Abbey Apartments Brisbane

... packed as I went kayaking out to sea in the morning with a group and surfing in the afternoon. The kayaks were 2 man and we launched off the beach, into the waves and out to sea. To get out to the lighthouse head we had to paddle past a reef which as it's shallow, breaks the waves. The tour leader just said go head on and paddle hard and you'll be right. So we went off and in came 2 pretty big waves that we caught before the break, then a huge one came in ...

... of choice - a can of ready prepared Jim Beam and coke -yes - can all you Irish folk believe that - every possible short and mixer can be purchased pre mixed in a can over here - I tried Bundaberg Rum and ginger against all my instincts while on the beach on Easter Sunday - most unusual - but I wasn't spitting it out. Dinner - heaven returns Now it's a long time since I had one of those "oh **** I didn't know they could make food this good" dinners on ...

... the genoa. Under-sail now the morning is silent except for the distant sound of the awakening birds somewhere over on Fraser Island, the gentle breeze blowing through the sails and the whoosh sound of AR's hull gliding through the calm waters. The wind is coming from the SW; changing between SW and SE as AR sails up into the waters of the Great Sandy Strait and begins to drop away to about 10kn. MrJ is forced to start the starboard engine to keep AR moving ...

... eingeschlafen bin und einmal beim wieda Aufwachen auf der Rollbahn in Brisbane! Am Flughafen wurden wir dann leida nicht wiee in Fiji von einem dudelndem Trio empfangen. Aber naja- Australien eben! Brisbane selbst ist halt eine Stadt. Positiv zu Erwähnen ist Chinatown. Da kann ma echt super Essen! Dachten, dass gönnen wir uns jetz mal nach so harter Strandliegearbeit auf Fiji ;)! Also morgen geehts dann mit unserem Gay Camper l

... actually ens up being 7 in a 2 bed apt for a few nights until Tadhg and Farmer went on there trip to Cairns. Its a savage appartment in Fortitude Valley and its cheap enough so were all happy out. The moving in was fairly easy and the place was fully furnished which was handy. Even got a dvd player thrown in and we live next to Blockbusters so its all good. Fortitude Valley is the place to be aswell for the nightlife so were in the perfect ...

... die Stunde, wenn im Zentrum. Das ist verrueckt. Heute Morgen hatte ich noch etwas Zeit und bin wieder durch den Botanischen Garten gelaufen und habe Tiere und Pflanzen beobachtet. Ich kann meinen Augen immer noch nicht trauen, was fuer ein Pardies!! Seerosen, Enten, Tauben, Leguane, Palmen, Mangroven, Regenwaldbaeume (deren Namen ich mir mal merken sollte!!), Papageien, etc. So, jetzt gibt's erst mal Lunch und dann wird weiter "gearbeitet". Gruss aus dem ISS Office, Raum X

... via lifts and walkways brings you to the Queensland Art Gallery which has lovely indigenous art mostly watrecolours and free. There were loads of kids around at tables busy drawing and crayoning as there was a kids festival of art happening. We had a light pleasant lunch at the river cafe. We hadnt realised there was a nice restaurant within the museum of modern art but the lovely salads at the river cafe was enough for me. Within the modern art museum there was a quirky exhibition ...

... taken with the emus and Rachel with the baby koalas. We then randomly bumped into Stuart's ex house mates (Pete) , ex-girlfriend Fliss so had a drink with her and since have seen her everywhere! ' The next day was our final day in Brisbane so we went up to the summit of Mount Coot-ha to see the view which was pretty spectacular. We wandered around the shops for a bit where everyone was doing their Christmas shopping in the heat - strange! Before dinner ...

... room at St. Christopher's Hostel.  We did not do anything together in Paris, but chatted for a while one evening and exchanged information.  When I told her that I was going to be in Sydney she said that I should contact her when I arrived.  We kept in contact through Facebook (good 'ole Facebook) and she came to meet us at Opera Bar for a drink!  Hard to believe that on the other side of the world I was seeing a familiar face from Paris, France almost 6 weeks before!  Very cool!  I have ...

... to Murray's Bay (thank you Jono) and
I did get to have a wonderful lunch with a dear friend in her 80s that
I thought I had lost touch with. That was a highlight for sure.


Righto... now for my thoughts on Brisbane.The
cultural centre here is great - museums, art galleries etc all nicely located together.. and in a nice setting, right on the river. They
city itself has it's charms with some lovely architecture and good
weather...... that aside I am a ...