Brisbane

The Golden ticket..
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A couple of hours away but a timezone and a climatic system of difference away, Brisbane is a very different kettle of fish to culturally sophisticated and cosmopolitan Melbourne. I had been forewarned by an Aussie colleague. Comedy moment on the plane where asked to write down the four words in the English language ending in –dous the whole plane struggled. And it took 30 minutes to solve it and win a prize from the flight crew. The humorous bit being some of the pitiful but wholly confident attempts and the despairing air hostesses looks as yet another howler claimed victory. My personal favourite was the guy adamant about the rectitude of the word/medical condition ‘jaundous’. As I say, very different to Melbourne. On getting into my taxi from the airport I asked the driver if my hotel was OK (I was thinking in terms of position, centrality, condition etc) and he said ‘Oh yeh, it great..faces the Botanical Gardens so you can ‘perv’ at the women runners in the morning’…..that actually happened..promise.

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Anyway..the weather is amazing and the city quite interesting. The Gabba is directly outside my window. The city is frankly a bit ugly but there has clearly been a lot of work on the area along the river and I admire the Aussie municipal ethic. Stuff tends to work and facilities are generally of an extremely high quality. The Barmy Army is in town and I frankly cringe whenever I see them in full flow in bars and on the streets. How do these guys get three months off work?

Went to the 3^rd day of the 1^st Ashes Test on my Saturday day off and it was a shocker..The Australians were just so completely dominant and impressive it was as if they were playing a different game. Managed to meet up with an old old mate from Cambridge and we had a great day together. And then a great evening together….and I have to say the Moreton Bay bugs of Brisbane are as good as the hype suggests. Back to Sydney and home tomorrow..really looking forward to seeing Claire and the kids.

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Travel back pretty uneventful though long and tedious and as always truly wonderful to see the family again.