Sunday 6th December
2015
There is lots to admire here in Queensland.
I still love Tasmania BEST in the world but…I am getting very fond of Brisbane,
and even…of Surfers Paradise!!
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| A cautious selfie - and thank you Cam for the loan of the hat! |
So glittering, so pretty!
Yesterday Pete’s cousin Del came for lunch, at Kerry’s lovely Gap house surrounded
by birds. Del is always very glamorous
and nicely dressed, with much beautiful jewellery. Pete was telling her about our time in
Vietnam, specifically how kind people were in the big cities, coming out of nowhere
to tell me to put my phone AWAY – a shiny gold iPhone 6 camera/phone is a very
easy target for an opportunistic snatch and grab thief. Del told us that when she was in Kuala Lumpur
last year a young police officer came up to her. He wanted her to accompany him to a nearby
police station. She wasn’t at all sure she
wanted to do this, but followed him, reluctantly. He took her straight to a superior officer,
who spoke English well. He said, “My
colleague wants me to tell you not to wear your gold jewellery in the street. You could easily be strangled for it.” She put her treasures away in the hotel safe
quick smart!
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| Cousins! (Del can wear this gold locket in Queensland) |
Our social time in Queensland is just wonderful. Our (expat Tasmanian) friends are so
hospitable. Last night we had a BBQ at
Tim and Sally’s on the esplanade, overlooking the canal at the back and the lights
of Surfers at the front. We are going to
WADDLE back to Hobart, full of delicious food…and wine…
This morning I went for a walk, from Southport all the way to and
through Surfers.
I felt as if I had walked all the
way to Coolangatta and back. Possibly I
only walked about ten kilometres.
But my feet ached!
The only way I was able to walk so far in any sort of comfort was because
every 500 or so metres there was
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| Water!! |
and toilets
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| Clean and cheerful toilets! |
I was very grateful.
The beach really is spectacular.
Lots of big waves rolling in, crowds of people lying on the sand
(getting both burnt and sandblasted; it really was quite windy down there…) and
frolicking in the dumpy waves. I was very surprised not to see dozens of surfboards – in fact the whole
way up and down the beach I only saw one actual surfer. Everyone else was just bodysurfing, or
getting energetically dumped by waves.
Ibis are a pesty bird but…I had to take a photo of this one, strutting on
by.
After about four hours of walking I started to flag. Pete was still working, and it didn’t occur
to me to go and help him and his team digging out a tree stump. He spent about four hours climbing up into the
top of the tree on an extension ladder, sawing away at thick branches with a
narrow saw. I am very glad I didn’t see
this…but I do feel a bit guilty that I didn’t help Sally drag the branches and
load them into the truck… I actually thought that my role was to keep out of the
way.
But where to go?? Well…I had the bright
idea of going to Pacific Fair, one of the biggest shopping malls in Australia,
and currently under reconstruction. What
was I thinking? I actually know that I
hate shopping malls… I trudged around, slowly losing the will to live until,
more by good luck that good management, I came upon a spacious comfortable bar
area, full of fatly upholstered chairs and no hint of food hall (I also hate
food halls…)
I felt a bit of a wimp asking for a nice cup of tea in what was very obviously
a BAR but the waiting staff were very kind and nearly tucked me up with a cosy
blankie…
I am very glad I had such a nice long walk around Surfers. About time I got some endorphins up and
stopped sitting on my bottom eating and drinking. And I did love the beach and the skyscrapers!
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