Brisbane

We left Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, 23rd June and arrived in Sydney on Thursday, 25th June. We gained a day by crossing the International Date Line. We had never been to Brisbane before, so that made this part of our journey all the more exciting. Plus, we were looking forward to seeing our friends, the Imms family again. Plus, we were sick of travelling!! Andrea, Jonny and I knew each other from attending the same church in Devonport, Tasmania. Andrea and I haven't spoken or written to each other very much over the years, but I still consider her one of my best friends and when we get together it feels like we pick-up right were we left off. Well....that is how I feel, and I hope that she feels that way as well!!!!!

We arrived in Brisbane without mishap. Collected our luggage, but, alas, no stroller!!!! Apparently, our stroller was left in Sydney. We have travelled quite a bit over the years and this is the first time that we have ever lost luggage. Armed with a loaner stroller supplied by the Qantas Lost Luggage counter, we went to get our rental car. We had two choices at this moment in time. We could leave the kiddos at the airport and drive to the Imms with our luggage. Or, we could leave our luggage at the airport and drive to the Imms with our kiddos. There was no possibility of kiddos and luggage all fitting into the car.

Sooooo, we upgraded. With kiddos and luggage all nicely stowed away in our spacious rental car, we set off to find the Imms family of Morayfield!!!! Travelling with 5 people, 5 suitcases, 5 carry-ons and a stroller can be quite interesting at times, it takes planning and patience to fit everything in!!

By the way, this is my new car, well, not so new now

I digress

I mentioned in my previous post that I had left my camera at home sitting on the refrigerator. It was time to leave on Monday morning and I realized that I hadn't taken any photos of the Imms family. We had been using Joshua's camera, but it is just plain difficult when you don't have your own camera handy! (whinge, whinge, whine, whine) But, fear not! I have photos to share!

This is Andrea and Jonny 23 1/2 years ago.

They weren't married yet.

They are seeing me off at the airport to come to the United States.

Have they changed much?

You will have to judge for yourselves!!

In Australia we drive on the left side of the road. Jim has driven in Australia before, but it has been a while and it takes a bit of getting used to. "Turn to the right, but keep to the left," was a familiar spoken phrase in the car as we travelled the roads of Australia. Spoken calmly, spoken quickly, occasionally shrieked as we all braced ourselves. The sound of rumble strips can become quite soothing over time, especially combined with rude comments from the back seat passengers. Our rental car did get a bit mud splattered, but the windscreen was incredibly clean. Every time Jim went to turn on the turn signal, he hit the wipers instead. Round-a-bouts are wonderful things when you are tourists following faulty Google maps.

We ended up at a roadside rest area because the directions I had printed off were wrong because of the road construction that was going on. We called Andrea and waited for her to come and lead us to her house!! We were a little hungry while we waited, so guess what we had!!!! MacDonald's! We noticed that the portions are smaller in Australia. The drinks are smaller and the serving of french fries and the hamburgers, etc. This is a good thing.

This is a recent photo of Andrea that I stole
.......borrowed from her face book page.

Andrea arrived. It was wonderful to see her again, she hadn't changed very much over the years. They have a beautiful home and settled us in comfortably. It was great to catch-up on all the news and to meet the family.

Another borrowed picture

Jonny, Andrea, Ella, Holly, Kyle

Lachlan and Christie

I love the school uniforms in Australia.

A special thank you to Lachlan and Christie for letting us use their bedroom for the length of our stay!!!

More tomorrow!

Sally-Ann