Wednesday 19th March

Today was to be souvenir buying day. We’d been in all those we’ve seen and made a note of all the bits we want, so we just had to remember where they all were! First though, a visit to the Post Office to see what it would cost to send the excess weight home by post. It will definitely be cheaper that way, even cheaper than from NZ, although it will take a little longer. We’ll do this from Adelaide we’ve decided as we give the car up then.

It was a late start, 11.00, and we had no early morning wake up calls I’m pleased to say. It was dull again but dry – until we left the hotel – then the heavens opened. Where were the waterproofs and umbrella? In the car. Where was the car? In the basement garage. Where were the car keys? In our room on the third floor. Talk about logistics; and who got the job of fetching everything? Yes, it was me. Once I’d done everything in the correct order and rejoined Tom in reception – the rain stopped! Well, it’s good to start the day’s activities with a laugh and there was no point doing anything else.

We’d thought we’d try out the free bus service that circles the city centre to see where we’d like to walk later. It’s a great service, which runs every 10 minutes and although it isn’t a very long route, it goes down round the river and alongside the Botanic Gardens before returning to the main shopping area. Se we walked to the bus stop, passing on the way a sculpture of a bunch of Aussie drovers around a camp fire.

The bus arrived as advertised, and we went round one and a half times, getting off second time around by the river. Sydney has nothing to fear from Brisbane as regards views of and from the river – no fantastic bridge, no Opera House, no bustling and energetic quaysides, just a few nice eating and drinking places and a pleasant walk along the river. We had coffee in one of the cafes then walked along to the Botanic Gardens, part way through them and back into the centre. There are some lovely old buildings here and the new ones are worth seeing but again, not on the scale of Sydney.Having done some shopping, we called back at the hotel so Tom could offload it and the waterproofs he’d carried (unnecessarily as it never rained again), had a quick reviving drink and put our feet up for 45 minutes, then back to the streets for more goodies. We finished off by having another coffee and a snack in one of the Food Courts under one of the malls – as it was late afternoon, all the food was reduced and we shared a chicken and avocado sandwich, which was very tasty and gave us enough energy to go back to the hotel for a rest before dinner! Such a busy day!

Tonight, we had another kebab as we’d so enjoyed yesterday’s and now are in the room relaxing before driving off west to our next destination, which we hope will be Goondiwindi, where we turn south onto the Newell Highway. We’re being very brave and haven’t booked ahead this time so keep your fingers crossed for us. Goodnight from him and goodnight from me!!