A Great Comeback in Brisbane - Adventures within...
The Great Comebacks Awards
Long story short last year I won Convatec's Great Comebacks Award and this year they wanted me to tell my story and hand the award on to the next worthy recipient. My husband and son were not allowed to join me due to adoption laws within Australia, which lead me to ask my amazeballs sister to come to Brisbane with me.
The great comebacks awards are designed to honour and showcase ostomates - people who have undergone stomal surgery and come out the other side stronger than before. This year's winner is a terminally ill cancer patient that lives a positive life with an ostomy bag attached. She has a blog called feelingostomistic, a little play on words and anyone who knows me knows I love them.
As part of the evening's events, I was required to talk to the attendees about how far I had come to win the award and where I went from there. I kept my nerves in check while speaking at a breakneck speed to get through the speech without too many stuff ups.
Brisbane
Brisbane is just beautiful and one of my favourite cities in the world, it is actually number two on our where we would like to live list after Perth our current home and number one. Canada would be out number three, just cause we like variety and there PM.
The Botantial Gardens
In the heart of Brisbane, you will find the botanical gardens, a huge space with loads of places to sit and chill or walk and ponder, in the space of a half an hour wander my sister and I saw five weddings and one other photoshoot all in picturesque areas, never crossing into each other's shots.
The trees and flowers were beautiful, the bamboo declarations of love made me stop a while as did the cherry blossom tree, I had to wait until a wedding had completed their shots but it was worth it. I also couldn't go past the cabbage flowers, they were everywhere and ranged in colours.
Some of the trees were so old they needed a little help, it was amazing to see this tree mid grafting. The branches were being held in place while roots were grafted to poles with a material. Some were more developed than others but fascinating all the same.
Southbank
Just across the bridge, you have my favourite place in Queensland, South Bank, it's so magnifically designed that you could spend days exploring and eating and not get bored. We spent our spare time walking through the garden's, lazing on the beds, visiting the markets and of course eating.
We found this Nepal Peace Pagoda that took our fancy, my sister explored the inside while I relaxed taking in the beauty of the building and surrounds.
There was also an abundance of flora and fauna to be seen, stumbling upon these iguanas and wild bush turkeys soon after crossing the road.
Anyone in my #whatisit contest may want to take a closer look at this image.
The beach is ingenious and you would never know you are in the centre of the city on the river bank. There is a pool off to the left too but it was closed for renovations. It is manned by lifeguards all year round, in summer up until 10 pm at night. It looked super busy to us given it is winter in Australia atm, but the sun was shining which is pretty normal in Queensland.
And of course, what city would be complete without the unique characters, I also saw a woman in what I can only describe as a wizard's dress but taking a photo while in the ladies room is a tad inappropriate. haha...
Yes that is her arse you can see through her dress if you could call it that... I am not sure on this fashion, but I guess if I had an arse that fine then I'd want to show it off too... Maybe...
Hotel - The Emporium - Coming Soon
As part of the awards evening we had the pleasure of staying in at the new hotel on Grey St in Southbank, it's not officially due to be opened until September or maybe it was due to be officially opened in July and was delayed, either way we got the first-hand look at one of the rooms as well as the function rooms.
The Room
Let me preface this with OMG, this was one fancy hotel room, if not the fanciest one I have ever seen and certainly the most technologically advanced I have stayed in. We should have let the concierge come in and show us around the room but we were tired and a little annoyed that we couldn't use the pool, gym or observation deck as they had not been completed.
So we fumbled our way around the room learning as we pressed panel buttons and enjoyed the features that followed. The "magic glass" was literally that magic, one minute it was clear the next it was frosted.
The bathroom was also seriously awesome, double sinks, make mirrors, spa bath with salts and a massive shower with a choice of a roof or handled shower head. There was also a huge cupboard with draws for your wears and a bar complete with wine to boot.
Moving onto the bed, which of course is a king, with get this... A Pillow menu*
Yes a pillow menu which is super cool, we tried three. The Swedish memory pillow, the latex contour pillow and the slimline pillow for between the knees as I hate it when my boney knees rub together but who needs a giant pillow between their thighs....
Sitting on the the bed we were like I wonder where the TV is as 99% of all hotels I have ever stayed in have had a TV not that we often watch it. It is always in front of the bed so when we saw this huge mirror we were like no... That can't be the TV... After about 20 minutes of playing with the remote, we confirmed our amazement and got the "mirror TV" to stir to life, it took another ten minutes to figure out how to get the sound to work but we got it in the end.
I enjoyed watching Little Miss Sunshine that evening. The end pageant scene had me in hysterics.
Now the balcony was interesting, I would not like to have any girth to my waist as the slimline balcony was a little laughable but the fresh air was welcome and the awesome auto curtains were fun to play with.
Yes I am a child at heart.
And what holiday would be complete without food, this is some of the divine dishes we ate while staying at the hotel, breakfast was a bit overpowering with the truffle sauce and the waffle almond cream was warm while the waffles were cold, which was slighly off putting but it was free, well on Convatec so we didn't mind giving it a go.
The hotel restaurant was not yet open so I am guessing the room service was a bit under the pump and if the funtion food is anything to go by then I look forward to eating at it when it does open.
Well that's it from me for today, as always thanks for reading! I hope to see you again soon and look forward to responding to your comments :D
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Great adventures... =) keep having fun!
And the tattoo too!
And in here looks almost like you are an angel... LOL
Mostly... welcome to steemit. Good choice.
@forykw haha my glasses halo lol... The tattoo is what I think made me realise it really was her butt and not skin coloured undies lol... Thanks for stopping by :D
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Hey girl! What a fun night away in such a beautiful location with your sister ❤ Congrats on receiving the award last year and for passing along the award to the beautiful new recipient. Love your smiles here! Thanks for sharing! I thought of you the other day. I was driving out to the mountains and came across 'Inside Out Rafting Adventures'! Rafting is not my thing at the best of times. I am in no shape to give it a try right now. But, it made me think of YOU! Haha
Have a wonderful day! 🌻❤🌻
Thanks @yogajill, it was such a surprise to win last year and an honour to pass it on to a worthy recipient.
I would love to do some insideout rafting haha what a cool name. Lol. Maybe when your all better and I win the lottery we can come join you and take you rafting with us. 😁😁😁
I need this!!
Sounds like my kinda holiday lol just chilling out and eventually falling asleep under the tree shade.
We could have fallen asleeep on southbank, it was so peaceful which is kinda crazy goven how busy and full of people it is.
Thw magic glass was awesome! Too fun not to play with haha.
Looks like a great trip with much fun! Haha after reading it, and watched the awesome pictures, i felt a little bit like i traveled with you together :-)
And hell yes, the magic glass is nuts !
Thanks for joining us on our weekend adventure. It was fun and pretty awesome to share with you all and a curie to boot. A win for the Brisbane adventures.
Congratulations on your award from last year, and for not throwing up on the recipient this year :)
That is a seriously fancy hotel room. Looks like a good time was had by all!
Haha, i have only thrown up on one person before well the car and it bounched off the dash onto my ex... it was my sisters car too... haha.
The hotel was something else.
Awesome, I'd love to go to Brisbane! Not made it to Australia yet, but hope to swing by soon ;). Enjoy!
Thanks it was a great weekend away and i am sure more will come. I just hope my son and hubby can join me.
Looks like you had a really great time. That is too bad that you couldn't take your family, but it is always good to spend some sister time together. I keep telling my wife her and her sister should just get away alone together somewhere. Nice post! Awesome pictures and congrats on the award!
It was fun, i did get a bit emotional the night before flying home as I just wanted to be home already. I do like my sister as a travel companion. We went on a cruise once that was super fun. And thanks for the congrats. 😁
No problem. I hear you! I like being places but I don't necessarily like the travelling required to get there...
Teleporting, that would be my superpower. It would need to include the ability to take others with me. Haha
Great idea!
Wow!!!!
Such beautiful experience. I am so happy you enjoyed yourself. That's what life is all about. Happiness and adventure.
Congratulations on the award and I salute your courage and ability to make the best of situation. Post colostomy periods could be demanding on your time and emotions. Being positive through it all is the key.
Positivity is key to a happy life. I have good days and bad in that are but aim for more positive. Life was very complicated for a while there but I am very happy I can share my experiences and help them through it.
👍
Looks like you had a fantastic time with your sister. Great hotel room which needed all the space for your comfort hence the slimline balcony. haha It is nice that you posted the Sago palm - it took me a while to figure it out yesterday but was excited when I did - yay!!!
Yeah i need to get back and answer those haha. New one to do up this friday. Haha yes that is one way to think of the balcony.
this is really cool, I visited the botanical gardens many many years ago and still remember how amazing they were ....thanks for the reminder :)
Thanks for stopping by fellow comrade! I love nature and these gardens were beautiful. Ill see you soon.
This looks awesome! Amazing awards ceremony, cool hotel, Brisbane is beautiful and so are you and your sister :) Having so much fun!!!
Of course you'd love our PM; all the cool peeps do :)
Haha, he is a pretty cool PM. It was a great trip, only downer was no son or hubby but I survived. I hope your moving is going well xx
Congrats on the award! You really rock! I loved seeing your photos. Looks like you and your sister had lots of fun. That hotel room was something! A pillow menu? Wow! No idea that existed. The magic glass was awesome as well.
I loved the pillow menu, nust crazy what people come up with. I do hate not having a good pillow though.. and thanks for the congrats, it was lovely ro be recognised for the advocacy work ive done.
Well congratulations on your award, even though I am a year late with them.
I would agree totally, that was one fine ass hanging out of that dress.
The damn Sago Palm, there is your damn "whatisit" and if I had paid better attention i would have seen that when you gave the hint, I didn't know what plants they have down under but I have planted plenty of those here in Texas. Here they are Sago Palms, I don't know what name they might go by over there.
Nice story and great post, to bad the hubby and child couldn't go, but your sister looks like she was great company for you.
My sister loved it which was nice. Haha, yes it is the sago palm from my #whatisit lol. I thought they were local but found out they are originally from Japan. Still called the same thing here. 😁 thanks for the congrats too.
You are more than welcome, and it did have me stumped since it wasn't a bud.
Haha, i wish it was one, it was huge. Best one I would have ever seen lol....
The next time I come across one of those plants I might just pluck some of that and roll one up, just to see ....
Haha, well keep me posted, im sure I know people who would be interested in the results. Haha.
Made me chuckle, aussies and brits say 'arse' and americans seems to say 'ass', the 'r' got lost somewhere.
R or no R, it was a mighty fine one... lamo... Thanks for stopping by and thanks heaps for the @asapers delegation!
LOL..., it does make me wonder about that 'R'.., and your welcome re: the delegation. I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to use delegations more and the ASAP'ers cause does seem worthy to me.
😁 we try to be worthy. See you round and congrats on the new job!
your article rocks friend..
A Great Comeback in Brisbane..
Thanks, it was fun to write and even better to experience.
You are welcome dear friend...
Hi insideoutlet,
Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
Woo hoo!!! Love it! Thanks @curie.
Wow, that hotel looks spectacular! I've been to Brisbane for a brief visit once - never knew it had all those botanic gardens though. And what a fantastic cause too.
It was out of this world. The botanic gardens are huge but just off to the side of the center of town so if you arent looking fort
Them you could miss them easily. I hope you get back there one day.
Thanks for the tip! I really hope so.
What a wonderful, fun trip! I loved to see those happy pictures at the beginning :)
Thanks @tripswithtam, it was a fun trip and I was glad my sister could join me.
Awesome post! Your details of the trip are amazing and your photos just tie it all together! It surely looked like fun!
It was a great quick weekend trip and nice I could bring my sister with me. We took a million images but think I pulled the best together.
Nicely Written, after reading through it, I have gone into a virtual world to visualize the whole city. Fun filled adventure :)
Thank you, it was a fun filled adventure haha. Its a great city. We walked bridge to bridge and round so it was a pretty good cross reference of photos to see the whole city haha.
Come backs are really difficult without the right people by your side giving you the pep talks at the time when you want to give up thinking all hope is lost. So much happy now on knowing that there will is an external body awarding great come backs encouraging others not to give up.
Yes the people by your side along for the ride with you can be what holds you up somedays. Even quite literally. I hope to be a future judge of these awards once joining the Australian Stoma Council.
That really is a great course! People like you who have fought through there challenges need to be awarded and celebrated. Convatec is doing a great job with that!! Its so inspiring to see that lady fighting through hers with so much positivity. Now, that's something we all need more (positivity)...
I love that botanical garden, it is just so magical! It has so many fascinating plants and flowers. I really wouldn't mind being surrounded with so much flowers, plants and trees all day. I wonder how old those trees are though...
The hotel has some amazing features. That TV is just awesome, never seen something like that it would probably take me long before I figure out that there is a TV there. And the "magic glass", it will be really fun to watch it transform from being frosted to being clear. Too bad your husband and son weren't there to join in the adventure
Thanks for your lovely comments @audreybits. I love nature too, I find it so calming and we try to get out at least once a week hiking or to a nature park. Im hoping next year they will be able to join me
Yeah, it truly is calming. You guys going out and enjoying nature each week is awesome. Hopefully, they will, it will be great to have them around at such important moment.
The adoption should be finalised by Feb so we will be able to travel with him after that with no problems.
That will be awesome!
howdy from Texas insideoutlet! wow ya'll have too much fun for your own good down there! lol. Great job on the Come Back Awards and then the other part of the post, the travel experience was detailed, informative, entertaining..you guys are good for tourism in Australia.
What's the deal with that magic mirror? and where are you heading next?
lol. well anyway, great job on the post and I see that curie agrees!
Hey Janton, G'day from Perth this week. Im off to Sydney in October for five days for another ostomy releated event, this time a country wide general meeting.
The magic glass was awesome, no clue how it works but it does. Haha. Thanks for the congrats, I was excited to be curied.
Wow, what a post, there is a lot in there. I can't believe that you gave away the guessing game in there.
I would not be real happy with adoption laws that did not allow you to travel with family... Seems a bit excessive.
It looked like you and sis were having a great time, and from the pics of the speech, you seem like you can actually be serious when called for.
Congrats on the curie vote, you deserved it.
Haha yes I can be serious when called for but even then sometimes I'd prefer to crack a joke. Im sure the laws are in place for a good reason but it does make traveling for ostomy related events harder.
As for #whatisit haha, i like to give some thing extra to my most loyal of readers haha.
You do seem to be a rather giving person, and it was an enjoyable read.
Thank you, i try to be, have a great week!
First of all, congrats on your award and overcoming your nerves enough to pass it on to the next recipient! It can be quite daunting to speak in front of a bunch of people.
Secondly, Australia has always been on my bucket list. I'm a little jelly that you get to live there ALL the time. I'll make it one of these days, but flights are just so long that I'd need to go for a month at least. When is the nicest time of year to visit? I'd like to hunt for opals in the mountains.
Third, you mentioned you couldn't take your son and husband because of adoption laws. Can you elaborate on that? He can't go on a flight? No boys allowed? No adopted kids allowed? That struck me as odd.
Haha, thank you for the congrats and I do hope you can get to Australia, which mountains are ypu looking at. Cant be any in WA as we have no mountains haha.
As for the adoption rules. Although we are one country we are many states that all have there own laws too. Adoption is looked after at a state level and we are unable to leagally adopt our son until he has been in Australia for over 6 months, until such time he is considered a ward of the state and we need approval to take him accross state lines. They said no so I had to go alone. I have another trip in October for 5 days that is simialar. Its making me a little anxious but its all ostomy related and a national conference of which im on the board so have to go. Will have to put my big girl pants on haha.
Well, I don't know much about the mountains in Australia, but I've heard of Lightning Ridge opals, so I guess I've always assumed they come from a mountain called Lightning Ridge. I know the particular opal is mined in Australia...but I really don't know the particulars any more than that.
Thanks for letting me know about the adoption bit. I'm always curious about different practices, but I bet that's pretty similar to how it is in the States too. I sure hope they say yes next time. I understand how it is having to ask the government for permission to travel. It's no fun.
The adoption will be finalised in Jan/Feb next year we hope and then he can come with us everywhere, I do have another trip in October that I have to go by myself which I am not looking forward too, but I am committed so have no real choice.