Back In Brisbane

Back in Brisbane

Over the next couple of weeks we had some lovely days out with Charlotte and Brian and spent precious 'quality time' together. The Bar-B-Q proved a big hit and we seemed to have cracked mealtimes with myself or Ray doing the veg stuff and Brian cooking the meat.

For my birthday Charlotte had bought tickets for the theatre production of 'Strictly Ballroom' which I was delighted about. I'd loved the film and Charlotte is a real Baz Lurmann fan and he'd had some input with the stage production. We went into Brisbane, ate an early dinner, after which Ray and Brian dropped us at the theatre then went off to a race track to watch some kind of banger racing; the theatre didn't appeal to them.

Excited, we took our seats and I have to confess I'm a bit of a moaner if I don't get a good view, when tickets are so expensive. We were perfectly placed when suddenly a family arrived with two little kids, aged around 4 and 6. What the ….

Instead of putting the children between them the parents shoved them side by side next to me.. 'Noooooo' Charlotte changed seats with me and I wound myself up looking across at these adults who were totally ignoring the kids, she laughing away with a plastic glass of wine and him right at the end of the row. The children did nothing wrong, they were little kids who some moron thought would sit still through a two hour adult show. A quick look around the theatre and there wasn't another kid to be seen – just our luck. When the lights went down and the show began I was fine but Charlotte said she was going to move, which she did. The little boy, right next to her was fidgeting, talking and rattling a massive bag of sweets. How infuriating. I waited until the interval and followed Charlotte out. While shuffling past 'said parents' I pointed out that we were moving due to their noisy kids; they looked flabbergasted when I suggested that sitting their little darlings between them might have been and idea. The tickets cost over $100 each. My advice is – if you can't get a baby sitter, stay home. How inconsiderate. When everyone returned for the second half Charlotte said the husband (a thick-necked bogun full of tats) was eye-balling her for a good two minutes but she stared him out. We did get seats at little further back and I had to move again because a huge Amazonian type woman plonked herself right in front of me. I'm sure her head and hair were double the size of most normal people. Having said all that the show was absolutely brilliant. When we told the men our little tale Ray said he wasn't in the least bit surprised because 'there isn't a cinema or theatre, seemingly now in the whole world, that 'suits' Liz.' But, it really wasn't like that!

Charlotte and Brian had a long week-end and we decided to take a trip to Noosa. It's a posh little seaside place full of rich people, where they have their holiday homes and keep their boats. We'd found out quite by chance that a 'classic car' event was taking place over the week-end and Ray and Brian were keen to take a look.

Charlotte and myself went off to take a look at the little town and had lunch in one of the many outdoor cafés. Noosa has a rich history and a natural beauty that earned it the title of Queensland's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. There are many spectacular views of beaches, mountains, birds and marine life. The town itself was full to bursting with week-enders visiting, like us. Also, there appeared to be an army of aged, mahogany coloured folk, wearing shorts and baseball caps and taking full advantage of the fabulous weather. I guess they'd be the retirees. Who could blame them? We joined Brian and Ray later on and had a quick whiz around the classic car show; they seemed to have been in there for hours. Men and cars and machines! That afternoon we took another ferry ride to a lovely little island where we stopped off for a cool drink and agreed that Noosa would be a lovely place to live. That evening we drove out quite a few miles and found a hotel/tavern/pub to spend the night, which worked out very well because Brian wanted to watch his football team (Aussie) in their cup final and his team won, 'The Cowboys' I think.

Time was running away and one of the last trips we took with Charlotte and Brian was up to Tamborine Mountain, where they boast a sky-walk through the jungle. We took the 45 minute walk through the rainforest canopies, stopping along the way to read all the information about the flora, fauna and history of the place. Oddly, there was a plaque honouring Jack Brabham, an old time racing driver; I recognised the name but hadn't realized he was Australian. There is an astonishing 300 metres of high-tech steel bridges through the highest points of the upper canopy, and a 40 metre cantilever bridge that soars a breathtaking 30 metres above the creek and rainforest below. It wobbled a bit and if you have vertigo you might feel a bit odd. Charlotte then tells me that she has trouble getting on and off escalators. When did that happen? Aside from that we had a lovely time and again it was great just to get into the cool.

Our journey hadn't quite finished. The next leg and flight to Malaysia was leaving from the Gold Coast airport. Charlotte and Brian were going to drop us down to our motel and spend the day with us and return after dinner. But, just as I'd thought, that was going to be dragging it out and she would be getting upset. So after a walk along the beach and a coffee we said our goodbyes; all feeling a bit miserable.

Australia had been a wonderful experience and one that we hope to repeat in the not too distant future. Would we have ever made it down under if Charlotte hadn't been there? Possibly not. From the mountains to the sea to the pristine cities Australia is a land with so much to offer and a place you could easily settle into. How sad for us that it just happens to be on the other side of the world.