BIG Things Australia - Coffs Harbour, NSW and Gold Coast, QLD

According to wikipedia, The Big Things of Australia are a loosely related set of large structures or sculptures.

The Big Banana is located along the Pacific Highway at Coffs Harbour. It's not technically the first Big Thing that we've seen since some Big Things lists include The Big Hard Rock Cafe Guitar at the Gold Coast, which we saw last year.

These huge structures are fascinating. I plan to drag my DH to as many Big Things sites as possible. Our next destination is The Big Golden Guitar right here in Tamworth.

Pandora

I started collecting Pandora Jewellery March of last year when my husband gave me a silver bracelet and four lovely charms for my birthday.

 silver bracelet and my first two charms, the present/gift and the seashell with 14ct gold starfish

We bought these when we  were on a holiday at the Gold Coast. The hotel where we stayed at was located conveniently above the shopping mall. When I realized that my bracelets needed two fixed beads for balance I convinced my husband (convinced being the operative word) to go back to the jewellery store and buy them. Thus, on the same day I got four beads! What a way to start my collection. :)

 

plain and bead bars silver clip and sunburst clip with 14ct gold centre

From then, according to my husband, my collection grew at an alarming rate. It was so addicting buying charms. At first I was only allowed to buy charms for special occasions. So I think I may have 'invented' some occasions to justify my purchases. Haha. Before 2009 ended my bracelet was full.

Kidding aside, each bead has its own special meaning for me. Some of them represent the places we've been to, while others represent me and the people who are important to me. Just to let you know though, the money bag charm was my husband's idea. He says it's in anticipation of him winning the lottery! :)

I have yet to ask for a birthday present from my husband even though my birthday was weeks ago. I'm thinking of starting my second bracelet. But first I have to ask myself if I can exercise self-control in buying charms this time. The charms and bracelet are not that expensive since most of them are silver, with the exception of some having 14ct gold and semi-precious stones. But they're not exactly cheap either, especially now that our circumstances have changed. I think I'll follow my own advice and think about it some more. My husband can breathe a sigh of relief (for now). :)

Rain, Rain Go Away!

I'm checking the weather forecast for Coffs Harbour starting this Friday until Monday next week for our holiday. I'm finalizing our Things to Do list so I have to take the weather into consideration. The forecast is not looking good. Seems like we will be having a very gloomy weekend at Coffs Harbour:

Friday - Possible shower, 90% chance of rain

Saturday - Rain, 80% chance of rain

Sunday -  Rain, 80% chance of rain

Monday -  Possible shower, 80% chance of rain

I'm beginning to think my husband and I are jinxed when it comes to beach holidays. I remember we went to the Gold Coast March of last year to celebrate my birthday. We were so excited to be in the world famous beach Surfers Paradise. We went to the beach immediately after checking into our hotel. Yes, we were that excited! Surprise, suprise, this sign greeted us:

Good thing we hadn't changed into our bathing suits yet. We got the chance to swim the following morning, but only for a couple of hours because the weather turned bad again.

Looks like we'll have the same fate in Coffs Harbour. Too bad! I wanted to try sea kayaking on Saturday. I've always wanted to do it and I thought Coffs would be the perfect place. Oh well, maybe some other time. I'm still hoping that the weather will change and be kind to us, though. I guess we'll have to wait and see.