Back to Brisbane - Bats, Botanicals, Birthdays and Barbies!

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Well as promised we’re back in blogging mode and have put together a whistle-stop synopsis of events since January to bring you all up to date (in case you were wondering what we’ve been up to!)

Having sworn never to do the journey in one go again we board our flight (direct flight!) at Heathrow and 24 hours later (after brief stops in Dubai and Brunei) we arrive back to a balmy evening in Brisbane! (knackered). Despite the journey it’s nice to be back and we head for our temporary accommodation in the heart of the city - the very nice Oaks on Felix with views of the river/Story bridge. Having booked in here for a week our main priority was to find an apartment in the city asap and so we get down to some serious flat hunting in 34 degree heat (a 30 degree increase from Scotland - phew).

In typical us style we manage to arrive just before Australia day celebrations which means a long weekend and no flat-hunting. On the plus side it gave Heather time to recover from the nasty bug she smuggled back from Scotland as a souvenir! Cutting it a bit fine we manage to secure a lease the day before we’re due to move out of our temporary apt and the following day make the short trip to our new home - Quay West on Alice St.

http://www.ozhorizons.com.au/qld/bris/quaywest/qw.htm

Not your average block of flats Quay West is actually a plush hotel which has sold off various apts which are lived in permanently or leased out like our one. Luckily we’re facing onto the Botanic gardens across the road and have a nice sized balcony with good views over the gardens to Kangaroo Point cliffs. Great spot for having brekkie but our favourite time is at dusk when hundreds of Flying Foxes (big bats) take off en masse every day like clockwork. We also have a nice pool and gym to use and an outdoor jacuzzi to relax in with views of the Story Bridge! The biggest perk though is knowing that if you come home after a hard days graft (stop laughing) and can’t face making dinner then room service (or the bar ) is only a phone call away!! Happy days.

Once the relief of finding an apt had subsided it was onto phase two of the plan - finding jobs to pay for it! Heather got a temporary position back at the place she was working previously and I do the rounds of all the agencies (they seem to have trouble understanding the phrase “Geez a joab” though). In amongst all this mundane stuff though we manage to crank up our social life a bit by going to see Scissor Sisters at the River Stage (a big outdoor venue in the Botanic Gardens opposite our apt) and taking in Chinese New Year with combined flat warming/meal out/party till the wee small hours with friends we’d met last year (who had an old school Pac Man machine from back in the day in their apt) Nice.

Following this we had a spate of birthdays to keep us amused. First mine which unfortunately fell on a Tuesday but we still went to the cinema and had a few shandies at the Irish bar (see St Paddy photos) on the way home. Also took our first trip to the Dockside comedy club at Kangaroo Point that weekend - which involved the bonus of a night ferry ride there and back - where the comics were funny and the beer served in jugs! Our next birthday outing was for Heathers friend Melinda who had a party at her lovely house in East Brisbane. She lives in a Queenslander - an old style wooden house raised off the ground with big entertaining balcony - and we partied away till the wee small hours (again) with her and various other Aussie folks.

These paltry birthdays all paled into insignificance however as the big day arrived and Mrs Fraser hit the big 3-0! Thankfully this coincided with me getting a job (I’m now working for Leightons on a $2 billion dollar project building a city bypass tunnel from north to south Brisbane - no spadework involved before you ask - and while we’re on the subject Heather started a new contract with Qbuild weaving her HR magic - and the best thing is we're both 15-20 min walk to work through the city) so it was full steam ahead for the celebrations! On Thursday night we went out together for a meal to Venice restaurant down at Riverside with great food, the obligatory bottle of bubbly and equally great views of Story bridge all lit up. After this we headed off to the Tivoli theatre in Fortitude Valley to see Toni Collette (that Aussie actress) and her band The Finish which was a nice way to round off the evening.

In previous weekends out and about we’d discovered a good Thai restaurant in West End so this was the venue for Friday nights shenanigans. After meeting friends for pre-dinner drinks at the awesome Fox bar (with roof terrace and views of the city skyline) we then head on for a very tasty Thai banquet followed by birthday cake and a slow walk home! Exhausted after 2 nights out in a row (we’re not getting any younger) the rest of the weekend is spent wandering around the city / botanic gardens / markets trying out our new camera (thanks Big D :-) in the hope of getting good photos to amuse you all with! Continuing in this vein our next outing is to the St Paddys day parade which consisted of lots of floats and pipe bands doing a route through the city and pubs being open from 7.30 am. Messy

Phew nearly there now! The last things of note to report was a flying visit from Emma and Andy (from Aberdeen) on their way down the East coast and a barbie at our friend Russell’s (who wants us to teach him Proclaimers songs!) apt (on his balcony to be precise) before we all headed out to a live comedy sketch show and drinks in the Valley. Right that’s it for now, I’ve been typing for hours, but it’s Easter long weekend coming up and we’re off to sample Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road so I’m sure an update will be forthcoming!

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