Week 3 Begins

A Day in the Country

So Week 3 has begun…and what do we do, we head out for a day in a country in order to prepare ourselves for the sprint ahead. We have a lot of work to do, but of course part of the Corporate Service Corps goal is for us to better understand the culture of our new home.

Our day began with a long drive to a place where we got to have a good coffee and to speak with a local farmer. I should say, listen TO a local farmer, as he did most of the talking.

Like I said…a GOOD coffee!!

The farmer was a very interesting gentleman who spoke about the impact of government upon the local farmers and how the government’s social policies were putting the small local farmers out of business. I’m not going to comment upon his positions but he did seem to know what he was talking about. He grew up in the area and had a lot of insight and anecdotes to share.

He was very interesting but unfortunately we did have places to go.

A local farmer’s market. I took a stroll over here as the rest of the team was having a leisurely morning tea.

Some of the local produce.

I’m always up to try new things. The cheese was really good…the Beet Root took a little getting used to.

We then took a nice walk to the Queen Mary Falls.

The team posing by the falls.

We then took a hike to the top of the falls.

The view was fantastic.

Taking a short hike around the top of the falls was interesting. We got to hear bell birds. This YouTube clip (not mine unfortunately) allows you to hear their calls. They really DO sound like bells.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_72WGRT0mJw

A view of the stream feeding the falls.

Australia is currently suffering from an extended drought. The falls were more like a trickle and I was told that when there was more water it’s quite impressive.

Next we were off to feed the wild lories and lorikeets…..parrots to some. ;-)

Here’s a gorgeous fellow.

Kira had one eating out of her hand. ;-)

Yep, I made a friend.

Karen, the Selfie Queen, taking a selfie with a lorie……what a surprise.

Having fun.

A happy bird with Ted.

After feeding the birds our next stop was for a scenic lunch. What a view!!!

Admiring the view before lunch.

The Thinker, pondering her next steps with a nice glass of wine.

I made it and am loving it.

After lunch we were off to a Wine Tasting experience. The winery took it’s name after a flood that happened a number of years ago.

They are very serious about protecting their produce here. No trespassing!

A light snack with your wine.

Our host. He was a really nice person. Many of his grape varietals came from Italy so we had some interesting conversations.

A team shot.

On the way back we stopped to do some kangaroo spotting. It was a real treat for us.

Heya, ya lookin at me?

One of the Roos in action. They can move really quickly when they want to.

Our final stop was at Mount Coot-tha for a sunset view of Brisbane.

Brisbane is a really a beautiful city. Our hotel is near the Ferris wheel that you can see at the top right of the picture.

So, week 3 has begun. We’ve spent the past two weeks reviewing and finalizing our Statement of Work and doing exploratory interviews with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Our goal this week is to continue our analysis and to start defining our solution proposal. I’m getting a bit nervous as our time is winding down and we still have a lot more analysis to complete.