The Wonderful World of Gladstone

Alot of you all have been asking what it's like to live in Australia and by our pictures that we have taken so far you have seen that there are some absolutely beautiful beaches and we have found some really fun and new exciting things to explore since we have been here. However, all of those fun and exciting things we do occur on the weekends! So I thought that I would share with you all what our life is like throughout the week. Gladstone is a relatively small town especially compared to Lexington and Cincinnati, the cities that we are used to. It is an industrial town so even though we are right next to the ocean, there aren't any pretty beaches here. (Luckily, the closest beach is only 15-20 minutes away!)

Downtown Gladstone...heading to the Marina. The library is located downtown, during my first few weeks in Gladstone, I spent a great deal of time at the library catching up with everyone from home while we waited for our internet to be installed at the house.

Majority of our days are spent working. Jason leaves the house at 430am to catch a ferry to the island. The ferry ride is about 30 minutes long then he catches a bus to the site once he arrives at the island. Here is a picture of Port Central where all the guys catch the ferry each day. Unfortunately, we aren't able to show any pictures of the island or the project that he is working on. He arrives back from the ferry at 6 each night.

 

I work at the Gladstone Base Hospital which is one of two hospitals in town. The Base hosspital is the public hospital. It is definitely much different and smaller than the hospitals I'm used to seeing in Lexington.

 

The town definitely has a small, country town feel where you can go to the mall and usually see someone you know, we are even beginning to have the happen to us. You also won't be surprised if you see at least one person walking around the mall or grocery store with no shoes on! On a typical day off work for me, I make my rounds to "my" stores. They consist of Big W (Like a Walmart but with cute clothes like Target), the Scrapbook store (I have developed a hobby since being here and I am obsessed! The ladies in the store know me and my neighbor well), Lincraft (local craft store), Woolworths aka Wooly's (grocery store) and the Reject Shop (like a dollar store but has some decent stuff). The Mall consists of Wooly's, Big W, Reject Shop and a few other like clothes shops that are outrageaously over priced (Mens Levi Jeans are $95) especially compared to Big W where I can get cute stuff for $10-20!

My favorite store!!

Strip Mall across the street from the Stockland Mall- The Target here doesnt even compare to the Target from home! :( And the Coles is a grocery store.

The Mall.

Just like a Lowes or Home Depot

Jason's "Man" store! Doesn't quite compare to Bass Pro!

Gladstone also has a make-shift Keeneland where in the Spring they race camels! We will definitely be checking that out this year! Everyone gets dressed up just like Keeneland and the girls wear facinators!