4th March to 7th March, 2o16

Off we went again, arriving in Brisbane latish on 4th March to be met by our hosts, Chas and Chris(tine), a great couple from our PNG days who had kindly agreed to house us whilst in Brisbane, They have a lovely house, of which we have taken a number of photos to inspire us when (or if) we come to build our own place.

First day it was off to see more of Val’s friends from her Malaysia days for lunch and another couple for tea. Most important of all was to see Auntie Hilda, the wonderful mum of our lunchtime hostess, Ronnie (Veronica). And then a great curry with Ronnie and Norman and some friends of theirs followed by tea with another couple Val knew way back when.

6th March, 2016

Chas very kindly drove us all down to the Gold Coast. I was a little sleepy after staying up to watch Tottenham-v-Arsenal draw 2-2 (disappointing), but we had a lovely day out. We first took a ferry across Brisbane River (which flooded so badly in 2011). The Gold Coast is south of Brisbane, about 100 kms away and consists of holiday high rises and some stunning houses grouped around canals behind one of the longest beaches I have ever seen. An excellent lunch (I continued my love affair with the burger, which was excellent). We (well, Chas) drove back to Brisbane for a bit of a rest and a dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant.

Chris (the Bird Lady of Brisbane) is something of a bird enthusiast and feeds anything that flaps into her garden, which of course gave me a wonderful excuse to snap away at anything I could – a selection (plus their two cats!)…..

Sadly today (yes, I am actually going to post this on the day it refers to!!) we had to say goodbye to our wonderful host who could not have been bettered. Chas did masses of driving (yes, Chas, I am impressed with your Mazda! And the Brisbane tunnels!) and Chris fed us royally. It was great to catch up with old times. And I am delighted that we finally nailed the population of Australia as 24 million. Many, many thanks.

Today (7/3) we have arrived in Melbourne and are resting up at the Larwill Studio hotel readying ourselves for 37 degree heat tomorrow! Nice room…..