Despite the fairly late hour of arrival I was met at the airport and taken to their lovely home in Brisbane. I forgot to mention they also have a Cavapoo named Peppa. She and I became instant friends and for the
rest of my stay I had a bed companion.
The first day we started out to explore Brisbane, our starting point was an outlook that elicited many wows from me, then on to the Regatta Hotel. A hotel is a bar that was at one point a hotel, there may or not be rooms to rent upstairs. There are hotels everywhere in Australia and most of them go back a long time. This was a very cute place with wrought iron works. Being in Oz a beer was in order which was delicious.
Next door there was a huge liquor store with more beer varieties than I could imagine and a tremendous selection of wines.
We then proceeded to South End which has beautiful walkways edged with bougainvilleas and a lot of restaurants. We ended up at a Vietnamese place where I had Pho, trying to cure my persistent cold. It was totally amazing to see how a large swimming area called “lagoon” had been created by the river with sand surrounding it.
There was also a freestanding bike repair stand with tools for use by anyone. All in all I feel as if this country really cares about its people. It seems there are public bike rentals in every city. Wonderful open spaces for enjoyment. Lots of public art everywhere, even public barbecues in the middle of the city.
The next couple of days were spent traveling around, first the Gold Coast, where it was so windy that I had problems standing upright, hence few surfers. The Gold Coast is a ticky tacky town but we did take the dream ride in the “Duck Boat” The less said the better, but for those who don’t know, it is a car that becomes a boat. Much loved by children since their parents buy the Quacker which they blow continuously.
The boat ride took us past incredible mansions, one even had a helicopter in front of it. Another was built almost completly by bullet proof glass!!!!
Dinner much to my happiness was eaten at home every night. How could I be here and not have a barbie
(BBQ) Following day we went in the opposite direction to the Sunshine Coast.We started at Eumundi Market there were more than 1000 stalls selling everything you can imagine. It was great, just like a street fair but much higher quality.
Then we proceeded to some really cute little towns and had lunch in one of them. The landscape is breathtaking and quite varied. It was a beautiful day for this kind of outing. We ended up at a guest house where Caren and her daughter were staying later in the month. The view from the back porch was fantastic.
It also didn't hurt that there was a resident chicken who had just laid an egg on the sofa.
Since we were having dinner at home we stocked up at a most exquisite grocery store, James Street Market. Each and every item was like a jewel with prices to match. We also stopped at Coles, a super market chain, to pick up Tasmanian mussels which I was going to transform into a Paella. Fortunately the T.V.news went on before we had a chance to eat anything or even start preparing. These particular mussels we were warned were very toxic having been exposed to an algae and had been recalled. How fortunate that we watched the news that night, and at that moment, wouldn’t relish the thought of cutting my trip short.
According to Caren it never rains in Brisbane. It is always sunny or sunnier. Anyway for your information it rained the morning I left which I was very sad to do. Am glad the weather matched my mood. It was so nice to be with friends, have a sweet bed partner, and in general a fabulous time. Their hospitality was exceptional and I am looking forward to reciprocating in January.
