Brisbane surrounds

One of the best things about my recent road trip in Queensland was the amount of time I allowed myself to spend with my siblings.  Instead of snatching a day here and a day there I had more time to enjoy with them.  And they shared some of their favourite local places with me.   Clare took me to the Mt Tamborine, inland from the Gold Coast to the south of Brisbane, a place I haven't visited in over 20 years.  One of my favourite bloggers, Lee, lives in the area.  

It took us so long to get there, we could have been travelling to a much more distant place.  I had no idea where we were half the time and Clare had similar moments.  Really, Brisbane City Council (or whoever is responsible for road signs), you must do better.  We were directed in circles a couple of times.  However, we can't blame all our driving in circles on the signs.  Once we reached the village we managed to do plenty of it all by ourselves while looking for the lookouts.  We both knew they were somewhere, the question was where?  So we got to see many side streets.  And the only one we found was looking away from the Gold Coast, not down over it as we were hoping.  And someone had lit a number of small fires (we couldn't figure out why).

We enjoyed a stroll up and down the village street, popping into the many interesting shops and had a lovely lunch at a very nice cafe.  There are speciality shops like the German Cuckoo Clock nest, Chocolate Kingdom, Fudge Heaven, dress boutiques and craft shops.  Many of the little shops were owner operated and more delightful people you could never hope to meet.  They were friendly and welcoming and only too happy to share their knowledge about their treasures but without any pressure to buy.  The village of the happy shop-keepers!

I indulged in a pretty pair of ear-rings at what I thought was a great price from The Glass Studio.  I suspect they will turn out to be one of those impulse purchases that I won't get a lot of use out of as they are brighter and shinier than my usual style.  Never mind, my spirit will lift every time I look at them!

It's not often I forget to take photos.  I blame Clare, she's such good company and fun to be with, I totally forgot.

My brother Denis and his partner re-introduced me to Redcliffe, in the north of the city.  As youngsters, we thought of it as far away, but in reality, it's only about 12 km from where we grew up at Nudgee, on the other side of Moreton Bay.

The weather was threatening to change but held off while we were there.  That's the Glasshouse Mountains you can see in the distance.

You know how every place has its own claim to fame?  I remember when I visited Canada in 2002 and was amused to learn that Ladysmith, a small town on Vancouver Island had as its claim to fame that it was Pamela Anderson's birthplace.  Once upon a time Redcliffe proudly claimed to be the site of the first European settlement in Queensland, a noble claim.  Now, everyone seems to have forgotten about that and have been carried away with its connection to the BeeGees.  The powers that be have developed a walkway named the Bee Bees Way, a multi-media celebration of the pop group.  I wonder if Cribb Island, had it not been flattened to make way for an extension to the Brisbane Airport would have made a lot of its connection as well.  That's where the Gibb family moved to after Redcliffe.  

When my girlfriend and I went for a bike ride when we were youngsters we nearly always went to the beach, either Nudgee Beach or Cribb Island, Cribby as we all knew it.  You could walk from one to the other at low tide.  I got off the track, I know.  Whenever I think of Cribby I tend to dwell on the fact that all those who called it home have no place to go back to.  Sad. 

Thanks, Den and Di for a lovely day out.