Brisbane, Australia

Street behind the house at Boondall Motel
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• Subnday - July 8, 2001:
• I was the last one off the plane and the welcome we received was heart warming and exceeded my expectations. My Aunt Effie and Uncle Herb along with two cousins, Lester and Judith, four second cousins and their families waited to greet us at the end of the ramp waving  small Australian flags. It was a bit awkward at first as I introduced my family to everyone. It was the first time I had met Eddie, Jenni, Andrew and Raeanne and their children Tim, Melissa, Nic and Rebekah.
• It was a cold and windy morning as we made our way to Lester's house in Banyo. Here we had a reception with a full spread of treats and pastry for morning tea. The Pavlova was great. I was wearing a polo shirt and it was getting quite chilly so Lester gave me his jumper from Nudgee Golf Club to wear. We chatted and got to know each other. Andrew asked me if I knew the name of Australia's prime minister. I said no[It's John Howard]. We had a wonderful time and we left Lester's house around noon.
• We headed towards Boondall where a friend of Lester's owned a motel. Behind the motel he owned a house which he rented out to various people from time to time. His name was Peter Randall along with his wife Lynette. They are very nice people and the Boondall motel is a nice place on the north side of Brisbane Airport. We were to spend the first few days in a motel room until the house became available. After unloading our luggage we all fell alseep around 2 p.m. It would take us a few days to adjust to the time change. I woke up around 3 a.m. that first night and I just lay there until the sun came up around 6 a.m.

...at the end of the ramp waving small Australian flags.