BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

This is Gnome our traveling companion. Gnome joined us at Christmas and so has already been to Egypt. Anyway, Gnome plans to be photographed in famous locations around the world. And before anyone thinks he is a leprechaun, he is actually French. Don't Ask !!! Anyone who has seen the French Film Amelie will know what this is about. If you haven't then it is good fun!!

Brisbane is quite a high city and the effect of so many tall buildings right on the river is quite spectacular. If you look closely you can see a small blue and white boat - this is the City Cat a ferry service that runs up and down the river and is a handy and fun way to get around.

This is the South Bank of the Brisbane river, with university, galleries and even a big wheel like the London eye. Loads of restaurants and bars in this area and guess what - yes, we stayed right here!

Brisbane's central business district is surrounded on two sides by water as it is on a tight bend in the river. They make great use of the water front with restaurants, bars, cafes etc. This is a view of the CBD from the City Cat.

Here we are in Sunny ( ok, sometimes sunny, not always) Brisbane.

Actually Queensland has had quite a lot of rain recently, flash flooding etc. But we were

lucky in Brissie as there were sunny breaks between the showers. Here is Lor in downtown Brissie holding up the traffic.

This is the north bank with the main road running right on the river front.

D on the quay in the central business district on a photo shoot.

Lor hanging out on the south bank! Looks very quiet in the background - few showers around that day so not too many sunbathers, just the Irish who are of course well accustomed to getting rained on.

So thats the update for now. We are currently in Sydney and will post again soon.

On a more serious note the tragic events in Chile may cause us to have to revise some of our travel plans. We are due in Santiago on 26th of this month. With the earthquake we don't know at this point whether it will be possible or indeed advisable to get into Chile. Santiago airport is still closed.

Will post again soon.

G'Day all.

D & L