Country Bumkins let loose

 06/09/202
  Sometimes we think we should never be let loose in a big city without a chaperone. The things we do! Mastering the touch screen railway ticket machine took some time as there wasn’t an infant around to show us how it worked. Standing at the top of the escalator wondering why it was going in the wrong direction caused some odd looks from passers by. Opening soy sauce packets in a sushi caff seemed a friendly thing to do as nearly everybody got some! Trying to get a ride on the cash only catamaran with no money in the wallet was possibly a first. But Australians are a friendly bunch and always ready to help us silly old English duffers!
  We wanted to find out if there were any sporting events (preferably cricket) on at the world famous cricket stadium, The Gabba. Naturally we have timed things to perfection , Aussie rules finished there 2 weeks ago and Sheffield Shield cricket starts in 2 weeks time! They are busy changing the middle of the pitch for the coming cricket. A very nice lady in tourist information made a phone call and arranged for a private viewing of the Gabba if we could get there…….. on the bus. We weren’t going to turn that down so we somehow managed to find our way  and had a personal short look at the stadium. It was as impressive as it looks on TV, pity there was nothing going on. That is another box ticked however having now seen the inside of  three of the five test grounds, Sydney and Adelaide to go.
 The catamaran tour is still on the cards, we will do it at the weekend, must remember to take some cash.

 07/09/22012
  Hottest day we have had for some time, 29C this arvo.  We thought we would give the city dwellers a rest from our meanderings and concentrate on the suburbanites as we once again set off to find good old Dan Murphys. I think we got away with not upsetting too many motorists and managed find our way to the shopping mall and out again where Dan lives without getting lost! Mission accomplished we have spent the day relaxing and catching up with some computerating. Watch out Brissy, we are coming in again tomorrow!

 08/09/202
  Another first last night as I  was closely supervised by a possum up in the tree when I was BBQing on the deck. We thought he was rather cute until he had a battle with his mate, then he showed his true colours.
 There was good news from home when we learned (via skype) that our eldest grandson is going from strength to strength with Gloucester Rugby Club and is now in what is known as the Silver academy. If he continues at this level he will be eligible for promotion to the Gold Academy where he will train with the club professionals. We are very proud of him and are missing these developments lots.
  At last we have managed to have a go on the river cat, actually getting in the right one and ending up where we intended, marvellous. We went to the St Lucia district where the university of Queensland has their campus. It’s an enormous uni and apart from the obvious education  complex, the sports facilities are second to none, every sport you can think of is catered for here.
 Back in the city centre there was so much going on . Weekend shoppers and us tourists were entertained by various up market buskers, not to mention a local college orchestra in the pedestrian mall playing big band stuff, they were excellent. Jane reckoned that her school orchestra would have emptied the Mall!
We enjoyed day though it’s hard work slogging around in 28degrees of blazing sunshine so we just had to call in ay the pub at the bottom of our hill for a schooner to fortify ourselves for the last slog up cardiac hill.

 09/09/2012
If there is city somewhere else in the world with more hills than Brisbane then I want to know about it, so I can avoid it. Not content with living at the top of cardiac street we went to have a look at a place even higher up today. Ok we drove there and walked the last 100m or so to the observation platform at the top of Mt Coot-Tha. From here we could see down over the city and beyond towards Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Island. There is a restaurant at the lookout and being a Sunday every man and his dog were up there, it was very busy.
 We moved on around the mountain top and found a picnic area to have our lunch in true Aussie style, out in the fresh air. These picnic areas are generally well maintained by the council, the ones on Mt Coot-Tha have wood fired BBQ,s with chopped and split wood supplied. We have come across this before in other Australian states, everywhere is geared for the outdoor life, it has to be the way to go!