Advertisement
Published: December 9th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Hi Bloggers!!
We arrived in Wellington Point (Brisbane) just before lunch and were very warmly welcomed into Shane (Dot's son) and Glenda's beautiful house. They have an upside down house with the kitchen and living area having beautiful views. They also have their very own media room which is like having a small cinema in the house; Anton was salivating and now wants a bigger house to build his own media room!!!! We had a cup of tea with Bea and John and met Shane and Glenda's son, Ash, and then Bea and John left to visit friends and relatives in Brisbane. Once we were settled, Shane and Glenda took us for a walk to Wellington Point and then treated us to a superb lunch overlooking the bay; we felt so spoilt! They were so easy to talk to and we really enjoyed their company. That evening Glenda cooked a delicious lamb dinner and we shared stories of our familes. Shane poured me my first Bundaberg rum and coke and I think that is my new drink!!!
The next day was a bit gloomy but we decided to venture to Stradbroke Island with Ash as our tour guide. We
arrived at the ferry port and it was extremely windy; I wished I brought a jumper!! We sat in a cafe and waited for the ferry and when we looked around, the ferry had been and gone!! We had to wait another 2hrs for another ferry, so Ash took us to Cleveland shopping centre to look around. When we finally arrived on Stradbroke Island, Ash took us to a place called Stradbroke Beach Hotel for lunch; we were certainly treated by the Bambricks and felt very humbled by their generosity. The hotel looked over the sea and was a beautiful setting. After lunch we headed down for a walk on the beach, which was stunning, even in the dull weather!! We enjoyed an ice-cream just before heading back over the ferry to Wellington Point. In the evening, Debbie (Shane's sister) came over for dinner and Glenda, Anton and Debbie cooked up a oriental feast which we all enjoyed; and I enjoyed another rum and coke!!
On Tuesday, Anton and I ventured into Brisbane. We took Shane and Glenda's car to Wellington train station and then caught the train to Southbank. We walked along Southbank and then spent some time
in the art gallery; we even found a painting of the River Dart nr Totnes!!! After the gallery we met up with Ash and he showed us around the city mall and we had some lunch in a food court. We managed to find Anton a new suitcase (as his broke at Bretonside Bus Station!) and then Ash took it home for us so we could carry on sight-seeing. Next, we caught the river city cat (catamaran) down the river to a place called St Lucia and then Ning (Del's cousin) picked us up and took us back to to his house. We spent the afternoon with Ning and Ann and had a lovely time; they showed us some photos of Anton as a baby and he was a little porker (certainly rivals George!!!) Ning took us to the train station and we caught the train back to Wellington Point and then drove back to Glenda and Shane's for our last night. Glenda cooked a lovey chicked salad and we spent the evening looking at their family photos and Anton had a play in the media room with Shane. We said our goodbye's to Glenda, Shane and Ash as they
were all going to work the next day and we wouldn't see them before they left. We had had such a wonderful time with them and were really made to feel part of the family; we were quite sad to be leaving as we got on so so well. We are now looking forward to treating them when they make it to England!!!
The next morning, we packed up, wrote a couple of blogs and then Ning picked us up to spend a couple of days with them in Graceville. The weather was horrendous and rained all day; we even had to wear jumpers!! (we later found out that it was the coldest day December in 50years!) We couldn't go out anywhere in the afternoon so just stayed in with Ning and Ann. That evening, we had dinner with Raewyn (Del's cousin), her husband Martin, their lively 3 year old grandson Brodie, John (Del's cousin) and his son Josh; Anton certainly has a large family!!!! We had curry, marinated pork, real corned beef, dauphinoise potatos and rice; it was delicous. I also managed to enjoy another couple of rum and pineapples, while Anton had a few of Ning's homebrews!!
The following morning we woke up and skyped Del and John; they loved seeing Ning and Ann. Ning was the breakfast chef and cooked us bacon, eggs, tomatos and toast; Anton was in heaven!! Later that morning we went to visit Stephanie (Ning and Ann's daughter), her husband Simon and two of her three children, Sam and Hannah (Mia was still at school). They had a stunning house with lots of land, a swimming pool and a motorcross track!! We had morning tea with a delicious cake (you will see us both putting on weight in the photos!!) and then we ended up staying for lunch and had spaghetti bolognaise. After saying goodbye to Stephanie and her family, we went for a drive to Mount Coot-tha lookout. From the top we could see the whole of Brisbane; it was an amazing view. Ning and Ann then treated us to an ice-cream (more food - the clothes are getting tight!!) and we made our way back to their house. By the time we got back to the house, we had to quickly pack up and get back in the car to get the bus station to catch our bus to
Southport. Ning dropped us off but only had 2mins to leave before he got charged $3; Australia like to charge for everything!! We literally had to chuck the bags out of the car, give Ning and Ann a quick hug and let them get get out of the drop off area before the buggers charged them!
We made it to the bus on time and were looking forward to visiting Jason!
Missing you all lots; love to you all xxxxx
Kisses to Thomas, Lauren, Erin, George, Niah, Evie, Matilda, Isaac and Jonnie xxxxxxxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.123s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 13; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0621s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Del & John
non-member comment
hi again, love the family blog & photos. Yes, recognise the painting of River Dart. Lovely to see and skype with the family, they sure looked after you guys (the real South Sea Island style) they loved having you both and so glad you felt at home. Sure doing a lot of eating and as for the rum and coke, wow, you doing well Kate!!! I could imagine most of the places you mentioned and lovely to see all the children-sll growing away up too quickly. Love the one of \'silly faces\' When I was last at Bea & John\'s place they had just planted all those trees and shrubs in their massive yard. Am so pleased that you managed to meet up with the Aussie relatives on Pa\'s side of the family. Don\'t relax, there\'s more to come in NZ and of course in Fiji & USA. Your newsy blog made us feel so happy to know that you are both enjoying yourselves, a welcome break from hostels alright. It\'s already 3months since you left UK-half way!! Skype from Jason\'s if poss. Thinking of you always-keep safe. love yous!!!