Oh Brisbane.

While travelling up to the Sunshine Coast yesterday, the woman in the tourist information office informed us - ever so excitedly - that if we had only been here the last three weeks, it had been uncharacteristically warm and beautiful in the area.  Great.  Thanks, Lady.  Later on I learned that this is the worst weather for the season that Brisbane has seen in 10 years.  Awesome.

It's a good thing I'm not just here for Australia.

Beth and Jeni and I have had some really great times together, mostly in the car as we drive somewhere fun only to return because of the weather.  We don't mind.

Today we will be more fully in the throws of wedding crunch.  We went out for dinner last night to a delicious Indian restaurant to celebrate the last night of just the three of us hanging out.  Amazingly, I felt we ate for a reasonable price.  Food here is more expensive than in Canada... going out for coffee is always between $3-5 a cup (small cups).  A breakfast sandwich is around $5-6.  Small individual yogurt tubs in the grocery store are around $2 each.  Needless to say, last night when I got out having paid about $10 for a delicious meal, I was pleasantly surprised.  Beth reminded me that there is no expectation for tipping at a restaurant and there is no tax - it's all included in the price.

I wish I had more pictures to show but it would be all fog and rain.  I'm hoping to have another go at the Sunshine Coast when Jon and I travel north to Cairns.  The hinterlands we drove through seemed as though they would be gorgeous... the glimpses I had through the fog were breathtaking.

Anyway, there is a lot to look forward to today.  Maybe I'll find a good puddle to take a picture in.  *shiver*

The view of the Glass House Mountains in good weather.  I'll be back...

Jeni, Myself and Beth out to our last dinner

I forgot to mention that I had a meeting with the head music therapist at the Royal Children's Hospital here in Brisbane.  It was an interesting meeting, hearing all about the work that the 5 music therapists do in the hospital and hearing about the climate of music therapy in Australia.  It's different from Canada, that's for sure.  Could be a good contact for future research endeavours....

Beth and Luke's sign.  Cathy, the wedding planner, is really talented.  If anyone is getting married in Brisbane area, I would recommend her!

Cathy, Jeni and Beth in Cathy's garage, squished in with the wedding decor.

It's going to be so beautiful!!!

Colours.

Standing in the cold.  Feeling the rush of energy.  Being aware that I am one in a crowd.  Feeling cold.  Sensing the novelty.  Walking around and around to establish a memory.  Feeling cold.  Wondering about each stand as I pass.  Stopping only to linger in thought.  Thinking about what is different about this place.  Singing along with the music.  Relaying my findings to my friends.  Wandering contentedly.

This was the Brisbane market on Saturday morning at 7:30 am.

Such beautiful sights and sounds.
We did have an agenda, as Beth needed to find her flowers for next weekend and she wanted us bridesmaids to gain ideas for our own.

This was just one outing of many the past couple of days.
This morning, Sunday, we went to Hillsong Brisbane for church.  Another experience in itself.
Today we also went to the Gold Coast... saw Surfer's Paradise.  Gorgeous beach, chilly weather.

Through all the novelty, I am very much enjoying being with Beth and Jeni.  We are reconnecting, as we do each time we see each other after long sabbaticals.  I am finally in Beth's world, the beautiful world down under.

I'm getting used to wearing sweaters and housecoats and Uggs (which make SO much more sense here... as slippers!) as soon as I get inside the house.  Lots of great conversations happen in this house, with richness of thought and frequent bursts of laughter.  It is refreshing.

Five more days until Jon can join me here in this beautiful Brisbane.  I cannot wait to continue to discover what is this diverse continent!

Aimee

At the Brisbane Flower Market

Such different-looking bouquets...

Gorgeous exotic-looking flowers were everywhere!

Lush green, even in winter.

Not sure what kind of bird this is, but it walks around freely.

Beth's little house (for a few more days) in Red Hill

PS> I did drive today and made it pretty well if I do say so myself.  Beth's car is manual (translation: the clutch is on the same side (L) but the actual stick shifter is on the left and the light signal is on the right).  The hills in Brisbane are something else.  Had to use the old e-brake trick at the lights on a massive hill, and my Dad would have been proud!

Arrived - safe and sound

I'm here!!!

Wow what a wild start!  Not wild in the sense of out-of-control, but more that I've never experienced air-travel for that long in a consecutive sequence.  In short, the flight to L.A. was delayed, but I got to meet up with my friend Jeni (also from YWAM) once I got there, around 10pm L.A. time.  We boarded our flight to Brisbane together and sat through 14 hours... I had a much better time than I had anticipated.  The in-flight entertainment, food and service was excellent aboard Quantas.  And I probably managed about 6-7 hours of sleep, on and off throughout.  So we arrived, with sore bums and heavy eyelids.

When we got to Brisbane, around 6:30am Brisbane time, I got a wave of energy and was so excited to finally see Beth on her own turf.  It was so great to reunite and for the three of us to be together again (hasn't happened since YWAM in 2007).  Beth brought us to her home on top of a hill in a suburb called Red Hill - a very cute place that, like most homes here, doesn't have insulation.  I think when we landed it was around 9 degrees Celcius, so by mid-morning, unless you were in the sun, it was quite chilly.

All day we've enjoyed catching up.  Jen and I were pretty determined to stay awake as long as possible so we pressed on through different little car-rides around the city.  We saw Kangaroo Point, Beth's university, Beth's new home (where her fiance Luke is living now) and the supermarket where she shops.  We visited with one of Beth's close friends, Debbie, and enjoyed getting to know her.  For dinner, we made kangaroo stir-fry, complete with Tim-Tams for dessert.  A true Aussie experience!

I've attached some photos, but frankly I'm not going to write too much more cause I need to get to bed.  It's been a great first day and I can't wait to wake up tomorrow to be able to take more in of this beautiful place!  Well, maybe I can wait at least 8 hours... at least...

and she's off

for those who are interested (and largely for ourselves), we will be keeping a blog of our trip to australia this summer. feel free to follow as much or as little as you would like.

aimee is currently boarding her flight as i write this, heading first to LA before the 14 hr trek to brisbane. i will follow her next week wednesday when my work here is finished. from now until then, we will be making some semblance of plans for our trip while aimee also spends some great time with beth before her wedding.

our plan as we know so far:
aimee spends first week and a half with beth helping get ready for wedding, while jon slaves away at home marking exams.
i (jon) show up on june 29th, the night before beth's wedding. after the wedding, we'll spend the next 4 or so days around brisbane with jeni (aimee's friend from ywam).
the campervan roadie then begins (will probably be around july 4th), where we're going to work our way up the east coast to cairns over the next three weeks.
by around july 25th, we will likely fly down to sydney, where we'll then travel along the great ocean road between there and melbourne before we fly out to come home from melbourne on august 2nd.

other than that, we have little plans, only possibilities, excitement, and hope for the trip.

more to come.