What A Difference A Day Makes

Photos taken from the same general areas as those taken during the dust storm...

I can't get enough of these guys... -joel

I think I'm going to need one as a pet if we ever settle down long enough for that sorta thing.

(hi Sadie...)

Here Comes the Sand (doo do dooo do) -joel

So today is the Spring Equinox. Yay! Spring. It was also nice that it cooled off a bit. Sounds great huh? Well the reason it cooled off was because the sun was blocked by a sheet of sand. Please see photos for reference. These were taken today at about 1245 in the afternoon. I have to admit though, it made for awesome colors for the camera. There were tons of other folks out taking pictures too. Anyway, I guess spending 6 hours outside in this was a good way to exfoliate.

Roma Street Parklands

Today I was doing my normal wandering around town, and I was trying to take a short cut to the the CBD (Central Business District) through a park. My short cut turned into a long cut when I found the "Spectacle Garden." It's the world's largest Urban Subtropical Garden. So awesome! Lot's of iguanas (or whatever) running around all over the place. It was cool. I'll post some more pictures.

Settling In (joel)

So I finally made it! After 2 flights, 5 movies and maybe 2 total hours of sleep spread out in 15 minute increments, I made it to Brisbane. Much to my dismay, though, my bike didn't make it at the same time as me... After waiting around for awhile I talked to baggage agents, to arrange a later delivery. Marlene told me that she arranged a shuttle service for me, so while I was waiting and waiting and waiting for my bike to not arrive, I was nervous that the shuttle would give up on me. Little did I know that the 'Shuttle Service' was Marlene meeting me and us catching a cab. I also didn't know that she was also getting very nervous when she saw that my flight landed and I never appeared.... Going through customs was a breeze, which was nice. The Aussies are super friendly (genuinely). The flight was long, the airplane was hot, and I hardly slept. At least I got caught up on movies...

My first day in Brisbane went pretty well. It's a weird feeling. Weird weird weird. You land, exhausted, awake for 30 hours (or whatever). Everyone around you is enjoying Sunday morning, but you are still trying to finish Friday night. An entire day is gone. When we got to the apartment Marlene said, "do you want a beer?" "Sure" I responded. It felt completely normal, then I looked at the clock and realized it was 9 am... After that we went for breakfast. You're whole body is in a weird time warp thanks to the International Date Line. I managed to stay awake until about 7pm. Marlene gave me a good tour of the city. It's a great place, very walkable, lots of trees, birds, water, etc.

Second day went well too. I did a lot of walking around town, checking out outdoor gear shops, bouldering a little bit at Kangaroo Point, and just generally trying to keep myself busy and awake. I made it to 8pm.

0530 on day 3 and I'm out of bed... I spent most of day 3 in the apartment. I watched the Men's Fianl of the US Open. Great match! Worked out in the little gym in our complex, then swam laps in our pool. I also did some cooking. It was nice to just sort of putt around the apartment and get settled in a bit. I made it to 7pm.

0530 on day 4 and I'm out of bed.... Today is farmer's market day! WOO HOO! I walked Marlene to work then went to the Farmers market. Bought all sorts of great stuff and left lots of great looking stuff to buy next time. It's so great. After updating the blog I'll go get in the pool. It's pretty great!

So far I really like Australia. Australians love sport (as they call it). Far more internationally than elsewhere. I get a daily update on the TV of the Vuelta Espana. Across the bottom of the screen they will scroll updates of cyclists who sign to other teams. They seem to keep up with all of the less popular (in N. America) sports (cricket, rugby, footy, tennis, cycling, motorcycle racing, etc, etc). The Australians also don't seem to try to keep the Americans at arms length as much as the Canadians (probably because they aren't constantly being confused as Americans). There are things where Australia seems more similar to the US (i.e. Target, lots of grilled meat, and ads about talking to your doctor about blood pressure medication) and other things were Australia seems more similar to Canada (i.e. colorful money with the Queen plastered all over it) Speaking of money, I have a big problem with the $2 coin being the smallest of all. Who dreamt that up?? It's the size of a dime! Get it together Australia!

Well... That's how I'm going. Cheers. No worries. G'day Mates, etc.

Riverfire

For the record, all of these photos are not mine and come from a compilation of photos on the website: ourbrisbane.com

So we went to Riverfire yesterday. Best fireworks display I have ever seen. Ever. Ever. There were several barges on the river setting off fireworks, they were setting them off from 4-5 buildings in the CBD and from three of the bridges! It was a 180 degree show! You just didn't know where to look! They opened with a fly-by from the F111's and played the whole thing to music. Oh man, there's just no describing how amazing the show was. I think, if you're going to bother doing fireworks... you should go all out and do it right! The ended the show with the famous dump and burn which was so close overhead we actually felt the heat! And the masses of people! It reminded me of the days when I used to go to Parliament Hill to celebrate Canada Day. Just tons of people outside with families and teens and adults and blankets and food and everyone just enjoying being outside in a crowd and waiting for the big show. It was just super! We also got a nice display from the Roullettes, the acrobatic air crew. It was really great. We luckily got a spot up on Kangaroo Point cliff and the planes were just so close to us. Ahhh, what a night!

Well, I'm off to surprise Joel at the airport!