Will the last Englishman out of the country turn the lights out please ?

Brisbane Update

Wow. So much has happened since the last update, where do I start ?

OK, we went to Brisbane (Brissie), which is a 12 hour drive from Sydney. To break the journey up, very slightly, we stopped at the Hunter Valley, 2 hours north of Sydney. We stayed at Tranquil Vale, which is owned by an English couple. Wine tasting was ace, and we managed to sink 3 bottles of an excellent Semillon while sitting round their pool. They have a river at the bottom of their vineyard, and the guy said to go and take a look. As we left he said, “Oh yeah, mind the snakes, plenty of noise”. I thought he was taking the piss, K was not so sure. I thought, well, they wont be in the vineyard anyway, as there are paths, but maybe on the riverbank. So, we start walking. We have only gone fifty feet, still almost in their back garden, and K decides she is being attacked. I heard a scream, and saw K in a fit of convulsions, and as she swung her arm, this snake like thing went up in the air. I thought, SHIT, K has been bitten by a bloody snake. It was not a snake. It was K's bracelet, as she swung her arm so hard, the clasp undone, it unwound to it's full length, and flew through the air. The snake that attacked her was not a snake, but a long piece of grass. Close call that one.

So, a long long drive followed. Got to Brisbane, stayed at the Brisbane Holiday Village. We thought it was not as nice as the Big4 camps, and guess what. NO INTERNET. We have been cut off for near a week ! Brisbane is defo different. The South Bank is lovely, those on the pics email will see it, and there are a lot of good things about Brisbane. It's not for us right now though, although who knows in the future. We went to Steve Irwins Australia Zoo. Very very sad, to see his daughter on TV there with him, to know he has sadly passed. I will say that guy has built an amazing park there, and his family are rightly proud of that. Then, on the way out, a turn of fate happened. A woman offered us a free paper. I said no thanks, and K for some reason took a paper. Normally it would be the other way round. So, we gets back to the van and I decide to read it. Subaru it seems are doing a sale, as Christmas is a very slow period. There is a cross between an Estate car and mini jeep, called a Forrester. They are knocking AUD $7500.00 off the list price on selected models. So, we go down, have a look, and we only bloody buy one. A brand spanker, off the forecourt. It is lovely, we are real happy with it. The dogs, and hopefully soon, the kids, will go into that perfectly. God, listen to us, gone are the days of Mercs and 206 cc's ! Oh yeah, K's car went from Ebay, over £7000.00, so that was good.

It rained a fair bit in Brissie. We had a tropical storm one night, the same night I left the vents open in the top of the van, so we got absolutely soaked. I woke up, hearing the rain. Thought, hmmm, my legs feel wet. Hang on, I am under a duvet, how are they wet. Hands feeling around in the dark, shit, I've pissed myself. No I have not, I left the bloody vents open. Lights on, duvet change, vents closed, back to sleep.

Went to a Koala sanctuary. K fell in love with them. Loads of photos to send. K also fell in love with the wallabies, and was stroking them in their enclosure at Australia Zoo.

We are keeping it Australian over here. If we can, we buy Australian. We bought an aussie mattress direct from an aussie mattress manufacturer. It's in the van, which makes things interesting moving around. We are on the way back to the house to drop it off. We did another 10 hour drive yesterday, and are now 2 hours north of Sydney in another nice park. Had a swim in their lush pool last night, and sat in the sun until 8pm, then had a barbie. Right, sun is coming up, so we need to get off to our house and pick up the keys. How exciting. We have a house, car, bed (Well a mattress). All we need to get is our double fridge freezer thing, an iron, and a bbq, and we are done. We are gonna haggle like mad on those to get a deal. He who dares Rodders, he who dares.

glad to hear from you

09:26, Wed 6 December 2006 .. Posted by busterboy

Glad to hear that you are both having a good time and congrats on the new car!

I look forward ot the next installment.

BB

holidays [Christmas on the beach]

04:20, Tue 12 December 2006 .. Posted by mcewen

Now there's a life style we can all envy.
Cheers