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.

Family Reunion in Australia - Days 6 and 7

Tuesday, 26 October 2016

After breakfast with egg and toast and fruit, we went out on the patio to feed the birds and some large lizards that lived under their home. The magpie grabbed some meat.

We packed up and drove an hour south from Brisbane for Gold Coast to visit cousins Brian and Sue Boyd.

Aunt Eileen, many years ago, was a Confirmation teacher for teens at her local Lutheran church. She was contacted by one of her students, Rev. Michael Alson, who now lives in Australia as a chaplain of the  Trinity Lutheran College, similar to a K-12 school here in the United States. He was excited to hear of her coming Down Under and offered her to visit him. We connected with him and we were able to drop her off (as the school was not far from Brian's place) to spend the day and evening with him and his family to reminisce and renew their friendship and ministries. What a blessing it is to see how God works in peoples' lives after time spent with them at such an impressionable age!



Mike, Jenni and I then drove to Gold Coast, not far away to Brian's place. Eileen and I had separate rooms upstairs. We chatted and I hugged Jenni and Mike goodbye, thanking them for a wonderful stay. I had a lovely time chatting with Sue and getting to find out about them. I just loved their dog, Bullwinkle, or Bully for short. She was a character and very protective of her owners. We took Bully for a walk later in the afternoon, finding young goslings and turtles in a local pond. Bully had this unusual habit of putting all four legs in a bucked of water after her run. I was lucky to get this second pose with just two legs. 

Later in the evening we went out for Thai food. First time for me and very delicious. Not bad! I had fruity duck, Sue had her salmon and Brian had coconut prawns.

Eileen returned with Michael after we came home. She filled us in about her tour of the school campus and had the opportunity of having dinner with his family. 

Wednesday, 27 October 2016

We drove out to the Currumbin Sanctuary to interact with the wild animals of Oz and also experience some of the local Aborigine culture. I immediately went to have my photo taken with a koala bear. I was able to hold Abby, who was soft and gentle. No, she did not smell.   I remember when Eileen had her photo taken with one 30 years ago. Here is comparison of the two experiences.

We took a mini train across the park to see the kangaroos. They were all lying in one area on the ground and humans were trying to feed them. They seemed to be overfed not wanting anymore food!

We walked around going to different shows including a Free Flight Bird Show, Australia Show, and an Aborigine Dance Show. Fascinating to listen to the Didgeridoo. According to culture only men are to play this instrument. 

If a woman plays it, she will get pregnant. I have seen women play this instrument.

Other animals I got to see were the Wallabies, a Tasmanian Devil, Cockatoos, and Lorikeets.

The second best part of this Sanctuary was at the Lorikeet Feeding time as we were leaving. I got a feeding bowl to attract the birds from the wild. They slowly came when they realized food was available. There were so many people holding up their trays above their heads …including me. After about twenty minutes, I moved in closer. Then, one, two, three, four and almost five came to my delicious dish. Notice my tired arms!

What a fantastic day! Getting to know Australian culture, nature and family!

Family Reunion in Australia - Day 5

Day on the Brisbane River

Monday, 24 October 2016

I woke up feeling rested. After a tasty breakfast of local fruits and yogurt (including blueberries, strawberries, honeydew melon, papaya, blood orange, passion fruit) Rosalyn and Julie (Neil’s wife) came over for a visit. 





I was able to have a delightful chat one on one with Rosalyn and getting to know more about her and her family. 

After they left, we drove to Northshore Hamilton to catch the CityCat Ferry Service. 

Eileen and I loved the wind blowing threw our hair. The curvy river was a great first round about tour of the city of Brisbane.

We stopped halfway into the city at the South Bank Parklands for lunch. There were ibis birds (like our pigeons and seagulls) all over the place begging for any food scraps any diners would leave behind. There were signs telling us NOT to feed the ibis.

We got back on the ferry to the other end which ended at the  University of Queensland where we turned around back to where we started. The river weaves around the city equaling around 30 miles/48km in 90 minutes. Thus, we traversed 60 miles in three hours with lunch in between. 

Thank you, Jenni and Mike, for a spectacular day on the river!

As we returned to the Northshore Hamilton Ferry station, I was mesmerized by the sidewalk carvings. Here are a few.

We returned to a wonderful steak dinner that Mike grilled on the “barby” for us.

Future post: On Friday, with another cousin, I take a second trip to Brisbane, but this time walking about this glorious city.