Family Reunion in Australia - Days 8-9

Walking Around the City of Brisbane

Thursday, 27 October 2016

We woke up early and had breakfast with Sue and Brian.

We later drove back to Brisbane, this time to stay with cousin Dianne. I met her at the reunion. Her great-grandfather was William Henry BOYD, the other brother who also followed John Carrick BOYD to Australia in 1876. 

We had tea time together at Dianne’s, with another cousin from William Henry’s line, Tina, was also glad to greet us. We had a wonderful time together chatting away as we ate our sandwiches, crackers, and scones with tea. After, we hugged Brian and Sue good-bye, we got into Dianne’s car and drove off to Mt. Coot-Tha for the best view of Brisbane.

Tina and Eileen

 We walked to the nearby Brisbane Planetarium and walked around the interior where we met a couple from Houston, Texas. We also walked to the Brisbane Botanical Garden.

Dianne and Mary

I was delighted to find out that cousin Dianne was also a          quilter. She loves her            embroidery work like l do. 

 She has two Janome              machines. She also belongs    to  a quilting group that            meets weekly. 

She shared with me her embroidery projects seen below. Love the blue works.

On her other machine she was machine quilting a lovely red, black and white log cabin.

Friday, 28 October 2016

We woke up and had breakfast of cereal and yogurt. Tina arrived around 10 AM and we walked to the local bus station to take the bus to downtown Brisbane. We exited near the Queens Plaza. After I took care of my phone and money exchange, we found a Starbucks and I introduced them to the Pumpkin Latte! Yummy!! We crossed the River at the Victoria Bridge. Love the artistic Brisbane sign.

On the South Bank Boardwalk, we walked passed the ferris wheel and the man made beach area to a lovely covered walk way. 

We ate lunch at a Mexican place. We  walked back to the Gallery of Modern Art. I was fascinated by the Papua New Guinea art display. There was a short film about their art, music, and culture before the west came. One gallery room focused on their modern art from 1966 to 2016.

We walked back to cross the Victoria Bridge to catch the city bus to Dianne’s neighborhood. We came back for tea with Tina and then hugged Tina good-bye.

Tina, Mary and Dianne

I will be visiting Tina’s sister, Penny, in California after I return. Penny called us when we were at the museum!

Dianne with Bronwyn

Later in the evening, I was able to talk on the phone with Dianne’s brother, Eric. As soon as I hung up with Eric. I got a call from Barb who wanted final details of our trip to Cairns the following day. I was able to meet one of Dianne’s daughters, Bronwyn, who showed up at the same time. It was nice meeting her also. Great to connect with distant cousins.