Gossip!

---

Well, i landed in Brisbane to be greeted by Emma (and rain!). A crazy, slightly tearful reunion on my behalf (its amazing what a long haul flight and the realisation of what you're doing can really have!). Anyway, once we had composed ourselves, Em gave me the guided tour back to their house in Upper Coomera. The journey mainly consisted of me saying "wow" every five minutes.... I mean how often do you see a flock of cockatoos and other amazingly colourful birds just sitting on the fence as you drive down the highway! To say the least I was very excited!

So my mini adventure in Brisbane began......well I'm afraid there's no real gossip but that's pretty much all we did. Em and I had plenty to catch up on and poor Gav had to put up with our constant girlie nonsense!

As for adventures, I think I walked around in awe.... We went upto Tamborine Mountain (just behind Em and Gav's place - wow!), took in the views across the Gold Coast and strolled around the Botanical Gardens and a Tropical Forest Boardwalk for me to again be amazed by Australia's crazy wildlife! Bush turkeys...what are they all about! In fact we did find a snake or two (I will note that they were dead) literally metres from Em and Gav's house, and when we got Gav to check them out he wasn't sure if they were Tiger Snakes or Carpet Snakes (at this point I'd like to state that there is a slight difference as one is deadly and one not so!). Which ever, I wasn't too impressed (and neither was Em) that we'd seen so many around their neighbourhood!

We also had the obligatory trip to the Gold Coast and Surfer's Paradise....paddled in the sea, watched the surfers and gawped at the lifeguards...and got burnt! So, a bit of retail therapy was needed and some new sunnies were bought (a nice pair of Bolle's...the ozone layer is so thin you need a good pair of sunnies and its also good excuse to spend money!).

I then spent a day in Brisbane itself- a boat cruise down the river, a bit of shopping (again!), a visit to the Botanical Gradens (including a board walk through the Mangroves just for you jenny!), the Museum and a stroll down South Bank to watch the locals swim at South Bank Beach at sunset.

As for the wildlife....well I had to see some Koalas so off we went to Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary...tried to spot some in the wild but no such luck (only got a sore neck staring into the trees!). Luckily they had a tired old soul who lived in the sanctuary....very cute but no singing and dancing, he just slept as we looked on. I think the best bit came when we headed to Australia Zoo to see our mate Steve. How good...Awesome! Unfortunately he couldn't greet us personally but much fun was still had! We fed the elephants, touched snakes, saw old Harriet the Tortoise (she was good mates with old Charles Darwin!), said hello to the koalas, watched the snake, bird and the one and only crocodile show...and of course took advantage of all those Kodak moments (photos will follow once I work out how!). Superb, recommend it to all passing through!

On the way back we stopped off to view the Glass House Mountains at dusk and spotted some crazy local kangaroos.

All in all, I had a brilliant time catching up with Em and Gav and can't wait to come back to see more of Oz!

---

Photos

The Gold Coast
Me and Em together forever!

South Bank, Brisbane
Sunset At The Urban Beach

Australia Zoo
Crikey!

Glass House Mountains
Dusk In The Mountains