They are everywhere in Brisbane!
A common style of house here is a queenslander. They have huge porches and are up on stilts. Underneath the house is open-air storage, carports, and they keep the house cool with breezes. Plus they are really pretty!
Maybe I’ll do a little queenslander series!
A few days ago Joe and I went to the botanical gardens. They are free and open all the time. They were beautiful!
There were lots of gorgeous plants (Joe’s thing) and lots of gorgeous birds (more my thing).
These ibis are all over. They are like squirrels in Canada!
We saw some beautiful parrots as well. So funny, all of the brisbanites are like, “no big thang”, and Joe and I were going crazy over the parrots!
We also saw some people doing that tightrope thing where you string a line between two trees. The hilarious bit was that some cops pulled up and instead of stopping them, they started trying it! I felt bad about taking photos, but it was so cute.
Today is Joe’s birthday and we are off to the beach!
Saw this cutie in my neighborhood:
So diligent!
So, we got a dining set and couch last night. We found them both on gumtree from two different people that lived fairly close together. I called this guy who advertised delivery services online for $70, and we arranged that Joe and I would first look at the furniture, then call him to set pick up times.
After seeing the couch and dining set and deciding to get them, we called the delivery guy, Joel The Ute Driver. He told me he was “at the shops”, and would call back within the hour. Joe and I sat in the driveway of the family we had bought the dining set from, like foolasses, until finally he called. When he arrived in his “ute”, it turned out a ute is an el camino! As in, car in the front, pickup in the back. Lots of people have them here, hilarious.
He only had one passenger seat, so he and Joe loaded up and took off to get the couch while I took the bus home. When Joe got home he had some good news and some bad.
The good news was that the dining set was fine. I guess the other good news was that Joel The Ute Driver didn’t mug Joe, But that’s besides the point. The bad was that the couch had a little accident. I guess Joel The Ute Driver was going a bit fast, and the couch cushions flew off onto a 4-lane road! They only found out when another driver yelled to them “mate, ya cushions flew off 100m back!”. They made a u-turn and grabbed one cushion quickly, but just as Joel The Ute Driver was about to grab the second one, a car ran over it. And dragged it many meters. At this point I was rolling in the aisles picturing this scene, poor Joe!
We surveyed the damage today:
Not the greatest couch to start with…
Oh dear, I see a tire tread. Maybe the other side looks okay?
Yeah, that’s going to need some cleaning.
I always thought queen beds were extravagant until I recently found out that most adults don’t actually have doubles, most have queens. Who knew?!
Joe and I are now the proud owners of a sealy posturepedic queen bed! Bought off gumtree to save some $. We’re adults now 😉
Joe and I got the keys today and signed the lease. Yesssssss!
Our patio also looks over the river:
And is steps from the city cat ferry.
I am so happy to have hardwood! We’re planning on getting an island for more counter space.
Joe is happy about our nice view!
Our previous place had terrible carpet- this new one is new and so much nicer.
Plenty of storage! The second bedroom looks quite similar.
The bathroom… Well, it can’t all be great! We’re going to really camp it up and play off its hideousness.
So happy to have a place!
Joe and I are in Brisbane! We’ve been here for a little less than a week, and it feels like both a day and forever. Joe defended his phd a few weeks (!) ago, and he starts a postdoc position at the university of Queensland April 2, so we moved here from Vancouver. Life is a-changing’!
This is us after a long day of apartment hunting. We hit the ground running, and I have the blisters to show for it! We found a great apartment, and hopefully will get the keys tomorrow!
It’s right on the river, here’s our view:
So nice! We have two bedrooms- who wants to visit? It’s about 26 and sunny right now!
Next up is buying furniture and appliances. Apartments in Australia don’t come with fridges or washers- so weird. It’s fun to start all over again; daunting bit refreshing! Speaking of daunting, the job hunt for me also begins… Eep!
P.s. we miss you Van!
I was in Kimberley last weekend visiting my dad, and it was full of snow! I flew in Friday night, and the airline warned us that they might not be able to land and we would have to redirect to Lethbridge, Alberta and stay the night (at our own expense, of course). Luckily we made it, but the plane was crazy! It was two seats per aisle, and you had to bend over to get in and walk to your seat. Eep.Â
Kimberley was beautiful, they had probably 3 feet of snow. My dad and I went cross-country skiing Saturday and Sunday, my favourite winter activity:
I was in Kimberley for two reasons- first because he turned 70!  Doesn’t he look good?  
We were also there to say goodbye, since Joe and I are moving to Brisbane March 18. Â
I made my last snow angel for a long, long time, and took it all in. Â
Of course it snowed two days later in Vancouver, but thankfully not like this!  🙂
Pam by the Sea 