Brissie Q Oz

19 November - We drove down from Noosa to Brisbane on Monday morning and met with Sam for lunch....he went to Chooka's and got a great chicken! We then looked at my former abode and found that it had no furnishings (when I had lived there, there had been beds, armoires, refrigerator, couch, chairs, washing machine) so we decided to go down the road and stay at a small motel with holiday units. We plan to spend two weeks(just too much to do here) at the South Pacific Palms Motel, 425 Bowen Terrace, New Farm Qld 4005, phone 61 7 3358 2366 or fax 61 7 3358 3489 where we have two bedroom, one bath, kitchen and dining/living area and a small veranda for about $500 AU per week. We then hope to be able to stay in Sam's house south of here near the Gold Coast from where we can explore the hinterland that borders NSW.

20 November - A very long walking day...walked from New Farm through Fortitude Valley to the city of Brisbane and had lamb kebab at the Wintergarden (where I had many lunches while working in a few years back). We then walked the Botanic Gardens and had mud cake at the City Gardens Cafe before doing some more walking and then heading back to New Farm on the ferry. When I left in 1996, they had just started a catamaran ferry (City Cat) but they have also kept the old ferries running the shorter runs....great views of the city but definitely heaps of changes.....more and more high rises and more and more apartment complexes built in New Farm where they have torn down some of the older homes.

21 November -Took new catamaran ferry from New Farm to City. Another sunny gorgeous day in Brisbane but does feel like it is getting warm. It was quite cool when we arrived Monday midday as it was after a big rain but the sun has been shining ever since.

22 November - Attended the morning Rotary Club meeting at the Polo Club in the city where I had previously been a member...was great visiting with so many friends that I had not seen for the past five years. They asked me to speak on what I had been doing for that time and after I did, I asked if anyone would like someone to housesit for them for the month of December...still waiting for a response! I then returned to New Farm where Jan and I had our hairs done by Tina Wessel, the woman that had done my hair while I had lived here....we are now very happy with our new dos! Plus I was able to catch up with Tina (she is Greek and her German husband Juergen and their two children Kiah and Alexander). Jan and I then walked around New Farm and decided to move next week to a new abode with a view of the Brisbane River (Kirribilli at 150 Oxlade; 61 7 3358 5622 or fax 61 7 3254 1714). We do not know the room number but plan to be there on Monday evening for the next week or two. There is just so much to do in Brissie! We had a great Indian dinner at the Taj Mahal in New Farm...a bit of a break for our spaghetti at home!

23 November - Jan and I took the early morning ferry in to catch up on internet, have a Starbucks mocha grande and then off for culture at the QLD museum (special exhibit on the Tasmanian Tiger that is now extinct) and QLD art gallery at South Bank.

24 November - Decided to drive instead of walk today and headed to Brisbane Forest Park and visited the lookouts and trails on the way to Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious. Visited Sandra and Allan Brown at Mt Ommaney for lunch; Sandra and I worked together at Telstra while I was here in 1995-96. She had also invited Allan's aunt Mavis and her grandson Christopher over. After lunch we drove to Mt Cootha lookout and visited the Botanic Gardens. We also stopped to see another former coworker Ranald Grant and his wife Carolyn. After he retired from Telstra he purchased a large house on ten acres in Moggill (about 20 km from Brisbane CBD) on the Brisbane River....beautiful place. Ranald gave us a tour of the property in his car driving on the lawn viewing all the trees that he has planted! We then had Lamington cake on the veranda and then back to New Farm....almost dark to drive home but made it okay(.

25 November - Ferry again to the city for the Riverside markets and then to catch up on the internet. We headed back to the New Farm park for the annual Carnivale. We then met Sam and his sister Angela and her husband Ivan for dinner at the Merthyrs Bowls Club. Angela and Ivan are off for a week holiday at Fraser Island.

26 November - We moved to the Kirribilli Holiday Units in New Farm with a wonderful view of the Brisbane River....much quieter than where we were before. The number is 61 7 3358 5622 or fax 61 7 3254 1714 room 702 (or extension 4702). Because of the dollar and that there are two of us travelling, we are able to afford quite nice accommodation at a reasonable price (just half the Aussie price twice!). Our new place also has Foxtel so tis great to catch up on some films and also has UKTV so watched Coronation Street and Eastenders last evening. We then had a great walk around New Farm to visit the old Powerhouse that has been converted into a venue for plays etc. We did some grocery shopping and then returned to enjoy our new abode and to start cleaning out the junk that we have been collecting for the past two months. We must get lighter before getting on a plane in January to head to Bali.

27 November - Ferry to the city again for Starbucks, drop off the ten rolls of film for developing and then to the QLD State Library for free internet. Had a great Sushi lunch at Wintergarden for only $4.20 AU....great price for raw fish! We then decided to see a film although this time an American one that I did not really care for...Training Day. We took the ferry home just in time as ten minutes after we arrived, a huge lightening and thunder storm hit with heaps of rain and high winds but it did not last very long....typical tropical storm.

28 November - I have been waking up at 4 am everyday with the sunrise to do my one hour of running/race walking through New Farm and just loving it....along the river front and listening to the birds and going down different streets to see all of the changes that have occurred in the past year. Brisbane is one of the few places on the continent that does not have daylight savings time for summer which I really enjoy although then the sun does set early around 6:45. We drove down to the Gold Coast today....a new high speed motorway now goes from Brisbane all the way down so it is now less than one hour of travel....there used to only one or two lanes and some stoplights and now there are eight lanes across! The weather was still a bit dodgy so we spent time at the Pacific Fair Shopping Mall before driving from Burleigh Heads up to Seaworld near Surfers Paradise. School is out so the 'schoolies' have hit the beaches!

29 November - Attended the 7am Rotary meeting again at the Brisbane Polo Club and then had coffee with three of the ladies from the club to catch up on old times. I got caught up on the internet and then joined Russell Flack of Telstra for lunch to catch up on the latest news of the whereabouts of everyone from our NPAMS project in 1995-96. I ended up buying a much lighter weight and smaller sleeping bag (Fairydown of NZ) that only weighs 1kg. Now I must decide whether to send the one I brought back to Juneau or just toss it? I wandered through more bookshops looking at books on bushwalking in Queensland and also travel books on other people's adventures in Bali and Vietnam. I found the QLD Parks office which has great books and maps and photos of the parks in this area. I stopped by Andersen again to see if I could connect with the woman that I had worked with there many years ago but she was not available.

30 November - Another month has gone by....boy, does time fly by! Instead of taking the ferry to the city, we decided to walk (only about half an hour along the Brisbane River). After another Starbucks mocha grande, we are back at the internet. We then took the ferry back and to lay by the pool for a few hours....we have been going nonstop too long now.

1 December - Another walk to the city but this time we stopped at Fortitude Valley to browse the Saturday markets...nothing too exciting at this market.....mostly garage sale stuff and folks from the hippie era of the 1970's! Jan returned via ferry as she went to the library to use their pc's to write her Christmas letter which I have decided to forego this year....maybe I will take the time to get out a few cards though! I walked back and stopped for a tour of the Customs House on the Brisbane River. I had initially gone in to view the art gallery and then an older woman arrived and invited to show me the two levels above. The building dates back to the 1800's and has some wonderful old black and white photos on the walls depicting the waterfront over the years and all of the changes. Also stopped by a real estate open house just to get an idea of property activity....I should have purchased when I lived here five years ago as everything has skyrocketed in price.

2 December - A morning to wash clothes and write a few Christmas cards....and then Jan ran out of cards (she had already purchased forty) so back to the Sunday Riverside Markets for her to get another forty more! And then of course, a stop for a Starbucks mocha grande.....a bit more dear than a regular coffee here but less dear than if you buy it in the USA....I think that it is now $3.65 US and here it is $5.25 AU (or about $2.65 US). Back to New Farm to lay by the poolside and get some sunshine and then late afternoon to watch movie 'Lorenzo's Oil' on the Foxtel network that we have on our television.

3 December - Up again for a morning run...it is great to see all of the birdlife on the river....pelicans, doves, magpies, egrets/herons....

Spending today doing errands; I met with fellow ex-Rotarian Kerry Lanza this morning who is a dentist and will have my teeth cleaned this week. My binoculars have broken so need to find someone who can fix them. I also met with Theresa Middleton of the Flight Centre travel agency; she had done most of my travel while I was living here. She was in Vietnam in April on a trip with Intrepid (www.intrepidtravel.com) so we are now reviewing the options of doing an organized tour through not only Vietnam but Cambodia and Laos with Intrepid....they have some great looking trips and only take twelve people. Theresa introduced me to her coworker Ian who will organize our visas with Canberra.

4 December - We awake every morning not only to the birds but to the rowing/sculling club across the river doing their early morning row between 5:30 and 6 am! The first ferry arrives at 6:04. The sun rises at 0445 and sets at 1829...everyday! No Alaska stuff like gaining or losing five minutes a day!

5 December - This Airtreks site has changed their Edit format and I must type continuously from left to right (not good so this will be short). Attended slide show in the evening in Milton on Park Road conducted at the Adventure Traveller offices by Maree Peel of Travel Indochina, an upmarket travel company that we do not plan to use due to expense but great slides on Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos.

6 December - Visited TMVC for HepB jab and Kerry Lanza's hygienist to get my teeth cleaned.

7 December - Happy Pearl Harbor Day! It is pouring down rain in Brissie!Found some great sales at the Kathmandu Outdoor Gear shop in Fortitude Valley...the prices of REI type stuff has really dropped since I lived here five years ago.

8 December - My former landlord's (Sam Cantarella) sister's (Angela Lestani) husband (Ivan) invited us to fly with him this morning out of Archerfield Airport in a Cessna 182....we had a great tour of Brisbane, Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island (on which I had done some camping when I lived here previously). We then stopped in Woodridge to visit with Janelle Dyer(with whom I had worked at Telstra and who had also visited me in SF and France) and also stopped at the Powerhouse Farmers Market in New Farm (found some great chorizo for lunch). We returned to lounge by the pool in the sun (since we have not seen it in a few days due to the rains). We took the 6pm ferry to the city for the free Christmas concert at Riverstage in the Botanic Gardens but it was so crowded that we returned early.

9 December- Another beautiful day to roam the markets of the City although the clouds did move in. We walked to the West End markets in the city and spoke with folks that had spent time Bali and gave us recommendations of places to stay and people to meet. Walked back through the new Roma Street Parklands that were completed 6 April 2001. Returned to New Farm to listen to the Brisbane Citizens Band perform in the Park and then watched the lighted Riverside Boat Parade on the Brisbane River (similar to those that I have attended with my mother in Florida along the inland waterway).

10 December - As we read more brochures on different travel offerings from different companies that do SE Asia, we get more indecisive as to which one to chose which means we are spending heaps of time studying all of the options and talking to different people about the pros and cons of each! Took a break from all this to see two Aussie movie classics: Gate and One Night the Moon.....just wonderful! After the film, I headed for the nearest music store for the CD for One Night the Moon which is really well done.

11 December - Overcast and threat of rain today....spent more time planning our SE Asia adventure.

12 December - Departed the Kirribilli and Brisbane for Sam's abode near the Gold Coast at Worongary/Nerang. We will stay here until just before Christmas when we head several hundred KM away to Girraween. We drove to the Green Mountains and visited OReillys and the wonderful crimson rosellas and lorrikeet birds that hang out there. We walked the Tree Top walk and visited the botanical gardens. We then drove to Binna Burra.

13 December - Another Rainforest visit to Springbrook and Natural Arch.

14 December - Up to the top of Mt Tambourine!

15 December - I am now standing at an internet kiosk at the Robina Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast thanks to Telstra and Big Pond Internet Services (WebPoint)....of course it is $2 per 20 minute session and I have to stand at that! We spent the morning at the Carrara Markets enjoying buying all the local produce.

16 December - Visited Broadbeach Market and met with Ross Allardyce and his family for lunch....my Aussie boss at Firemans Fund in San Francisco thirty years ago! We also met with his mum who just turned 80 yesterday!

17 December - Off to visit Byron Bay in NSW and The Channon and Nimbin...also sunbake time on the beach!

18 December - Errand Day at the Malls but too many people doing their Christmas shopping....another package in the Post for home.

19 December - Another day on the beach at Surfers Paradise before heading to the Hinterland. We plan to visit Mt Barney and then Girraween for Christmas.

20 December - Off to the Hinterland; spent evening near Border Ranges at Cave Rock Cottages and hiked up to Cave Rock in the evening...the sounds of the cicadas here is deafening....probably over 100 decibels at 80 metres! We had departed Nerang early and stopped to explore Hinze Dam. Another stop in Beaudesert for a cappucino at McCafe...something new in Australia (that I do not think has made it to USA but is McDonalds answer, and serious competition here, to Starbucks). We stopped at the fruit stand in Rathdowney and stocked our car with fresh fruit and veggies. The Visitors Centre gave us great recommendations for accommodation so off we drove down Running Creek Road and Christmas Creek....lunch under the trees at Burgess Park near the village of Lamington.

21 December - Explored the Lions Tourist Road over the Border Ranges to NSW and then back to QLD to spend the evening at Mt Barney Lodge in a huge three bedroom Queenslander house!

22 December - Decided to spend three nights at the Mt Barney Lodge....beautiful views of Mt Barney, Mt Lindsey, Mt Maroon, Mt Gillies, and Mt Ernest.

23 December - Bushwalking at Queen Mary Falls

24 December - Early start to head to Girraween National Park near the NSW border in southern QLD....record breaking temps at over 100 degrees F. Internet time in Warwick. We did a wonderful rainforest walk at Cunningham Gap on the way.

25 December - We stayed last evening at the very lovely Wisteria Cottage near Girraween....I had stayed here previously during my stay in Oz in 1995-96. The owners Robin and Alba are wonderful and besides stocking the kitchen with fresh butter, jams, milk, juice, canned peaches they also delivered delicious homemade hot bread to us at 6:30 in the morning. We spent most of the morning bushwalking in Girraween to Castle Rock, the Sphinx and Turtle Rock. This area is known as the Granite Belt with heaps of large granite rock formations. We then followed our walk with a swim in the local watering hold (Dr Roberts Waterhole) which was very refreshing!

26 December - Another bushwalk today to Bald Rock which is actually in NSW. We had wanted to do another swim at the waterhole above the falls at Boonoo Boonoo but when we arrived at the Park after a 14 km drive on dirt road, we were told by the police and emergency services there that we could not swim because a body had gone missing there on Christmas Day and they were waiting for the divers to arrive to find the body in the swimming hole! Not good news...in addition to the very large fires that are now creeping very close to Sydney....about 140 houses destroyed so far. We drove back via Tenterfield and Wallangarra where we had a great rib fillet at the Customs House for only $10.50 AU. We returned to Wisteria Cottage and visited Alba's Chocolate Shop.....and decided to try them all!

27 December - After breakfast of hot bread and fresh free range eggs, we departed the Wisteria Cottage and are now heading to Bunya Mountains...a stop first in Warwick for food shopping and internet catchup then off to Toowoomba for a picnic in the park on the hill overlooking the valley....Toowoomba is the Garden City with heaps of gardens but we did not have time to explore them all. We spent the evening at the Ravensbourne Cottages next to the Ravensbourne National Park. The owner of the property(Debbie and Ian Macrae) had previously grown flowers and prior to that it had been a dairy farm...they now sell lots on which houses are built and then sold and then let out for the holidays....we had a huge house for $138 AU per night (check it out at www.mountainresort.com.au)!

28 December - Off to the Bunya Mountains where we found another house similar to that at Ravensbourne (Debbie and Ian had actually gotten the idea from the Bunya folks Frank and Sue Unwin and this is also where I had stayed five years ago when I last visited the Bunya Mountains). We stayed at the Silky Oaks house on the hill overlooking the valley...and quite cold when we woke in the morning to heavy fog....much better than the heat of Brissie now! We also did some bushwalking where there are heaps of wonderful plants and animals....this is the last remaining stand of the Bunya Pines in the world because of all the logging.

29 December - Back down into the heat of the flatland and to Kingaroy, the peanut capital of Australia, Nanango, Benarkin State Forest for picnic lunch, past the annual folk festival at Woodford and back up into the cool Blackhall Range and the mountain villages of Maleny, Montville, and Mapleton. We knew that it would be difficult to find accommodation so close to Brisbane on a Saturday night before New Years holiday and so therefore about gave up and headed to the coast when we stopped in at the Misty View Cabins Resort. So many of the places up here cater to couples on honeymoons or holiday so we were not surprised to find that the cancellation at the Misty Views was the honeymoon cabin on the Lake Baroon....but we took it anyway cos nothing else was left...and Jan opted for the floor....the owners did bring us another mattress thank goodness!!! The folks had cancelled their seven day reservation because their parents house had just burned down in the Sydney bushfires so they went to Sydney instead and lost their deposit (and we found a place to sleep!!)....

We watched an Aussie video since they had a large library of videos at the office....found a great film called the The Dish....about Parkes Australia and their critical role in the filming of Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon in the 1960's!

30 December - We watched another video (Murder of Crows) since we are up at 4am and not much is open til 10 then drove along the ridge of the Blackhall Mountains after stopping at Maleny to do internet and walk through the small market. We stopped at various accommodations and found most full so at Landsborough we rang the Kirribilli in New Farm (where we were booked starting tomorrow) and found that the tenants had moved out this morning so decided to head back to Brisbane on the slow road through the Glass House Mountains. Arrived just in time as a huge storm hit.

31 December - The last day of the year!!!

1 January - The first day of the new year!!! We relaxed by the pool at the Kirribilli and started getting our act together for travel to Bali.

2 January - My friend Tina Wessel arrived at 8:30 in the morning to cut and colour our hairs....must look good for the next leg of our journey! We also finalized our SE Asia travel plans with William Docherty at Adventure Traveller and posted about 12 kilograms of stuff home to Juneau which included all of my photos. This is the first time that I have actually named and organized my photos in an album before returning home for a journey so hopefully everyone in Juneau will enjoy them when they arrive!

3 January - We returned to the Adventure Traveller for Jan to book her Bangkok to SF tickets for May because she is planning to attend her sister's birthday party so I decided to just return at the same time because the price was a good one.....$794 AU Bangkok to LAX via Tokyo (less than $400 US)!

4 January - A sad day as we had to return our Avis hire car after two months and over 7000 kilometres! We also have had a Huntsman spider getting a free ride somewhere in the car as he would appear periodically then disappear....he was gigantic! Sam picked us up at 6:45 pm and we had a great dinner at the Breakfast (Brekkie) Creek Hotel...wonderful eye fillet steaks done to perfection!

5 January - A very overcast day so probably no pooltime today....busy packing and repacking and doing internet!

6 January - An early start to the city on the ferry for the Global Gossip Internet place which is open 8-midnite seven days....but today after many visits, they still had not opened by 10:00am! So after a mocha grande at Starbucks and a visit to the bookshops, we found another internet place. The weather forecast was for a 'fine' day but it is now raining so probably no pool time before heading to the sunshine of Bali (we hope, as this is really the rainy season there...but it is the tropics of the equator so hopefully just showers).

7 January - Garuda Indonesia Flight 707 to Denpasar Bali departing Brisbane at 0915 and arriving 1330.