Brisbane - Non-Touristy Explorations

Lorraine humored us and took us to see some of the more mundane locations where everyday life occurs: hardware stores, appliance stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, malls, etc. It’s actually quite interesting to see the little differences from what we’re used to. For instance, here in Australia they have grocery stores and even medical clinics in the malls. Large appliances are mostly white (in fact they call them “white goods”) with some stainless steel but no colored. And they have drive-thru liquor stores (they call them “bottle shops”).

Earlier in the week we had lunch at the home of Lorraine’s son-in-law Danny and his wife Tashy (and little Matilda). Very nice people and gracious hosts. We hope to see them again before we leave the Brisbane area.

Brisbane - Diane's House

Here are a few photos of Diane’s townhouse where we are staying through the end of the month. It’s in nicely maintained gated community just a quarter mile or so from the train station, and only 20-30 minutes from Lorraine’s place.

We're on the left side.

Living and dining area. Stairs on right lead up. Patio is through slider at end.

Lunch on the patio as presented by the fabulous Miss Deborah.



Australian clothes dryer (extremely efficient).
We have the electrical appliance as well, but you can't beat the smell when they dry outdoors.

Brisbane - The Dogs of Runcorn

We are now well-established in our first house sit. Our host Diane is off on a cruise through the Panama Canal followed by some time visiting my old stomping grounds of Toronto. For the three plus weeks she is away we are taking care of her townhouse in the Brisbane suburb of Runcorn and looking after her two King Charles Spaniels.

Ella is the female and the older of the two dogs. She has had a stroke for which she gets medication. Due to partial paralysis of one side of her mouth her tongue constantly hangs out to the side and drool tends to run down her chin. Despite her somewhat pathetic appearance she is very cute and has a voracious appetite.

Casey is the male. He is one of the few mammals who snores as loud as my father. Apparently this breed is predisposed to a throat condition that inhibits breathing. Ella had an operation to correct this in her. Casey had the same operation but it was not so successful. As a result his breathing is labored and his snoring infamous. We take them for walks every day. Deborah bears the brunt of feeding them, bathing them, and going out on poop patrol.

Diane, our host, currently cruising

Deborah reading to the dogs. Casey is nearest.

Ella being bathed.

Post-bath drying cycle.

Deborah walking Ella and holding the polyethelene excrement recepticles.

Brisbane - Politics

Due to the difference in time zones we were able to watch the U.S. election results on CNN at a very reasonable time in the afternoon. Thanks to mail-in ballots we were able to vote before we left on our trip. For the first time in a long time we were happy with the results. It seems the Australians are fairly satisfied also. The comedy and even news shows here are as fond as we are of making fun of Bush and Sarah Palin.

Australia has a parliamentary system which I’ve seen bits of on news programs here. It can be quite amusing to hear how straightforward they are at hurling insults at one another. The current Prime Minister is Kevin Rudd (known as the Kevinator) from the center-left Labor Party. He has only been in power about a year, having replaced the center-right Liberal Party’s John Howard, whom author Bill Bryson describes as “by far the dullest man in Australia.”

Brisbane - Language

We are very much enjoying our stay with Lorraine and her family. They invited several friends and extended family members over for cocktails and pizza. Since those in attendance included Australians, New Zealanders, a west coaster (me), an east coaster (Deb), and two Brooklynites (Lorraine and her daughter Lauren), it was amusing to compare words and pronunciations. I can’t tell the difference between the Kiwis and the Aussies, but they certainly can. Here is a sampling of entries from the American-Aussie dictionary I need to write:

mom = mum
large household appliances = white goods
stove = cooker
air conditioning = air con (they shorten everything; similarly, serving = serve, vegetable = veg, television = tele)
man = bloke
cell phone = mobile (pronounced MO-byle)
graham is pronounced Grey-am (not gram)
herb is pronounced herb (no silent “h”)
addidas is pronounced AH-dee-daws
mall is pronounced mole

Brisbane - Australian Critters

As lovers of zoos we were happy to accompany Lorraine and Russell to visit the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast (south of Brisbane) and, the following day, to go with Lorraine to the Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast (north of Brisbane), which was founded by the late great Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. Both were excellent. Both zoos emphasized native Australian wildlife so we had the chance to see animals we had seldom or never seen before such as kangaroos, koalas, emus, wombats, Tasmanian devils, crocodiles and all the exotic birds. One amusing aspect of the Australia Zoo is that the descriptions are written in Steve Irwin’s tone of voice, so that the info in front of crocodile’s pen might read, “This little beauty could rip a bloke’s arm clean off!”

Koala with a headache.

Tasmanian Devil - do not disturb

Unknown bird in unkown tree. But pretty, don't you think?

Not part of the exhibit - just roaming around. Deborah and I have decided that lizards are Australia's form of squirrel.

Saltwater Crocodile - definitely do not disturb.



Tree Kangaroos, sleeping.

Kangaroo, sleeping.

Koala, sleeping.

Kangaroo, thinking about sleeping.

Really large kangaroos.

Deborah with her new friend.

Kookabura - you see these outside the zoos also.

Flight to Brisbane

We made it to Australia with no problems. The flight from Honolulu to Sydney was about 10.5 hours. A long time to sit on an airplane to be sure, but much better than the 14 or 15 hours it would have taken from Los Angeles (even longer including connections to Seattle). We rented personal video on demand units for the flight which allowed us to watch movies and other programs we were actually interested in rather than the sole selection offered to everyone else. I watched two movies; Deborah watched four. Add some reading and sleeping time, a couple of meal breaks, and we were there in a tolerable amount of time. We crossed the International Date Line sometime during the flight and suddenly skipped to the next day. That’s a hard concept to get your head around - It feels like I’m writing to you from the future.

Passing through Customs and Immigration in Sydney is easy. We had electronic visas which were attached to our passport numbers in their database. I should note that the Australians aren’t quite as paranoid as the Americans when it comes to airport security. It’s a more relaxed atmosphere and you don’t have to take your shoes off when you go through the baggage screening.

It was about an hour and a half flight from Sydney to Brisbane where Deborah’s friend Lorraine lives with her husband Russell and daughter Lauren. They have a good-sized 4-bedroom house with beautiful wood floors. They only use half their two-car garage. The other half is Russell’s man cave where he smokes and plays his computer games. As we arrived in the evening we just sat around and talked until our jetlagged eyelids forced us to turn in.