Scott and Kim's Visit

Again, a week has gone by with me posting anything. I actually have a lot to write about still, Erik’s soccer team, men without shoes, Mc Café, school uniforms and more, but I never seem to get around to it. I’m actually amazingly busy being a stay home mom, school volunteer, tri-athlete in post-season training (or 8k runner in training), and tour guide.

This morning we saw Mark's brother Scott and his wife Kim off to the airport. They had taken advantage of the multi-stop fare offered by Qantas and started their trip in Sydney, then went up to Cairns and Port Douglas, before coming to Brisbane. Since they had already done a lot of tourist activities, we mostly stuck around Brisbane. Friday, started out rainy, but then we managed to get out to see South Bank and do some shopping at Queen Street, a huge pedestrian mall in the Central Business District.
Saturday morning, we cheered Erik's soccer team on to victory. Erik actually touched the ball this game, so that's encouraging. After a lunch of left over fajitas (Kim was craving Mexican food, so we made some on Friday since there isn’t much in the way of Mexican here.), we headed over to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which has become our favorite place to see Australian wildlife. So now Kim is in the company of Jackie Chan, Janet Jackson, Pope John Paul, Marilyn Manson, Michelle Kwan, and host of others who have cuddled a koala there. That night, we got a sitter for Erik and headed to Fortitude Valley, Brisbane’s version of Capitol Hill and the International District rolled into one. We had some good Thai food and did a fair amount of people watching. It was a warm night, so lots of skin and tattoos to be seen.

Mark took Scott out mountain bike riding early on Sunday, while Kim and I had lattes and caught up on laundry and family/Seattle news. After a breakfast of pastries from my favorite bakery, strategically located next to my health club, we packed the car and drove an hour up the coast to Bribie Island for a day at the beach. Bribie, where my triathlon was held, is very laid-back, and is mostly frequented by families. We hung out at the surf side of the island, which is still relatively undeveloped but still has a flagged beach (with lifeguards) and a few cafes and ice cream shops. The breeze was light and from the south, so there wasn’t enough surf to boogie board, but Erik kept busy building sand castles and splashing around.



Again it was fun to have visitors, so if any of your readers are thinking of coming, we’d love to have you. The Qantas multi-city/zone ticket seems a good way to experience the varied terrain and climate of Australia, but cheap airfares can be found in Australia as well, plus there’s the train.

My parents come on Thursday, and we’ll be flying up to the Whitsundays (a group of islands half way up the Great Barrier Reef) on Saturday, so I may not be posting for a while.