Trip to Sawtell

We left Brisbane pretty early Monday morning, after picking up Alex and all his belongings, and drove the 5 or 6 hours to Sawtell. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast at a service center which had a coffee shop and also hot cooked breakfasts. The highway was 4-lane for a while out of Brisbane,…

Stormy weather

Storm on Mt Coot-tha We decided to go to dinner at the Summit Restaurant at the top of Mount Coot-tha, overlooking Brisbane, because Alex had been wanting to go up there, but hadn't made it yet. It wasn't too far a drive (same side of the city as Toowong), but by the time we wound…

Day 2 in Brisbane

Wordsmith Cafe After a delicious "brekky" at the Wordsmith cafe next to the bookstore on campus…             Alex took us by City Cat to the Saturday open-air markets on the South Bank and at an area called Riverside. The South Bank market had a special area that day for booths…

Finally, real life

After 4 months of seeing photos only of things like surfing, frisbee, and travels, we finally got to see the more mundane side of Alex's life here in Brisbane…   Bicycle Parking Al and I woke up with the sun at 4:30 (yipes!), and then sat around and read our books till it was time…

Dinner on the South Bank

  Brisbane late afternoon For dinner we decided to go to a brewpub in the city, so after showering and changing, we walked to a bus stop since Alex thought that might be quicker to get to where we wanted to go. After walking up and down Albert St a couple times, we found the…

Toowong Villas

Toowong Villas – web Our home for the two nights in Brisbane was the Toowong Villas complex in the Toowong (te-WONG) neighborhood. We had a studio apartment with one bed (since Alex was still at his own apartment), which was on a lower level, but with a little private walled patio out back. The room…

Visiting Brisbane – Day 1

  Cafe in Toowong After Alex met us at the airport (much joy on both sides!), we picked up our rental car, and found our apartment in the Toowong area. We left the car parked there, and walked to a cafe for a brunch of sandwiches.             Then we bought…

Our bags are packed…

Fridge cleaned out except for apples & carrots: check. Dishes washed & dishwasher cleaned out: check. Knife removed from my purse: check! (not making that mistake again…) Itineraries printed: check. Contact info to family, neighbors notified: check. Most of my work caught up, at least enough to get away for a bit: check. Swimsuit, sunblock,…

Retreat

Seven Springs Room The management team at Al's company is having a retreat this weekend at Seven Springs, and spouses were invited, too – so here I am, with a morning to myself in this lovely room, while they have their meetings… Last night we got in around 6:00, and everyone met in one of the…