Brisbane's Southbank !

While staying with friends in Brisbane we decided one Sunday to visit Brisbane's Southbank precinct so we caught the train in and took my scooter. The trip home was crowded as we had to share with the many people returning home from The Ekka ( the Brisbane Show). 

Southbank is a precinct which is positioned along the Brisbane River opposite the CBD and is the old Expo site. It is a wonderful area full of lots of different things for all ages, a little like Darling Harbour in Sydney. There is sub-tropical parklands, a man-made inner city beach area, the Wheel of Brisbane which gives you a bird's eye view of Brisbane and the surrounding areas, restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, playgrounds, waterparks, exercise areas etc. On Sunday there is a market, which we enjoyed browsing through, and afternoon live music on The Green. There are bikes for hire for $2 an hour which could be ridden over the different pedestrian bridges to the other side of town. The Goodwill Bridge leads to the Botanical Gardens and the Victoria Bridge to the shopping district. Another alternative is to hop on a free ferry to different spots along the river, take a ferry cruise with commentary or a river-cat. 

The Griffith University also has its campus' for the arts, and performing arts here along the river and had an open day the day we were there. What a beautiful place for creative minds to study, in amongst Southbank and the South Brisbane theatre, museum and arts district as well.

We checked out the markets, strolled along the waterway, had a ride on the Brisbane Wheel and took aerial photos, had lunch on the river's edge, watched people enjoying the beach pool, dodged cyclists, and walked halfway across the bridge and promised ourselves we'd come back another time !!

Photos taken while on the Wheel of Brisbane, looking along the Brisbane River

Top right corner shows Victoria Bridge, connecting Southbank and CBD

Bottom left corner is looking back over Southbank toward Goodwill Bridge, the beach pool can be seen in the middle.( if you have good eyes)

Top photo: taken from the Goodwill Bridge looking back up the river towards Southbank.

Middle photo: looking towardsthe CBD

Bottom photo: taken southward

 

    The only disappointment was the cost of public transport and no easy access to the free ferry with my scooter. Unlike Sydney's Sunday $2.50 transport deal we found catching a train was an expensive mistake.  After asking the cashier about the best deal and enquiring about their Go Card we were told it wouldn't suit our one day travel and were charged $21 one way for the both of us. Surprised we asked about return tickets ... there were no return tickets. Coming home that afternoon we complained to the next cashier about the costly tickets and she explained that we would have been better with a Go Card, start up cost $10 each, which we could have relinquished and gained our deposit back costing us all up $26 return. We had asked about this in the morning ! Note to self ... next time drive in. The tourist information guide told us that parking at the Cultural Centre would cost us $15 for the day.

By Lynne

Early days ... Visiting Friends !

We've spent the first few weeks of our trip visiting very good friends that are like family to us and the last of these weeks catching up with a long lost cousin of George's and one of his friends from school. Both he hadn't seen for over 30 years. 

Top corner: Kim and Lynne and view from Anzac Bridge, both in the rain
Bottom: George and I with Dorothy
Centre: Car ferry at Port Macquarie

Top: Loris and Lefty, Patrick and Julie

Bottom: Roger, Kathy, Lynne and George

First stop was Belmont in the Newcastle area to visit Kim, a very dear friend from the Station, who was the very best tourist guide. As usual she was full of energy and we talked non stop. We had no sooner pulled up than we were off to her place for a cooked dinner. The next day was a full day and night filled with conversation and fun. 
First stop was out to the beach to relive some of her childhood memories, then a walk along a parkside area along Lake Macquarie and up to a viewing point. They walked and I rode my new scooter ! After lunch we headed into Newcastle to drive around the tourist sites along the harbour and cliff front, where the new Anzac Bridge is. This is a marvelous piece 
of engineering that ends at Merewether.

Saturday was spent catching up with Julie and Ken who we met camping a couple of years ago. Julie and I got on like long lost friends right from our first meeting at Bretti Reserve 
Camp. Ken showed off his new ' baby,' a sports car !

After a Sunday morning spent with Kim over coffee and cake we headed off to Gloucester where our new drawer system for the ute was being fitted the next day by Drifta. We 
camped at Barrington over night awaking early the next morning to empty the ute back onto


 the ground around us so George could drive into Gloucester to have the system fitted while I waited at the reserve with the caravan.  Once he returned 4 hours later we had the job of organising our gear back into the drawers and top space before we could head off to our next destination that night. 
This is a great system for a reasonable price. We had 2 drawers fitted, a drop down fridge tray and a rear water tank the next day. 

At Bonny Hills in the Port Macquarie district we stayed with another very dear friend who we have known for years, Dorothy. When staying with Dorothy it feels like being home, we have 

known each other so long that we are all comfortable in each other's company. So ... we relaxed and rested, caught our breath and did any of those mundane tasks we needed to get done while we could and ... talked and talked and talked... and cooked while we had a kitchen to cook in ! !

While there we had a day trip to Crescent Head, crossing on the car ferry from Port Mac to the north side, and picnicking on the way. Unfortunately our planned stop at the old Cheese Factory in Kempsey which was now an antique shop was thwarted as it was closed. 

As usual at the end of the week it was hard leaving but leave we must for Brisbane and our next visit with friends. On the way we stopped overnight at Nambucca Heads and Maclean 

Showground, the latter being a wonderful stop for self contained RVs. We also stopped at the Carobena Chocolate Factory just north of Coffs Harbour where we watched a demonstration of honeycomb making and George fell in love with their Chocolate Coated Ginger. This was worth the stop. We also detoured off the highway through Ballina and Byron Bay.

  

View from our camp at Maclean Showground

And our new home !

A side trip between Nambucca and Maclean - we left the M1 to drive around through Ballina and Byron Bay and stopped for lunch and a walk on the beach at Lennox Head.

Brisbane called ... Here we stayed with another pair of wonderful friends, Jim and Loris, who we met about 10 years ago through Tamworth Country Music. Our stay here was extended and they were fabulous hosts. George had some time out fishing and a night with Jim at the Logan-Beaudesert Country Music Club.

While there we met George's cousin Roger and wife Kathy and stayed overnight. Both men were very excited to catch up after more than 30 years and spent lots of time reminiscing. The same can be said for his reunion with an old school friend Patrick and his wife Julie who we had dinner with and spent a late night catching up with. 

Our last day was spent at a pub where Jim and Loris were booked to entertain for the afternoon. George as usual barged in and sang for half an hour. We were lucky that his old mate Patrick and his wife Julie came along for the afternoon to watch so we had more time with them, finishing the day with another pub dinner with the four of them.

We have really enjoyed our time catching up and will include in the next posts some of the day trips we have done around Brisbane and the hinterland area.

By Lynne

A busy time in Sydney !

At the end of the Term 2 school term we said goodbye to the boys and their family at Durham Downs Station and headed home once more to visit our family.

It is not often I blog and share about our family so it is about time we introduce you to them. We have quite a few readers who follow our blog, some who know us well already and some who have found our blog and read each and every one and have come to know us well that way. 

We have two daughters, Naomi and Jessica, and a Son-in-law, Nathan, we count as our son. He and our eldest daughter Naomi have six children.

It was great to re-connect with our daughters, son (in-law) and grandchildren, and wonderful friends. The time always flies so quickly with so much to do and this time was no exception ! With the additional task of changing our travel home from camper to caravan and doing the modifications we needed before leaving, we were full on.

There was the christening of our youngest granddaughter Macy, who is such an easy going baby. Naomi and Nathan, as usual, organised the most beautiful day and Sydney poured out a most glorious day. This was the perfect chance to catch up with a few family friends as well.

 Some photos from the day taken by my youngest daughter Jessica. We are truely blessed with two daughters strong of character, mind and heart !

 While home we were fortunate to see our eldest two grandsons play a game of soccer. Both are playing extremely well and are great defenders.

We took the opportunity while home to have a weekend away with the family, both in our new to us vans ! Ours is a 1999 Jayco Starcraft and Naomi and Nathan's a 1981 Jayco Jay-dove. On our arrival in Umina on the Central Coast it was raining, cold and windy but the following day was beautiful. 

We headed out to the Hunter Valley Gardens Snowtime where the Nathan, Naomi, Jessica 

and her friend Lucy and all the grandchildren had a ball playing in the snow, toboganning, 

ice skating - a first for the grandchildren, and generally just enjoying the day.

 

On the Sunday we had wonderful friends and their boys come to visit us all, while on Monday because it looked like rain we all headed off to Monkeymania for the grandchildren to enjoy some indoor playtime.

Our last day was spent at the caravan park where they all enjoyed the different things on offer at the park. Jumping pillows, karting and the local park next door had excellent equipment including climbing nets, a flying fox and skate park.

While home we also went to see the wonderful production of Les Miserable with Jessica and her friend Danny. I had been really looking forward to some culture after being away in remote Queensland for so 

long.

Overall it was a very busy time catching up with family and a few friends, and adapting our new caravan for travel. We were only disappointed in that we were not able to catch up with so many of our other good friends. Next time we will be home for two months !!