I won’t do a full blow by blow for every waking minute over the last 5 nights but I will give you a basic breakdown of how each day went.
Wednesday 20th July 2016
After getting picked up at the airport by my folks and getting some of my first Aussie food for lunch in several years we had a nice afternoon stroll in the sun down to the shops. Heidi was getting her first experiences of Australian life and just how different things can be. We had a very calm evening and tried to just stay awake and that did not last long. We wanted to go to bed around a normal time, however by 7:45pm Heidi was passed out. I didn’t make it much longer as I was out by 8pm.
Thursday 21st July 2016
Hello Jetlag! Up at 3am and all over the shop before finally getting myself out of bed around 5am and catching up on emails and trip report stuff. After 6am I went for a run to see the sunrise and slowly but surely got myself going back to normal. We headed to the city around a reasonable time and Heidi’s first adventure on Brisbane public transport went off well. We did some walking through the city and caught up with some old work mates at my old work place. We walked around the city a lot and had some old favorites for lunch. So much had changed but so much was so familiar. We picked up our car (upgraded to a Holden Commodore SV6) and had a stop at Charlie’s Fruit Market (now open 24 hours a day!) for a treat at their “Raw Squeeze” bar. Pretty decent!
We had a bit of a rest before heading into DFO for a stop at the Crumpler Outlet (Heidi bought, I didn’t… for once) and then dinner on Racecourse Rd. Heidi had her first experience at Australian style pizza (she was mortified at how many toppings were ok on a pizza) and we picked up Heidi’s folks at the airport before heading home to sleep.
Friday 22nd July 2016
This morning we wanted to head out super early to Mt Cootha for a session with my old trainer. He really punished me this morning and I could tell it was not going to be an easy day. We got home and pretty much turned straight back around again after a quick bite and headed north to Australia Zoo. The day was spent exploring Australia Zoo and I had fun chasing Kangaroos around trying to get a selfie, while Heidi was super happy to just be sitting around with them and patting them. We had a Koala experience and got our photos taken while holding a big guy. He stank pretty bad! We finished off the afternoon back at Charlie’s for a snack before the bedlam of an evening dinner with 13 family in the house. Mum and Dad worked tirelessly to feed us Roast Lamb (god I miss it) and it was amazing!
Saturday 23rd July 2016
Woke up feeling like hell. My body hated me so much that the run I wanted to do down by the river turned into a walk instead. Today was the big day as we were having a cruise along the river with all of the family. We ran a few errands before we headed down to the cruise. There was 30 of my family onboard and everyone had a blast cruising down the river, having lunch and also meeting everyone else and catching up. There was family I had not seen since I was younger and some for several years. It was a great time. Had a few more hours to explore Brisbane and do some shopping before heading to dinner by the river with a group of friends. Finished the night wishing I didn’t have to say goodbye to my friends.
Sunday 24th July 2016
Woke up not so bad this morning, but today was designated rest day, so all good here! Headed to the airport to send off Heidi’s parents off on their Australian adventure and then we hit up the confectionary warehouse for some goodies. Caught up with a friend for a bit of morning tea and then off to see if we could get in Costco (we could). We had lunch by the bay in Redcliffe (yay Fish and Chips at Morgans) and then a bit of a walk as well so Heidi could stick her feet in the water. A fairly relaxed/busy afternoon getting stuff ready for our departure tomorrow before one last final catch up with some friends.
The time spent in Australia was amazing and I am so glad we came down. Heidi has had a blast and it has been fantastic catching up with friends and family. A lot of stuff has been talked about, but that is a whole other post on its own.
Current Location: Parents House – Brisbane, Australia – Countries Visited: 2