Brisbane, Buccan and Serendipity

Have just had the most lovely weekend in Briz. No rain, if you can believe it, and lots of time to visit, shop, eat and take in the cultural capital of Queensland. JC, Chris and I were able to get to shows, movies, art exhibits, and even a concert – Sinead O’Connor. A very interesting artist to see on Easter weekend. Her voice is beautiful, her music enticing and her lyrics very spiritual. I was thinking, it’s too bad Sinead isn’t a priest – she does like to sermonize and her message is very powerful, meditative and Biblical AND she has a great hairdo for a monastery.

The most attractive part of Brisbane is the river and all the parks and walkways and even development that snakes around the valley with it. It is a w-i-d-e river that divides the city in two. The two sides are linked up by several lovely bridges (including the Story Bridge which you see in one of the photos), and by water taxis, the City Cats and the little Ferries that quickly and regularly transport pedestrians across the river at multiple points. On Sunday, after church and brunch, we (including friend Bev in picture with JC and Chris) took at City Cat down the river toward the sea and got off on Sydney Street and then walked back into downtown. The beauty of this walk is that for a couple of kilometres the walk includes a floating walkway – you are actually walking on a “sidewalk” that float several metres from shore. Delightful.

On Monday we met Greg, Annie, Sian and Callum at their home in Buccan – a suburb of Brisbane and drove up Tamborine Mountain. OK - it’s the Australian version of a mountain, not a Rocky Mountain version – in which case we’d be talking Tamborine Hill – but it still afforded a beautiful view of the valley below and the Great Dividing mountain range in the background. Not too shabby. Led by our good friend Serendipity, we ended up at the Polish Heritage Gallery and Restaurant for a meal that was just amazing. Grandma Polegi would have been proud of the kolbasa, cooked saukerkraut and ham hocks, perogies and food smothered in creamy dill sauce. It took me back 40 years or so. It was delicious, and so unexpected in the suburbs of Brisbane. Fortune really was smiling, right along with Serendipity, because there had been a very quick shower sweep across the mountain just before our arrival, so all the diners had moved indoors and we were able to pick a table (in the sunshine, now) right on the lip of the escarpment with a view of the valley the just did not stop. During lunch we were surrounded by incredibly coloured green mountain parrots who were of the opinion we should be sharing our meal with them – landing on our outstretched hands, the table and occasionally our heads. With Greg, Annie, Chris and JC as my lunch companions, in this incredibly beautiful spot, you can imagine that the laughs never really stopped. (And to those other companions, Serendipity, Fortune and Abundance, I say a deep and reverend “thank you”.)

Over lunch we treated ourselves to a local wine from a label called “Witches Falls”, so our next mission was to find the winery – and may I say “mission accomplished”. A little wine tasting at the cellar door and the car was 12 bottles heavier for the return trip down the mountain. But no, we weren’t finished yet. In the little town of Tamborine we found two, yes two, home-made fudge stores.

I don’t think you’ll be seeing me in any future photos as I no longer fit into a camera lens....