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QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Monday 18th April to  2005

 

Cliff CHARLESWORTH (47B) & his wife Pauline

 

[Reporter: Greg PECK]

 

 

Day Nineteen - Brisbane

 

Friday 6th May

Cliff and Pauline decided to try a jaunt by themselves and asked if they could be dropped off at Kingston station and then picked up when they returned. Their itinerary for the day was to be a more in depth look at Southbank, a leisurely stroll through the Botanical Gardens, a thorough exploration of all that the Queen Street Mall has to offer and then a trip along the southern section of the City Cat route, which goes down as far as the University of Queensland main campus before returning. A lot of walking was involved in this itinerary and I daresay that the interlude in the City Cat would have made a welcome break.

 

After detraining at South Bank Station and a walk through the Eastern end of the South Bank precinct, Cliff and Pauline headed for the other side of the Brsibane River. They accessed the Botanical Gardens directly from the South Bank precinct by crossing the "Goodwill" bridge over the busy Brisbane River. This is designed for cycle and pedestrian traffic only. They thoroughly enjoyed the Botanical Gardens and were impressed by the boardwalk section, which they regarded as a highlight. Armed with a map of the Brisbane CBD, which I had located and printed out for them from the internet, they made their way from the Gardens along Edward Street and through to Queen Street Mall. Taking their time, every interesting looking shop was explored up one side of the Mall. Once again, the Myer Centre, with its manifold eating establishments, was the place of choice for a meal. This time, they decided to go for a Thai meal, while this was seen as good value for money, no dessert was included, so a quick trip to another eatery saw that remedied.

 

After lunch, the other side of Queen Street Mall was given a thorough checkout and a few items purchased. They returned to the South Bank precinct via the other side of Edward Street, so as to check out all the shops on that side of the road, and the Goodwill bridge. A leisurely stroll through the bougainvillea bedecked, archway covered pathways to the City Cat jetty and they then boarded the upstream bound Cat to check out the higher reaches of the river.

 

They were amazed at the throngs of students who boarded the Cat as they pulled in to the upstream terminus, adjacent to the grounds of the University of Queensland main campus. The higher reaches of the Brisbane river are quite picturesque and there are some beautiful homes situated along the well treed banks. As the City Cat made its way back downriver to the CBD, the lights of the City were coming on, so Cliff and Pauline got to see the dazzling light show as the lights were reflected on the waters of the river. After disembarking once more at the South Bank jetty, they made their way to South Bank Railway station to catch the electric train back to Kingston. They rang us as the train was approaching the platform so that we could time our arrival at Kingston to meet their train.

 

I was there at the appointed time and flashed my lights as I saw them leave the carriage, a quick trip back home and we sat down, after a couple of drinks, to an evening repast of home made fricadellas, chips, peas, corn and mushrooms, with a fried egg on the side.

 

 

Day Twenty - Loganholme

 

Saturday 7th May

This was the day when we all decided to lie in and have a late brekkers for a change. Once up and about, the ladies sorted out the washing, hopeful that the rather erratic weather of the last few days would hold out long enough to allow Pauline’s laundry to dry ready for the journey back.

 

Cliff and Pauline had decided they would take us out to lunch and do a bit of last minute shopping, as they still wanted to find a couple of Ozzie bushmen's hats for their two sons. So, once the chores were done, we set out for the Hyperdome Mall at Loganholme, calling in on Greg and Tammy for a few minutes on the way. The shop was very busy so we didn't stay long, Greg and Tammy assuring Cliff and Pauline that they would pop over in the late evening to say their farewells.

 

At the Mall we met up with our other son, Douglas, who had been for a haircut. He is sorting himself out ready for an interview for a temporary (full time) position with the Queensland State Government's Education Department. If he gets it, he will be in situ to put in for any permanent position that comes up anywhere within the State Government's ambit.

 

After checking out all the places where meals can be purchased from within the Hyperdome Mall, we settled on "Sizzler's". Everyone else ordered a steak but I spotted grilled barramundi on the menu and went for that. The steaks were quite superb according to the consensus but alas the barramundi was not the real McCoy. For the second time in three months, I found that I had been served up with a poor substitute. Barramundi is a smooth fleshed fish with a very white and almost milky tasting meat. Properly prepared it almost melts in your mouth and can only be described as succulent. What I had been given was darker in hue, flaked in layers, rather like English cod does and had been overdone so that it was rather dry and very chewy.

 

The manager came around the tables to ask if all was well and Cliff very promptly passed him over to me. He tried to insist that the fish was indeed barramundi but I soon persuaded him otherwise and rather than risk a scene, he offered me a refund. I refused his offer and explained that I was not after a freebie, I was simply responding to his query! He then said that perhaps he was being seen off by his suppliers, as he was paying for "Farmed" barramundi younglings. I thought that the problem might lie with kitchen staff who bunged the fish of the day into the griller by mistake or even by intention. A few moments later the manager actually brought out an uncooked fillet to our table to solicit my opinion as to its authenticity. I commented that it was excessively wide and very dark fleshed for a supposed barramundi youngling, he assured me that the matter would be looked into and we left it at that. To get us back into a less confrontational frame of mind, Pauline then presented Maggie with a gift for her Birthday, which eventuates on the 9th May, the day after they leave.

 

At least we had a nice drop of wine with the meal and the chips and salad were excellent, as was the choice of desserts. The ladies wanted to scoot off to do some shopping and Doug was going along to find a Mother's Day gift for Maggie, so Cliff and I went into Gilhooley's (now there's a word to conjure with) bar for a schooner of beer each. The ladies eventually came back to rescue us from a possible drowning and showed us their purchases. Pauline was tickled pink to have got the hats at a sale price and then a further discount of $4 by virtue of Doug's employee's discount card for the Coles Myer Group. Both she and Maggie had bought some keenly priced tops too, so they were well chuffed.

 

We returned home and found the washing dry as a bone and promptly celebrated by sampling a couple of Maggie’s home brews, which both Cliff and Pauline had found very much to their liking. Towards evening time, Kath and Travis called in to take their farewells and hot on their heels were Greg, Tammy and young Caitlyn who was in fine fettle and kept us all amused with her antics. She was very good when it was time to say goodbye too, dispensing big wet baby kisses to everyone. To round off the day, we all settled down to watch "Porkies", which Cliff and Pauline had never seen. They loved it!

 

 

Day Twenty-one - Departure

 

Sunday 8th May

The morning was given over to organising the last bits and pieces to be packed and having last lingering showers ready for the off. Once all this had been done and breakfast consumed, we sat down to watch "Porkies 2" and once again the film was thoroughly enjoyed. A cuppa and a couple of snag sarnies to stay the travellers’ stomachs were served up during the latter part of the film, these were soon wolfed down and as the film concluded, it was just coming up for 12.05 hrs. In order to comply with Singapore Airlines procedures, they had to be at the departure lounge two hours before the flight was due to leave. This meant being there by 13.00 hrs. We pulled up in the disembarkation two-minutes parking bay outside the main doors to the lounge at 12.50 hrs. We organised a baggage trolley and loaded their bags onto that, then we said our cheerios. Both Cliff and Pauline looked a tad emotional as we hugged, shook hands and so forth and we stood watching as they waved one last time and then passed through the doors of the Departure Lounge of the International Terminal of Brisbane Airport.

 

(Photograph: Margaret Peck)

 

Maggie and Pauline had become fast friends during the visit, much as had been the case with Shirley Langley last year, while Cliff and I had got on famously. It is very rewarding when you entertain visitors from the old Arborfield background and nothing that had eventuated during this latest visitation had altered that in any way. In terms of what we do as regards putting up Ex Brats when they come to Oz, it provides us with a steady stream of people to whom we can relate and whose company we can enjoy. Invariably it provides us with more friends that we can add to our list of good folk that it pleasures us to know. It was another great success as far as Maggie and I are concerned, what a great little hobby to have, I wouldn’t have missed out on it for quids!