Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
On Canada day, we arrived at the home of an old friend from my (Joanne’s) youth. Aimee was my best buddy throughout elementary school, but moved away when I was 13. We kept in touch through letters and audio tapes early on, which turned to Christmas cards as we got older, and then we kind of lost touch. When we decided we’d be coming to Australia, I tracked down her dad to get her email address, and we immediately started planning to meet up. It’s been great to see her again. It’s neat how we can grow and change so much over time, yet the root of who we are (especially our expressions and manerisms) seems to stick.
On our first night in Brisbane, Aimee and her partner Dave took us to another exciting AFL (Australian Rules Football) game. It was the Brisbane Lions vs. Carlton, and luckily Brisbane kicked butt (71 to 56)! After the game, we visited Brisbane’s beautiful (smoke free!) Casino, in the old treasury building. Unfortunately, Grant was talked into showing our hosts how Blackjack is played. 10 minutes and $100 later, it was time to pack ‘er in 🙁 .
Sunday, Aimee gave us a tour of the city, via CityCat Ferries down the river. Brisbane is a very beautiful city, no matter what people say.
For the rest of the week, we took advantage of our comfortable accomodations to kick back and take a vacation from our vacation. Mornings have been slow, as we’d hang out on the back patio drinking tea, enjoying the sounds of all the birds in the trees. We also went for a couple of runs through the nearby wetlands, did a little shopping, cooked up some dinners, visited the dentist for a dental cleening, watched Wednesday night Rugby on the Tele, and other such things that “normal” people do. Mind you we did get out for a bit on Tuesday, with Aimee, to visit the Australia Zoo (home of the Crocodile Hunter). Well worth the visit. It’s one of the most beautifully layed out zoos I’ve ever seen. It’s like you’re walking through a nature park. The snake show, bird show, and 1 Tonne Crocodile show were very entertaining/thrilling! After the zoo, we met up with Aimee’s Mom, sister, and neice. It was such a treat getting to see them again too, after all these years.
During our stay here in Brisbane, we also managed to get some flights booked. On Friday (July 7) we’ll be flying out to the Whitsunday Coast (yes, we’ve had it with the long drives). By July 30th, we need to be in Darwin to catch a flight to Bali. On August 13th, we’ll be flying to Singapore before deciding where/when/how to visit the Himalayas.
