Friday 4 December 2015

5th December - Gold Coast - Brisbane - birds

Saturday 5th December 2015


 We arrived in Queensland expecting it to be sweltering.  Everyone said it has been unbearably hot.  So far – not so much!   It is very pleasant, early 20s, but – I should have brought warmer clothes…

Kerry's house
This morning I am sitting at Kerry’s dining table overlooking the city.  His house sits in the treetops at the edge of a huge national park reserve and there are glorious birds just inches away.  This makes me very happy…


There are beautiful glass birds inside as well


We came here for the night, and navigated our way to The Gap with the aid of Siri on my iPhone maps.  Pete argued with Siri quite a lot on the way and I had to bite my tongue very hard to stop from being very defensive – I am very fond of Siri and this fabulous map facility, and…I love my iPhone!


Siri managed to impress Pete in the end when we were looking for a supermarket.  He was sure there wasn’t any such thing in the vicinity of the Gap but Siri said, in soothing tones that there was a Woolworths just around the corner and up the street and – she was correct (thank goodness…)


We have only had one night on the Gold Coast, in Cam and Liz’s lovely luxurious house on a canal in Runaway Bay but we will go back there tonight.  We are trying to fit in as much activity as possible, catching up with people as well as seeing glorious birds.

Butcher bird and kookaburra - stand-off!
On Thursday late afternoon we managed to visit Twyla and Geoff, who have just bought a house on a canal in Mermaid Waters.  Perfect for kayaking – they can just pull their boats a few metres into the water and off they go!



And next – dinner with Will at the Runaway Bay marina restaurant.  Thursday is roast night so Pete and Will were very happy with plates piled high.  Will entertained us greatly with his stories of the recent European lifesaving competitions.  Apparently lifesaving is BIG in Europe.  As big as swimming, and, it sounds, much more fun.  There were thousands of competitors in Holland and Germany last month, and the (new) Australian team had a disproportionate amount of fun as well as coming third after Germany and Italy. 


And now we are with in Kerry, high above the city, surrounded by trees and birds.

His house is full of interesting things – eg the glass birds above – and I have asked permission to take a photo of an old photo of Kerry presiding as a judge at his first murder trial in New Guinea (quite a few years ago…)  It is a great photo – the courthouse has no walls, and is embellished with totem poles.


People have a funny perception of sailing.  We often get asked if we have brought the boat up here – where is it parked?  Well…it would take us more than a day or two to bring it here from Tasmania, or from the Philippines.  When we said that no, 2XS wasn't parked around the corner, Twyla asked us how long it took us to get to Mindanao, where 2XS is now having a  rest and a refit, and we said, Three years.     

Life is interesting; life is good!


1 comment:

  1. Hi Marguerite,

    I very much enjoyed the visit from you and Pete.
    So glad you managed so many bird photos in such a short time.
    I need to correct the comment on the photo of me. I was,at that time a barrister and the trial was one for murder. I appeared for the accused who was acquitted.
    The snap was taken by the prosecutor during the lunch adjournment. Cheers. K.

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