I ♥ Brisbane

We've discovered another corner of Brisbane - South Bank - a stretch of parkland on the southern bank of the Brisbane River. We arrived there by ferry, having got on the CityCat service at Bretts Wharf, and were treated to a cruise under Story Bridge and passed the skyline of the city centre. South Bank was the site of the World Expo 88 and has recently been reclaimed from the river after the floods at the start of 2011. It's got children's play parks, an artifical beach, an interactive water feature, restaurants, gardens, and a huge ferris wheel (the Wheel of Brisbane) which we took Pickle on. Initially there were a fair few "oo, I a bit scared" but eventually Rae settled down ;)

Afterwards we crossed the river by foot (actually we used a bridge and so did not perform any miracles), grabbed a quick bite to eat and then a train back to Ascot, arriving in time for Heidi's signature cheesey chicken pasta dish. Pickle wore himself out by playing with Emelda, a cat that Heidi is baby sitting for a friend, so we took him home and tucked him in bed.

Sunday was one of spending my hard earned money. In the morning we walked to Eagle Farm race course, which is just up the road, to see what the Sunday market was all about. You won't hear me say this very often - but it wasn't a patch on the Sunday market at Huntingdon race course! Then we went up to Stafford, a suburb to the north, to get some essentials for the new house (-8 days and counting until we move in), a trip to an outdoor pursuits shop because they'd built a tobogganing ramp and Oscar wanted to go on it, and then on to do a spot of mattress shopping (so we can actually sleep on the brand new bed we bought - and never used - in Indonesia). The four of us (me, Rae, Oscar and my wallet) are worn out.

Rae has just asked me "Did you have a nice weekend?" to which I replied "Yes. I've had many nice weekends since I've been in Australia." And I think that is the perfect way to end this bog.