Half way to 70...

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Today is a lovely sunny day in Brisbane. It's like I've never been here before, because the last time I was here, it poured down all day, every day. I barely recognise the place - which is strange, seeing as I remember thinking that I liked Brisbane as a city. Time to go and investigate to see if my memory is failing me or not....

First mission - return beloved Getz (not really - I can say it now that it's got me here to Brisbane OK, but it was a right rattly tin, that despite the presence of a 1.6 engine, tackled hills with the energy of a hungover snail). Brisbane is a finely tuned grid of one way systems, and despite the fact the road I need to get to is all of 4 blocks away, the route in the car is akin to a 3 minute skill game on the Crystal Maze. Still, I successfully navigated my way there through the streets named after monarchs, and headed over to the Botanical Gardens, as some kind of treat for being so clever as to find the rental returns place first time.

The Botanical Gardens were beautiful, particularly with the sun beating down in the almost cloudless sky. I needed to get to South Bank for 12 to meet with Rich, fellow LFC fan from home who now lives in Brisbane, so to kill time, went for a little walk around the riverside. I passed trendy bar after trendy bar - either not there the last time I was here or disguised by bucketloads of rain. It's a beautiful stroll, with the city skyscrapers on one side, and the historic bridge on the other.

I hopped on the citycat, a ferry that takes you around the city, over to Southbank. Kind of failed to mention that I didn't have a ticket so saved myself a few dollars by being a fare dodger (every little helps in this city! Brought back happy memories of fare dodging on the early Taunton to Paddington Monday morning train when I was commuting to London. Should I really be confessing this???!). Over at Southbank and I finally remember where I am - my memories of this part of town involve the City Beach and lots of bright pink flowers forming an archway from the lagoon to the shops. Both still appeared to be present and correct, which was a relief. I took a stroll along the shops and then sat by the lagoon (very similar to Cairns/Airlie Beach varieties that I've described earlier) to soak up some rays before meeting with Rich.

We had lunch and a right good catch up in the pub, in my case accompanied by 3 pints of lager. Which inevitably destroyed any hope I had of staying awake beyond 5pm...After a quick hop on the train, for which I paid the fare as well, I was back at the hostel and dossed up for the night. Only a brief awakening at 10pm by my new roomie disturbed my sleep. He asked if I was unwell as I'd been sleeping fully clothed for hours. No, just old, I replied. Really, how old? And my totally unprovoked and unplanned response - 'Half way to 70'. Where the hell that came from, I'll never know but I was (nearly) right. If that isn't enough inspiration that life's short and there's so much to see and do out there, then I don't know what is! I'm going to attack tomorrow with much more energy - don't want to waste one more second before that pension of mine kicks in...

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