Brisbane

We flew out of Canberra this morning. It was a little chilly at 7:30 a.m. but no rain. Even though I knew Brisbane would be much warmer, I put on many layers of clothing this morning. It’s easier to wear them than carry them.

The flight was uneventful, the train transport from the airport pleasant. We had a 10 minute walk to the hotel, some of it uphill, and as usual I stayed back with those students who needed a breather. A wheel broke off one of the suitcases on our arrival to Canberra, and we’ve all been suggesting ways to move that piece of luggage around. Well, today, Dan was our hero and rolled that suitcase to the train on top of his suitcase and even passed his suitcase over to the owner of the damaged luggage and CARRIED her bag to the hotel.

We were at the hotel for about ten minutes when….you guessed it! We had a thunderstorm, and rained poured down. This was the type of storm you expect to blow over in a few minutes, but when it continued, Charlie and I pulled out the umbrellas and went in search of lunch. While we were out, we bought food for our next three meals (no free breakfast here!) The sky had cleared by then, and so we went for a long walk. Too long. We have wet clothes hanging from every hook in the room. Need I say more?

So, I haven’t seen too much of Brisbane yet. We can see the Brisbane River from our hotel window. I’m looking at the bridge over the river as I type, and the white neon lights on the bridge are striking. Street lights reflect in the river, a ferry cruises by, and a train rolls past. Our afternoon walk didn’t take us over this bridge; we were on two others. I had hoped to see South Bank, but the wind was whipping up as we approached, so we headed for home.

Tomorrow we will see koalas!