Big Birthday in Brisbane (not mine)

I was picked up from the airport by Zane and John (who had arrived earlier that day) and taken to the Knight's, where I was staying. They have a beautiful Queenslander house, very spacious, with a good sized pool in the back yard. I had a great time there and it felt very familiar to be with Liam, James and Ella. I did take lots of pictures but managed to lose most of them.

The main purpose of my visit was to celebrate John's 70th birthday. The party was held at Kerrie and Rick's place and the girls did a great job organising it.

The next day we celebrated less formally

Prior to that, Toby and I had a rather more low key celebration of our joint birthdays, although it was a much bigger celebration than I usually have. It was not the photo bomber's birthday.

I had a great time being part of the Knight family then later the Mason clan, for a while. Their routines were very familiar - lots of pick-ups from sports, visits to playgrounds, libraries, kindy etc. Ange, Ella and I went up to the lovely Sunshine Coast hinterland one day.

And we went with all the kids to the river one day. It could have been NZ with more gum trees. The kids loved it.

I took my self off to the Sunshine Coast one day to Mooloolaba and had a lovely time wandering around

And another day I had just the best day walking from Broadbeach to Surfers on the Gold Coast. 

I loved Brisbane city - easy to get around, interesting, good galleries and exhibitions and great weather.

I went to an Anzac ceremony with Rick, Kerrie, Sophie and Toby, then we went up Mt Coot-tha to see the great view

I could quite happily winter-over in Brisbane when my greater globe-trotting days are over. Thanks everyone for making my visit so enjoyable!