In Brisbane, we had the double benefit of hospitable friends with cars and time off work. So we were chauffered around Queensland’s south-eastern corner, from lush green mountainside to sparkling bay, from the bright lights of Bris-Vegas (as it is sometimes called, for no discernable reason) to time-warp rural towns. Kris and Carley hosted us wonderfully for no less than 10 nights. Friends of Mina from their London days, these kindly Aussies foolishly indulged Ben by encouraging him to run through his range of stereotypical accents, including, of course, Australian, mate. You beauty. Hmmm, it works even less well in print. Not only that, with their help, we learned to surf, with moderate but surprising success; ate a whale’s portion of seafood; saw test match cricket at the famous Gabba (well, one of us did –
... read more
