Brisbane

One of the main reasons we were heading to Brisbane (other than to see the capital city of Queensland) was to visit friends and family.  Mike has some cousins who live in Brissie and we don’t get to see them very much.  Also, some of our friends from Sydney have moved up to Brisbane a few years ago.  So we really wanted to catchup with all of them while we were in the neighbourhood.  Therefore on Thursday 1^st November we left the Sunshine Coast, after doing our schoolwork, and drove south to Brisbane.  It wasn’t a very long trip to Brisbane (only about 160Km along the motorways).  We were heading to the south side of Brisbane and so we decided to drive over Brisbane’s Iconic Gateway Bridge (which is actually really, really steep! And also very busy).  Nonetheless, we made it up and over the Gateway and then setup the caravan at a caravan park not too far from where Mike’s cousins live.  It was time for a big food shop, so the rest of the afternoon was spent shopping and then just hanging around the caravan.

We had been in contact with Mike's cousins Tim & Verity (and their 3 kids) and Sally & Ben (with their triplets), and Tim had organised a breakfast for everyone at Kangaroo Point on Sunday morning.  We wanted to have a look at some parts of Brisbane on Friday, so after school, we headed off to have lunch at Sherwood park – where the kids also had a quick scoot to look at the river.

The Brisbane river - from an access point at Sherwood Park

Mike’s cousin Tim is a Police officer and works at the Brisbane Dog Squad, so that afternoon, we were lucky enough to get a tour of Tim's work.  Verity (also a police officer) was training some new recruits nearby and was able to pop over and see us while we were at the Dog Squad.  It was great to see the Tim and Verity and see 'behind the scenes' at the Dog Squad.  After the Dog Squad, we drove North to where our friends from Sydney (Tim and Sarah) live.  Tim and Sarah had invited us to have dinner with them on Friday night. The motorways got us north fairly quickly, so we had a little bit of time before dinner.  We stopped at a skate park and the kids had a bit of a scoot.

We then drove to Tim and Sarahs’ and had dinner with them and their son Ben.  It was great to catchup with them and see their beautiful house.

The Mason's visit Tim, Sarah and Ben

The kids loved playing with Ben and some of his toys.  It was soon time to say bye to Tim and Sarah so we drove back to the caravan.  We drove through the city - and on some of the busiest roads we have been on for a long, long time.  At one point, Navman looked like a bowl of spaghetti with roads and motorways going every direction around us.  It was a little confusing, but we made it without a drama.

We spent all day on Saturday in and around Brisbane, looking at the sights.  We went to Southbank and walked along the foreshore.  We went to the QLD Museum which is a great (and free) thing to do when in Brisbane.  And after lunch (which we ate at Southbank) and a stroll through the markets, we drove to Mount Coot-Tha which has a magnificent view over the whole of Brisbane.

Natalie, Josh and Sam at Southbank

Enjoying the hands-on exhibits at the QLD Museum

A stunning view of Brisbane from Mt Coot-Tha

Mike and Liz at Mt Coot-Tha

The next day (Sunday 4^th November) we spent the entire day with Tim and Verity and their 3 kids.  We had a great BBQ Breakfast at Kangaroo Point where we were joined by Sally and Ben with their 3 year old triplets.  It was great to see everyone and meet the triplets for the first time.  All the kids had a great time playing at the park.

Fun with cousins at Kangaroo Point

After Brekkie, we went for a walk along the river.  Sally and Ben had to go before lunch, so we went back to Tim and Verity’s house for some lunch, a swim in their pool and we spent the rest of the day with them.  After dinner, we said goodbye and headed back to the caravan.

Looking at Brisbane City from Kangaroo Point

Tom, Josh, Jack and Sam take a rest on our walk along the river

Our short stay in Brisbane was very busy, but it was great to catchup with everyone and have a bit of a look around the city.  Sightseeing in a major city is actually quite difficult (compared with most of the country that we have seen on our trip) because there are so many things that you could go and see, it is difficult to choose what to do.  Also, most of the things to do in a major city are not free (or not even cheap!) which is another thing that makes it difficult.  However, we thoroughly enjoyed our few days in Brisbane - it certainly is a lovely city.