koala in my arms! I wish I could take one home. They are so cute!
 |
| Kup Murri |
 |
| Tasmanian Devil |
 |
| Feeding the Kangaroos |
 |
Kangaroos  
Baby Croc
|
 |
| Torres Strait Islander show |
 |
Torres Strait Islander show
Katrin and I with Torres Strait Islanders
|
 |
| Me holding the koala :-) |
Coombabah Lakelands
On Wednesday I stopped working a bit earlier and I went to the Coombabah Lakelands with Katrin for a walk. The Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area and Parkwood Reserves protect over 1,290 hectares of wetlands, Eucalypt forests, salt marsh and mangrove swamp habitats. We saw lots of Kangaroos during our walk! I could not believe this place is only 15 minutes from where I live and that we could see wild kangaroos there!
 |
| Boardwalk |
 |
| Kangaroo |
 |
| More |
 |
| More |
 |
| Can you see them? |
We could not stay very long because it is getting dark early now. Sunset is around 5pm unfortunately. It is also getting "cold" here! During the day it is around 23 degrees, but it gets colder around 4-5pm and at night it's only 13 degrees! Freezing!
Sausage Sizzle for Toastmaster
Today we had a Sausage Sizzle for our Toastmaster Club at Bunnings (comparable with Brico or Gamma in Belgium). With our Toastmaster club (the public speaking club where I am going too every fortnight) we organised a Sausage Sizzle to raise money for our club and to attract new members for the club. So we sold sausages on bread with onion and cold drinks. I did a morning shift, so 8am till 11.30am, after that I needed a rest for my knee because the standing is quite exhausting!
I havent mentioned Philippe in this blog because he is very busy studying for his CFA exam on the 3rd of June. Everyone, keep your fingers crossed!
Bye bye!
Jessie
