Shower in a full size bathroom! Rob had already left for work, so the rest of us had breakfast and Dad and I finalised suitcases before saying good bye to Jo and heading for the airport. Very interesting the tunnel and toll system in Sydney – we Sandgropers don’t realise how lucky we are not to pay road tolls (touch wood!). Made the airport in good time, said goodbye to Uncle Fred and Aunty Maureen who were driving George back and checked in. Visited Gloria Jeans for some drinks while we waited, and then proceeded to spill my hot chocolate all over my laptop bag! Near the back we boarded and set up for the hour flight. No lunch (much to dad’s disgust) he sufficed with his (and my) cookie and a cuppa. Arriving in Brisbane ahead of schedule, we grabbed our bags (nearly forgetting one) and headed for the airbus – the train which pulls up right outside the domestic and international airports... something WA could do with! Matt and Jaspreet picked us up from Southbank Station, and it was so good to see both of them. Back to their place, cuppa and a new card game – Siera Mania, Jas and Dad onto me and Matt. A game where you add and take points, depending on who wins the round... and the loosers always deal the next hand. Played until we headed down the road for tea, Uncle Ben’s Chinese. Food was great, and the bottle of Pinot Noir from Adinfern in Margs (that had travelled with me) went down a treat. Back with copious amounts of leftovers we continued cards until 11 or so, still with no winner. Matt got a good workout while pumping up the air mattress for me and we hit the sack.
13th September
Up early and onto the balcany (in shorts and a t-shirt at 7 in the morning – beautiful one day, perfect the next is right!). Dad and I headed inside about 8 when this beautiful smell wafted out though the doors... to find Matt and Jas cooking up a storm! Falls Creek eat your heart out! After stuffing ourselves we decided to head out for a walk through Southbank. So while Matt and Dad
took off ahead, Jas and I ambled our way down the streets, past the man made beach, the markets, beautiful bougainvillea archways, across the river to the Botanic Gardens and Matts Uni and back to the cafe strip, where we stop for a drink (and rest) in an Indian Cafe. Back to the unit, we took up the cards again... and Matt and I came up trumps, winning the game (after 3 sessions!). A bit weary, we had left over chinese and watched a movie, Stardust, which we thoroughly enjoyed! Time to get ready for... THE RUGBY! Bledisloe Cup was the reason we were there, for the deciding match between the Wallabies and All Blacks. Caught a bus, which takes you to the stop right underneath Suncorp Stadium, beautiful! The stadium, which had 58 000 people in for the game, was really well set up, very impressive. Not feeling overly flash (the cough had taken a bit of a hold) I wasn’t allowed to scream my guts out (probably why they didn’t quite make it over the line). However 
the whole stadium standing on their feet to watch the last play was pretty amazing. Despite the result, it was a great game. Made a dash for the busses (along with 58 000 others) and were moved through pretty quickly. Unfortunately we missed the stop (no, i’m not laying blame anywhere) and got off at the next one, along with the next 4 busses that pulled in, who had passengers with similar problems. After 15 minutes (and about 15 express busses that went zooming past) we had one stop and drop us back at the right stop. A short walk home, quick rehash of the game and bed!
Up early and onto the balcany (in shorts and a t-shirt at 7 in the morning – beautiful one day, perfect the next is right!). Dad and I headed inside about 8 when this beautiful smell wafted out though the doors... to find Matt and Jas cooking up a storm! Falls Creek eat your heart out! After stuffing ourselves we decided to head out for a walk through Southbank. So while Matt and Dad
took off ahead, Jas and I ambled our way down the streets, past the man made beach, the markets, beautiful bougainvillea archways, across the river to the Botanic Gardens and Matts Uni and back to the cafe strip, where we stop for a drink (and rest) in an Indian Cafe. Back to the unit, we took up the cards again... and Matt and I came up trumps, winning the game (after 3 sessions!). A bit weary, we had left over chinese and watched a movie, Stardust, which we thoroughly enjoyed! Time to get ready for... THE RUGBY! Bledisloe Cup was the reason we were there, for the deciding match between the Wallabies and All Blacks. Caught a bus, which takes you to the stop right underneath Suncorp Stadium, beautiful! The stadium, which had 58 000 people in for the game, was really well set up, very impressive. Not feeling overly flash (the cough had taken a bit of a hold) I wasn’t allowed to scream my guts out (probably why they didn’t quite make it over the line). However 
the whole stadium standing on their feet to watch the last play was pretty amazing. Despite the result, it was a great game. Made a dash for the busses (along with 58 000 others) and were moved through pretty quickly. Unfortunately we missed the stop (no, i’m not laying blame anywhere) and got off at the next one, along with the next 4 busses that pulled in, who had passengers with similar problems. After 15 minutes (and about 15 express busses that went zooming past) we had one stop and drop us back at the right stop. A short walk home, quick rehash of the game and bed!14th September
Woke up, coughed a bit and had a shower before reorganising my gear back into bags. Matt got up and cooked us another huge feast which we ate outside on the balcony. Yummo! Matt and Jaspreet were off to a christening, but I’d been intouch with Clare Love who was having a few people over at her place (about 7 minutes away) so Aaron Willcock came and pick Dad and I up. Spent about 2 hours at their place, along with about 6 others, while they too had a massive breakfast, although at 11.30, it was probably more like brunch! Aaron apparently takes after his father when it comes to cooking bbq’s with the house filling with ash (just a little oil fire, nothing serious apparently!). Had a pancake (so dad wouldn’t feel bad about eating ... again!) which was yummy before Clare and Aaron dropped us off at the train stating in South Brisbane. Bought our tickets and on at 12.33, getting to the airport just after 1pm. Checked in, baggage labelled and they called for our flight for baggage check-in. Qued up for ages before getting our bags on. Straight to the gate, about 5 minute wait before being called – so that was kinda close! I updated the blog while dad read (slept) and watched tv. At one stage there were 17 ships all facing the same way out of the window, as well as some beautiful coastline and islands. Landed in Cairns (warm!) collected the baggage and the hire car – near new Aurion. I got the first drive and boy – did she pick up a bit better than George! After a few missed streets (accidental of course) we
found our accommodation and checked in. The Manager – Brian Williams (good bloke dad said) showed us our room (tv, air conditioning, kitchen, laundry – what were we going to do with all these mod cons?) we headed back down the road (driving of course – dad wasn’t getting the keys in a hurry!) for some cereal, drinks and fish and chips for tea about 6pm. Flicked tv stations (all this choice and do you think I could find something to keep it on other than golf???) when we came across Shrek 3 and then Pulp Fiction, which Dad had never seen! Bed about 10.30 – big day tomorrow!
Woke up, coughed a bit and had a shower before reorganising my gear back into bags. Matt got up and cooked us another huge feast which we ate outside on the balcony. Yummo! Matt and Jaspreet were off to a christening, but I’d been intouch with Clare Love who was having a few people over at her place (about 7 minutes away) so Aaron Willcock came and pick Dad and I up. Spent about 2 hours at their place, along with about 6 others, while they too had a massive breakfast, although at 11.30, it was probably more like brunch! Aaron apparently takes after his father when it comes to cooking bbq’s with the house filling with ash (just a little oil fire, nothing serious apparently!). Had a pancake (so dad wouldn’t feel bad about eating ... again!) which was yummy before Clare and Aaron dropped us off at the train stating in South Brisbane. Bought our tickets and on at 12.33, getting to the airport just after 1pm. Checked in, baggage labelled and they called for our flight for baggage check-in. Qued up for ages before getting our bags on. Straight to the gate, about 5 minute wait before being called – so that was kinda close! I updated the blog while dad read (slept) and watched tv. At one stage there were 17 ships all facing the same way out of the window, as well as some beautiful coastline and islands. Landed in Cairns (warm!) collected the baggage and the hire car – near new Aurion. I got the first drive and boy – did she pick up a bit better than George! After a few missed streets (accidental of course) we
found our accommodation and checked in. The Manager – Brian Williams (good bloke dad said) showed us our room (tv, air conditioning, kitchen, laundry – what were we going to do with all these mod cons?) we headed back down the road (driving of course – dad wasn’t getting the keys in a hurry!) for some cereal, drinks and fish and chips for tea about 6pm. Flicked tv stations (all this choice and do you think I could find something to keep it on other than golf???) when we came across Shrek 3 and then Pulp Fiction, which Dad had never seen! Bed about 10.30 – big day tomorrow!
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