Chapter 19: Brisbane and the Gold Coast

If anyone is looking for a lovely place to emigrate to, you should consider this lovely town! It is by far and away one of the most people friendly, sedate, sophisticated towns I have seen in a long time - a little reminiscent of Boston or San Francisco with England rolled in. The central city is very walkable, the weather fabulous year round, and the amenities they have in place - incredible! You can commute to the city from most subarbs in less than half an hour. And on top of that, they are a short ride away from some terrific beaches both North and South for great surfing and tanning. But they have more than just beaches ..

We were spoilt here. We stayed with my cousin Desmond and got to visit all my Dad's cousins who live nearby. Needless to say, lots of great food, lots of fabulous outings. We went to Surfer's Paradise in the South and the Glass Mountains in the North. But the kids also enjoyed the South Bank Park right in the middle of town with a man made beach/lagoon and free bar-b-ques. (These city center lagoons seem to be an Australian feature!) This was a great way to tie in sight seeing with downtime on the same day. Got a tour of the city by bus, did a cycle tour through some magnificent botanical gardens and spent time at the many parks. There is much more history and culture to tell, but that will come later in the year when I have time to develop this!

The true bonus here was the time we all got to spend with all our cousins. The kids had a riot with the cousins their age and we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with all my cousins!