Our first days in Brisbane

3/2 - 7/2 - 2008

Kym's home

My dad and I left Denmark very early on the 3rd and arrived to Brisbane Airport late afternoon on the 4th. The journey took about 24 hours and there is a 9 hours time difference between Queensland and Denmark.

The journey was long!!!!! But Singapore Airlines is great and the flights were as pleasant as they could be. They did send my dad's suitcase to Malta though!!!! But it arrived safely to Brisbane the next day :).

We were met in the airport by Kym and her mum Sandra. We had all longed for that moment, but after sitting in a plane for so long, my dad and I were almost desperate to see them and to get out of the airport.

 

We spend the evening catching up and unpacking a bit.

Kym lives in a house in Taigum, Brisbane and Sandra lives with her parents (Fred and Marge) in Brighton, Brisbane not far away, but while we were visiting, we all stayed in Kym's house.

More photos of Kym's house and garden.

I spent my first 2 nights in Australia texting!!!! I couldn't sleep at all! I was really tired, but as soon as I went to bed, I was wide awake. The 9 hours time difference meant that whenever I wanted to sleep, my body thought it was in the middle of the day. It took a few days to ajust my inner clock.

The 5th was a quiet day, which we needed. We went to the shops to get some clean clothes for my dad (missing suitcase) and we had a wonderful seafood lunch at Morton Harbour with Marge and Fred and Sandra's friend Cameron stopped by for a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

Lunch at Morton Harbour

Fred, Cameron and Sandra in Kym's garden

The 6th... Let the sightseeing begin!!!!! :)

We went to the centre of Brisbane and found the Hop On/Hop Off CitySights bus. Our driver turned out to be Tour Guide from Hell! Her welcome greeting made us feel like we were being told off! Scary lady!

First stop was Roma Street Parklands - a beautiful, but very big park. We went on the Jelly-Bean bus and drove around it to see as much as possible.

The Jelly Bean Bus :)

Next stop - Mount Coot-Tha. WOW! The view from there was amazing!

Kym and I on Mount Coot-Tha.

We ended a busy afternoon by taking a City Cat boat ride on the river. Oh and of course we managed to squeeze a bit of shopping in too :)

The City Cat

I don't remember when, but we did see ANZAC Square War memorial and the eternal flame.

We had tea at Kym´s place and then we went to Brighton to see Fred and Marge and their neighbour Wilma. Wilma's daughter Kerry stayed with us for a while when we lived in Iceland and I was 2½ years old, so Wilma has been a friend of the family for a very long time, but I had never met her before.

Fred, Marge and Sandra's home and the house where Kym grew up.

Sandra, Wilma and Marge.

We got up early on the 7th to go to Radcliff to see if there would be any kangaroos. There was not! :(

Then on to Shonecliff, where we went for a walk by the coast. It was hot, but a beautiful place.

Kym and I at Shonecliff.

Don't ask what kind of birds they are!!! I did and I never got an answer :D

Kym and I spent the afternoon in the nice and cool air-condition'ed cinema watching 'Fool's Gold'. It was good and parts of it were filmed in Australia.

I found the coolest dog toys and bought them for my dog-sitters. They were sheep and when you squeezeed them they baa'ed :).