After a rushed packing session my trip started at 4pm English time, with the greater than usual fear of having left something behind due no doubt to the distance I was about to travel. Mum drove us to Gants Hill tube and I know was wishing she was the one setting off for Queensland. Alas, about half an hour from home I realised my laptop charger was still... at home! At least it wasn't one of my passports or I might still be in London! After waving bye to my dad at Victoria it suddenly sank in that it would be quite some time before I saw any of my English friends and family :( I was hoping Australian contacts were about to live up to their hospitable reputation. (They have!)
Several hours later, once I had boarded the plane (flying under a new Qantas-Emirates partnership) I was in a much better mood, possibly thanks to the screens with PS Vita-esque remote controls. (Sadly there is no photographic evidence of this as the second plane offered something of a downgrade to an old-school Nokia style!) Needless to say I didn't sleep a wink on the first flight and snoozed a minimal amount on the second... I did however manage to get through a fair few films, including The Hobbit, Toy Story 3 and A Few Best Men (the plot summary sounded rather interesting...), and talked to some people from around the world – a banker on his way to Harare who proceeded to show me around Dubai airport and told me to get a job in banking, an Iranian woman headed on holiday, and an Arts student returning home to the Gold Coast.
I was relieved to be off the plane and grateful to find Rachael waiting for me at sunny Brisbane airport. Our first port of call was a local supermarket. Only as we approached the entrance did it occur to us that it was several hours until opening time. As I was feeling somewhat queasy and not relishing the prospect of more travel, we went for a walk in nearby Shaw Park. It was quite early in the day and pretty hot already, although the locals described this weather as pleasant. Everywhere was green and litter free. It was amazing! Would you believe it – after this walk it was still too early to go shopping, so we drove to New Farm Park for another walk, this time incorporating the Brisbane River, a gallery and a breakfast stop. I was not really hungry but Rachael insisted on buying me a slice of cake!
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| Brisbane sunrise |
Next stop was Indooroopilly Shopping Centre (good luck with the pronunciation!) via some sights. I acquired a Go-card (Brisbane’s answer to TfL’s Oyster) and enquired about sim cards. Sadly Australian phone companies appear to enjoy making pay-as-you-go as confusing as possible, and in my knackered state the best option seemed to be to take a price chart from each store to peruse at my leisure. The last leg of the journey was a rather exciting steep climb, my destination offering an excellent view over Brisbane. Rachael accepted Mark’s offer of a quick cup of tea and introduction to the peafowl before dashing off. Soon after I took a more than overdue nap - not especially refreshing in the blistering heat! I woke up shortly before Carrie arrived and it was dinner time. Sadly I was still not particularly hungry – made more disconcerting by the fact I had barely eaten in a day - and only managed a few bites. It was not long before I was ready for another sleep...
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| View of Brisbane from the hill |
I then woke at 1am. I was cold - mornings can actually be pretty chilly! Other than savouring the night time view of the city’s lights I didn’t feel up to much. I attempted to return to sleep then gave up and had an Internet session with the laptop Carrie kindly let me borrow. Breakfast brought higher spirits: I had regained some of my appetite and thought I was ready for anything; a 'walk in the park' could not possibly pose problems. Mark and I headed into the quite hilly D’Aguilar National Park, so although we apparently only walked 8 miles it felt a lot more. Our ramble took us round Gold Creek reservoir and demonstrated the different atmospheres within tropical and temperate rainforest. While I did not see much by way of dangerous wildlife we encountered and heard many bird varieties, and saw an infamous cane toad, large spiders and fire resistant trees. The cobblers peg weed made a natural enemy, leaving clothes, especially socks, looking like hedgehogs. The remainder of the day was spent recovering, relaxing and removing pegs from clothing.
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| Mark next to Gold Creek Dam |
On Thursday 25th April I woke at 1am! Grr. Cue early morning routine. If you had yet to figure it out, today is ANZAC day, which commemorates the service of Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Gallipoli. Mark and I were planning to attend a dawn service but despite both being ‘awake’ we managed to miss it and so instead attended the morning service in nearby Kenmore. At this point, with the sun blazing in my eyes, I had yet to learn how helpful a sunhat is outdoors, whatever the time of day. Post service we returned home and contemplated some gardening, planting a fig tree which led to more cobbler peg covered clothing. The afternoon saw Mark depart for six weeks work (captaining a cargo ship between Cairns and Darwin), and Carrie had some friends over for dinner.
On Friday I woke at 2am! On her way to work Carrie dropped me off with some distant relatives and good family friends, Max and Freda. Having rushed grandson Brenton to work in Coles (something like Australia’s equivalent of Tesco plus Sainsbury’s) following a mix up in times, they gave me a tour of the local area and Lutheran school.
Saturday I easily woke in time for an early trip over to Wynnum to see grandson Ben playing two rugby games (well, the second game we watched the correct team!), winning one and narrowly losing the other – a good result since they were significantly beaten by the same team last year. We then hastily continued to the airport to send Ben off on a flight; I also discovered that airport cash machines charge $2 to check your balance (so I didn’t check it).
The following morning I attended church at St Peter's; Max and Freda were giving readings, and introduced me to a friendly crowd over cakes and coffee. At lunch (celebrating the birthday in his own home of an absent Anthony) I met Max and Freda’s son Mark and his wife Robin, with whom I went to Eight Mile Plains as part of a (cunning) plan to get to mum’s hometown, Toowoomba. En route we stopped off at a superstore where I finally got my hands on a sim-card (on Amaysim network, recommended as being a third of the price of others). It was a bit of a pain to set up as they insisted on taking passport details, which I had left behind, to activate my phone number! On the upside, once home Mark found a power cord that worked with my laptop, and introduced me to Aussie rules football. While we watched the Brisbane Lions claimed their first win in some time. In the evening I Skyped home for the first time, no longer having to worry about available computer battery!
I was picked up bright and early on Monday morning by Ros, one of mum’s friends who had visited us in London not all that long ago. We had heard there were delays travelling to Toowoomba due to damage from recent flooding and were pleasantly surprised by the time it took to do all but the last few kilometres up The Range – at this point traffic came to a standstill as single file traffic attempted the steep ascent, the speed dictated by trucks crawling up the incline. We still arrived in plenty of time for Ros to show me Picnic Point, a pleasant area with an excellent view from the mountain we had just climbed (and a sign showing distance to London as 16,486km), and drop me off at my first port of call. Through the day I met some of mum’s friends and family, and was shown such sights as mum’s childhood home and school, and Queens Park, host to the famous Carnival of Flowers in September. Not long after reaching my final visit of the day Ros (who had attended a funeral) arrived to collect me for the drive back to Brisbane.
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| View from Picnic Point |
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