Michelle's chickpeas: Brisbane

We have been here now for over 3 weeks now, so have lots to catch up on. I have been writing and saving bits as we plod along on our new journey but have had to wait to upload the photos as we are on limited internet, so now using the libraries internet to upload a big batch, although the connection is so slow it is taking forever, so there's a lot less photos than I wanted to put on here.

So, let’s start from the beginning………..

We flew from Kuala Lumpur on Monday on the most hi-tech plane we have ever been on, touch screens and all. Rowan, needless to say, Loved it! We landed in Brisbane, got to our guest house, got a bit lost looking for some food then had a good sleep.

The next morning we had to head into the city and do loads of boring stuff; bank accounts, medicare and the tax office, which wasn’t much fun. Rowan also left his sunnies and a toy on the bus. He was most upset. But not for long as we went into their first Aussie toy shop and discovered all the toys they have seen on the adverts really do exist down under!

So after all boring bits done, we bought some snags (sausages), bread and ketchup and jumped onto the CityCat. The CityCat is a fast catamaran ferry that runs up and down the Brisbane river. We got off at New Farm Park, had a barby for lunch. In all the parks and gardens over here they have free to use electric bbqs, so we had our first Aussie bbq. Reuben had fun chasing away the cheeky ibis birds that are the equilvalent of seagulls, but not quite so aggressive!

Then we headed to the playground. WOW! Rowan has declared it one of the biggest in the world. I don’t think it is, but it is pretty awesome. It is built into and around the aerial roots of huge Banyan fig trees, so it is always in the shade of these huge trees and the climbing frames and slides work in and out of the roots.

The next day we had more boring stuff to do, but we got it over with quickly and headed off on the citycat again to New Farm park, this time to meet up with Lara and Jet. Rowan and Reuben made a friend and getting them out of the park was very difficult! It was nice to meet up with Lara, she has been living here for 8 years so could give us some tips on settling in.

Lara dropped me off at a baby store so I could get car seats for the kids. The laws here on car seats are way stricter the in the UK. Both boys have had to have to have full on seats that they moved out of ages ago in the UK. They both think they are great though as they have big head rests!