Back in Brisbane

We're back in Brisbane....staying in South Brisbane, close to Southbank and the lively West End. Our first morning walk coincided with the Mother's Day Classic, so even though it was an early morning start for us there were lots of people about on this side of the river. We ended up walking over the bridge through to Queen St, down to the Botanic Gardens and back - a good long walk - and covering a lot of old ground for us.

But we're mainly here to see Rob's Mum Bobbie this week, so it was a lovely way to spend that Mother's Day afternoon strolling around the Southbank parklands with her.

 This is a city view that is unique to Brisbane: the "beach" at Southbank, the city buildings, all framed by the city's ubiquitous palm trees.

 Today, May 14 is always the anniversary of the sinking of the 2/3 AHS Centaur - the hospital ship that was torpedoed by the Japanese in 1943. Rob's Dad Allan was one of the few survivors of this war time disaster - so the annual commemoration is important to Bobbie and the family.

 These two brothers really pleased their mother today, sharing the commemoration and wreath laying with her. The service was very formal, solemn and beautifully detailed. Morning tea at the church hall after was lovely too - very retro but in a good way! 

Aside from our time with Bobbie, we have enjoyed our morning/evening walks around this lively part of Brisbane. We found a local brewery (The Catchment Brewery Co) on tonight's walk along Boundary Road - and so had to make sure it met with our approval.

 But we also enjoy checking out West End's distinctive architecture and street planting. It all looks so exotic to us........

 West End was very much an inner city working class suburb in the days these cottages were built. They're not the magnificent, opulent Queenslanders of the more affluent suburbs, but I love their quirky detailing and character filled colour schemes.

 We found this cute coffee place with a cool colour scheme: "Who Shot the Barista" on Jane St.

Aren't they something?

Brisbane

Over the past week we've managed to fit in a very quick road trip to Brisbane to catch up with Rob's Mum, and share a bit of Christmas cheer.

We were very happy to see her much improved since our last visit in July. All that CAZNA Hostel care and attention has been doing her a world of good. 

Even though Granny Bobbie, G.G. is very frail now we managed one of her fave outings to Manly and a fish and chips lunch on the Bay (at Cuttlefish)...........

We were able to do some shopping with her and a few other lunch outings - made all the easier because we were staying in an apartment at the 'Gabba/Kangaroo Point that was ideal for a bit of entertaining.

This was the late afternoon view towards the Brisbane CBD from the apartment's 9th floor pool deck. 

And this was the view over the iconic 'Gabba Stadium from the 16th floor roof deck. Residents would count themselves very lucky during the cricket tests (and the Taylor Swift concert).

The Brisbane road trip is a big one for us - a 2,400 klm roundtrip by car. And this was a first road trip in over a decade that we haven't broken the trip with an overnight stay with Ros and Pete at Sandy Beach (near Coffs Harbour). The night at the 3 Star motel at Kempsey instead just didn't rate. Still, we're all really happy that they are happy where they are now (Geelong in Victoria).

Not the best month

This has not been the best month for our Canberra based family. There's been some things happening health wise that are causing us some angst .......but this blog is about the positives in my life - so that's what I'll focus on..... a bit of a catch up on the last month or so.

It's been 5 weeks now since our gorgeous Ella ran her best in the ACT finals of the Schools X Country Carnival at Stromlo Forest.  It's no surprise to any of us that she's one of the fittest and fastest 11 year old girls in the Territory!

 A few days later a dear friend of mine (Irene) who is getting near the end of her chemo treatment was well enough to enjoy a celebratory breakfast with us "girls" at the Arboretum ..... it was a freezing but clear and sunny June morning, and we all felt happy that things are returning to"normal" for Irene. 

BUT then a week later disaster struck for me ... I fell over on the edge the road and fractured (and displaced) my distal radius (wrist bone). I ended up needing surgery (involving a 3 day wait and an overnight stay at Canberra Hospital) to have a plate fixed. It's my dominant hand too - so I've been fairly useless ever since!

Everyone has been lovely about this, and so supportive. Maxie and Rod and Josh and Jody have been wonderful, cooking us beautiful meals and keeping our spirits up. We've even had one of our lovely new neighbours at Saint Germain make us up some pots of soup.

And a week ago I had my plaster removed and replaced with this steel and velcro brace - which has given me a lot more flexibility (and wardrobe choices). I have to wear this for four weeks.

A week ago we started the journey north to Brisbane: starting with a night at Coogee to catch up on the annual apartment (EC) business ..... then a night with Ros and Pete at Sandy Beach ....and a chance to catch up with their dramatic plans to relocate to Geelong!!!

We made it to Brisbane by last Thursday afternoon and straight away made our way to see Rob's Mum Bobbie at her new "home" at Cazna Gardens. She looks bright and chirpy as ever, but increasingly frail - time to move out of her independent living unit and into a higher level of care (as of two weeks ago).

 As well as having some time with Bobbie we had a few days of packing, sorting and cleaning to do to clear her unit (after Rob's brother and his wife had done the bulk the work). In the process we saw a fair bit of Brisbane we don't normally see - like the local tip (Resource Recovery Centre). I thought this place was amazing!!!

But we managed to enjoy some downtime in Brisbane too - checking out the wonderful food scene in the diverse suburbs surrounding Cazna Gardens (Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese)..........

 Two trips with Bobbie to beautiful Manly on Moreton Bay ......

 (loved the sight of these nesting Lorikeets in the mangroves on the edge of the Bay).........

 And admiring the lush gardens and picturesque architecture of the older suburbs of Brisbane ....

 It's our last day in Brisbane today and we enjoyed another lovely seafood lunch together at Manly. We have finished the clear out of Bobbie's unit and she is settled into the new situation at Cazna. It's a stressful transition ...... we hope it works out for the best and she stays strong enough so we can share many more lunches like this with her in the future

Granny B birthday

We had a lovely birthday celebration for Granny B (Rob's Mum) at the Brisbane Marriott on Sunday afternoon.  Her youngest grand-daughter Bec (and partner) were able to make it too so there was no shortage of conversation, love and warmth surrounding Granny B on the occasion of her 90th birthday (almost).

As if we didn't have enough scones, pastries and macarons already our hosts at the Marriott also presented Bobbie with a surprise birthday cake!!

We finished off our week of celebrating with a nostalgic visit to the Redcliffe peninsula today. Bobbie remembers summer visits to Redcliffe with her mother (which must have been quite a trek in those days seeing they lived on a sheep property just outside Tambo over 800klms from Brisbane). They enjoyed swimming in the "surf" together and other holiday fun at Redcliffe all those years ago.

We had a delicious seafood lunch at the historic old Belvedere Hotel at Woody Point, but Bobbie couldn't find anything familiar in the surroundings that reminded her of those happy holidays in the early 1930s.  But then we saw this display in the foyer of the hotel and it brought back a lot of memories of day trips she and her mother did on the old T.S.S. Koopa around the peaceful bays off Redcliffe peninsula. The old T.S.S. Koopa became a real workhorse in the second world war so it didn't last too long after 1945...and there is no comparable service operating now.....but it was apparently a happy cruiser in its day!

Brisbane

We're seeing Brisbane at its absolute best. Every day we've had big blue cloudless skies and winter maximums of 22 - 23oC. Our hotel is in Fortitude Valley, a few minutes walk from the James Street Precinct and the well manicured suburban streets of New Farm, a very pleasant space to be in.....

We think this part of town is a bit like Sydney's Paddington but without the grime and the gays (and therefore none of the character) but very pleasant all the same. We liked this little corner bar with its pints of White Rabbit beer.

Further down James Street, into suburban New Farm, I am immediately charmed by the older style Queenslanders....

I was struck by the similarity of this one to the house in which Rob's grandmother was born in Kerr Street Toowong (Mignonette), a few suburbs distance from New Farm......

Rob's grandmother was born in 1891 so this house would be at least 125 years old - but most likely a fair bit older than that!

We headed up to Mt Cootha lookout yesterday for a clear view of the city, looking out to Moreton Bay in the far distance.

....... Then down to Lota on the Bay because Rob and his Mum both love eating fish and chips by the sea. Bart's Place is one of the top ten fish and chip joints in Brisbane (according to the Courier Mail) - and we can also vouch for its excellence now!

With Bobbie safely ensconced in a wheelchair we were able to walk around this part of the Bay, all the way to the Manly Yacht Club, and past some very healthy mangroves on the edge of the promenade.

Back in this part of the city it's great for walking and cycling (being very flat around the Brisbane River). We did a long walk this morning along the river as far as the Botanic Gardens.  We walked up a sweat doing this on a perfect "Winter" morning.

I felt quite nostalgic seeing the old McWhirter's building on the corner of Brunswick and Wickham Street (also not too far from where we're staying). In the sixties I remember getting off the tram here anticipating the  superior shopping awaiting me in this grand old department store. It's not like that any more though. There's no department store; it's just wall to wall dollar shops and low end food outlets. The Mall outside stinks of fried chips, tomato sauce and old beer. Not so nice!