Post #128 16 March 2017

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our time in Brisbane, 11 - 17 September 2016.

We flew in to Brisbane to see Jennifer and her family: husband Tom and boys Kurt, Nate, and Sid. And their dog, Ketut, a Rhodesian Ridgeback.  They live in the suburb of The Gap, about 10 km north-west of Brisbane City.

Two years ago Tom & Jen took the boys out of school and spent 5+ months travelling around Australia.  What an adventure. To see the blog of their trip visit robertstour2014 or click HERE.

We readied our Subaru Outback H6 for the drive  down to Canberra (1,300 km).  It's been a great car since we bought it in 2003, but now getting a bit long in the tooth with 212,000 km on the clock.

I love that drive down the coast from Brisbane to Sydney - the big blue sky, the wide open spaces, the rivers and fields (very little intensive agriculture, mainly pasture). And it's nice to drive again, to get behind the wheel of a car and just go.


Here are some photos of our time in Brisbane, and going south.

Tom, Vera, Jen and me.  Jen shaved her hair for a charity event (raised $3.5K).  She likes the short look, and has decided to keep it.  Easy to colour: one day white, the next red, then blue or green.  The kids at her school try to guess which colour she will wear.  The 3 boys were a bit stunned at first, but now accept their mother's new look.

Photo with the Roberts boys: Kurt (11 years of age), Nate (9), and Sid (7).  They are flourishing - love all sport, especially rugby, surfing, fishing, cricket, etc.  Never a dull moment with "the three terrors". 

They have a nice home - look onto a park, so only one neighbour at the back. Ideal.

They have a swimming pool which gets a lot of use (even in mid-September - winter is only just over - kids don't seem to feel the cold?!).

The boys skate-boarding in the garage.

Tom with their new dog, Ketut, a Ridgeback.  Their previous dog, Tilley (a Labrador) died a few months ago of old age.  She was a wonderful dog.

The boys  all love playing rugby - we caught the last games of the season.  Cricket and surfing in summer, rugby in winter, fishing any time.

We went to dinner at My Thai restaurant - great decor and food.

The weekend we left Brisbane to drive south, they went camping at Broken Head, just south of Byron Bay, two-and-a-half hours drive from Brisbane. We stopped there to see their set-up (we were driving south to Nambucca that day).  Lots of kids.  Camping is not inexpensive these days.  They were paying A$80 per night for a powered campsite.  There is even pay-parking for visitors wanting to use the beach -  would you believe A$4 per hour to park at a remote beach!!!!

Their campsite.

A closer look at the camper-trailer they used for their 24,000 km round-Australia trip two years ago (click HERE).  The Roberts family love camping and go as often as they can, usually with other families.  This time they are camping here for a week during the school holidays.

Tom & Jen preparing lunch.  They have it down to a fine art.

A view of Broken Head beach, just south of Byron Bay where the Roberts Family is camping for a week. Great surfing and swimming.  That's Cape Byron you can see in the distance - the eastern-most point in Australia.

Vera, Jen and Nate at Broken Head beach.

A 'bush turkey' near their campsite. Since they have become a protected species these birds have multiplied and are everywhere, including the suburbs of Brisbane.  They have become a nuisance.

We took the opportunity to see some old friends along the way.  First stop was Tweed Heads to catch up with Irene and Dennis Smith; then to Ocean Shores to see Shana and Greg Mills; finally on to Sydney where the Miltons organised a dinner with friends.

With Dennis & Irene Smith in Tweed Heads.  Dennis was Vera's boss when she worked in IT Recruitment in Canberra 20 years ago.  

We stayed with Greg & Shana Mills at Ocean Shores, near Brunswick Heads.  We knew them in Canberra when Greg worked for the Department of Immigration.  Greg took early retirement and they moved up here. 

The Mills' lovely home in Ocean Shores.

We stayed with Niniek and Paul Milton in Sydney - always super-hospitable.  They arranged a dinner with mutual friends: Michael & Tini Kramer, Mega & Liam Ward, and Marta & Andrew McGuire.  All old Indonesia hands.

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Tomorrow we will reach our final destination, Canberra.  We are both over 70 years of age and intend to 'settle down' - the next stage of our lives - what will that be like?  Will we have to change the title of this blog from "The Intrepid Duo" to "The Retired Duo"?  Will life in good lod Canberra settle down to a predicable routine or are there more adventures in store?

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The next post will be about our arrival in Canberra. Settling down turned out to be much more difficult/stressful than expected.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Thursday 16 March 2017