Made it!

Ok, so I made it! And finally got the password from Joel so I can post my first impressions of Brisbane.

We live in an inner suburb that's about a 10 minute walk to the downtown core (CBD) and 15 minutes to the river edge in several directions (it's in an elbow of the river). The city is simply beautiful and the weather is splendid. All the same, it's a bit worrisome that I'm walking around in shorts and t-shirt in the middle of what is the equivalent of February! Wowsers!

So I've walked around the CBD a bunch and today we went to the Botanic Gardens and two other urban parks in the city, all on foot. Just gorgeous. Mom you will love the vegetation and birds, and dad you would love the weather right now. Just the right temperature, warm and dry. I'll let the pictures tell the story. There's a picture of the urban beach, not on the waterfront, but in a park right next to the river. Apparently there are sharks in the river so it's not a great place for the kids to swim! There's another of a poinsettia, seeing as it's winter here it's blooming! There's also a picture of a plant mom has on a plank at home that grows naturally here on the tree trunks! Finally, there's a picture of the view from Rick and Rosalind's balcony (they're on the 6th floor and have a great view, better than we will).