I am quickly approaching the end of my travels and I am preparing to travel on my last flight before I board my flight to return home. Australia was an incredible nation, much like the US in many ways, but still holding on to that Aussie charm. Everyone is a mate, to the point that when people walk past beggars on the streets instead of just ignoring them or saying “no” they typically address the panhandler with a “Sorry Mate.” I just thought that was sweet, even the beggars are mates.
I spent the last week of my three weeks in Australia with Jules and her family in Brisbane. If you will recall I met Jules in Vienna, traveled with her to Poland, and met back up with her in London the second time I was there. We had been planning to meet up in Brisbane since our first encounter which reassured me that the negative comments I was getting from other Aussies about Brisbane wouldn’t hold true for me. Jules have a lovely family who I got the privilege of getting to know while I was staying in Queensland. James, Jules’ brother, is married to Michelle, and they have four gorgeous children: Johnny, age 4, Nathan, age 2, and the twin girls, Alice and Emily, age 18 months. All the kids have such definitive personalities: Johnny the tentative rebel, Nathan the sweet-hearted playboy, Alice the fearless thinker, and Emily the flirty dancer (she loved it when I danced with her).
The bus ride from Sydney to Brisbane takes about 16 hours, and I think I am the only person to make the trip without stopping over somewhere. Most of the people who shared the bus with me got off at Byron Bay, which looked like one big frat party as the bus pulled into the terminal. The bus was a much better ride than the train in Australia. I got to see some really awesome truck stops shaped like the big rock and a prawn. Once I finally arrived in Brisbane, I was able to meet up with Jules and make the drive from the city to the suburb where she and the family live, Bracken Ridge. That first night was a bit of a bust, seeing as how I had just been on a bus for 16 hours, but I got acquainted with the house and slept like a baby.
On my official first day in Brisbane, Jules took me on a driving tour of the city, showing me all of the major areas of the city like Fortitude Valley, New Farm, Hamilton Hill, Downtown, and Southbank. Brisbane has a really amazing regional theatre that is housed in an old abandoned power-plant and they have left a lot of the graffiti and equipment in the space so it has a great artistic, urban feel. After Julianne and I had driven around for a bit, we met up with her good friend, Trent, for a spot of lunch and a friendly introduction. Jules and I ended up spending Friday and Saturday night at Trent’s with his partner Antony. The two of us finished our day of sightseeing with a promenade down the shores of Southbank on the Brisbane River and visiting the Gallery of Modern Art which had some really terrific exhibits. One of the exhibits was a video exhibit featuring a dozen people who were recorded singing Michael Jackson songs. It was loads of fun to the point Jules and I lost track of time and ended up closing the museum.
The two of us ended the day with fish and chips on the bay with her friend Liam. Jules introduced me to a lot of her inner circle in Brisbane. Meals with friends, drinks and dancing with old acquaintances, Brisbane was filled to brim with entertainment. On Thursday, Jules and I went to Australia Zoo, where I was able to pay homage to Steve Irwin, and become nauseated by the merchandising of his daughter Bindi, who has exercise DVDs, beach-towels, and mugs with her likeness emblazoned on them. I was, however, able to pet both kangaroos and koalas as they hopped around or slept. The world famous crocodile show was a lot of fun, although we missed Bindi and the Crocmen performing before the 11 am show. The Zoo isn’t the biggest I have ever been to but it really is doing a great job educating people about preserving wildlife and honoring Steve’s memory.
After going to the zoo, Jules and I drove North to Kungalula Falls, where we had a very late lunch in the Treetops Hotel and hiked through the hinterland looking for waterfalls and solving all the world’s problems. There was a great rock pool that we found but had left our towels in the car by accident, so we opted out of taking a dip.
We finished off the day picking Michelle up from the salon she owns and going back to the house to have excellent pizzas prepared by Mr. Mom, James. Friday was a full day journey to the beach with Jules, James, and Johnny. The other kids have been put in a “mothers day out” daycare program, so James was only left with Johnny, who starts kindergarten in a few weeks. We made it to the beach, covered from head to toe in sunscreen, and had a blast playing in the waves, making a sand sculpture that looked like an alligator, and playing on the playground with Johnny. It was great! We ate a roast chicken that looked like a similar meal I had in Cambodia, minus the head, and went for a swim in the backyard pool when we got home to help wash off all the sand. I also got to eat my first Tim-Tam, a staple of Australian cookies, although they were melted so much it was like eating fondu.
That night, we headed over to Trent and Ant’s for the weekend after eating a bit of seafood laksa. Trent and Ant have a lovely home in the suburbs, and I got to sleep on a full size bed with all the luxuries of a fine hotel. The next morning we woke up to have breakfast on the patio, bacon and eggs cooked on the barbie. Once we were fed and dressed, we headed down the coast with Byron Bay as our destination. Unfortunately, due to a bit of wet weather and heavy traffic, we never made it to Byron but we made it to the Gold Coast. We had more fish n’ chips for lunch at a surf club. Always fish and chips in Aussie. I got to stand across the state line between New South Wales and Queensland which also meant that I was standing in two different time zones. I am not sure how they coordinate schedules in Rainbow Bay, but I am sure they figure something out. That night, we put on our dancing shoes and headed out to a couple of bars and clubs to dance the night away Brisbane style. It was loads of fun, but I definitely woke up sore the next day, seeing as how it had been so long since I’ve had a night out like that.
Sunday, Jules and I slept in, but headed back to the house to spend time with family. Michelle’s mother and her partner, Greg, came over for the afternoon and everyone took a nice long swim. After we had all dried off, I did some portraits of the family as a thank you to the Twifords. Ended up getting some great pictures of the family and hope they really enjoy them. Jules and I spent the rest of the evening, going through photos, transferring files, and playing with the pooped kids (no one had had a nap that day).
Currently I am on the flight to Auckland, and spending two weeks in New Zealand before heading home. I have lots of tips on traveling there, so I am planning on spending the afternoon researching and booking my time in the islands.I hope all is going well back in the States. Only a couple of days before the Inauguration. It starts at 1 am in Auckland on Wednesday morning.
Mark and Johnny with sand alligator
Mark, Johnny and Nathan
At Australia Zoo
At the Park
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