“Normal” Rainy Day Activities (Brisbane - December 26-28)

Our concierge struck again when we decided to take the train to Brisbane from Noosa (we really weren’t excited about paying a taxi driver another $250).  They sent us to a train station that only had one train coming through at 11:00 pm.  Our taxi driver was concerned as we were on the way and said he would wait for us in case we would be stuck, he even said he would take us to the next train station that had more trains going through for about half the price.  This was the nicest taxi driver I had ever been in a car with (not only because he gave us a discount on a holiday when he could have charged more…we probably would have paid anything to not be stuck for 13 hours).  He said that he and his wife had just come back from a holiday in the States and people were nice to them so he wanted to return the favor.  He seemed to know everything about the history of the US and the history of every piece of land we passed.  I can’t imagine what we would have done if we had taken the concierge’s advice about taking the bus (it was free that day) to the abandoned train station.  We figured it may not be easy to take luggage on a crowded bus.

When we arrived in Brisbane the plan was to go to a mall and enjoy the Boxing Day sales.  However everything in Australia is very expensive right now…between the inflation issues there and the low low value of the US dollar we would pay more on sale items then we would pay on regular priced items in the States.  We did pick up a few things for baby (skin care items that I was certain were Johnson and Johnson and not a copy).  The rain the first day was just annoying enough that we didn’t want to do anything outside, which was fine we were happy to be a normal couple doing normal rainy day things (shopping and a movie). 

The next day we planned on going to the Australia zoo, which is supposed to be one of the best!  It was started by the Crock. Hunter years ago!  This was our second attempt to go but it was rainy the first time.  We decided to go no matter what!  However the receptionist said it would be miserable in the rain.  We decided to spend the day at a different outdoor shopping area armed with our umbrellas and rain jackets.  We stopped for lunch at a sandwich place overlooking the harbor and as we were finishing up the skies opened and we got wet even in the covered area of the restaurant.  We hung out until the rain slowed down, which it never really did, and we went back to the mall from the day before.  We walked around a bit then went bowling!  It isn’t easy bowling with a bowling ball poping out of your belly, not to mention I was super careful.  I picked the lowest weight ball and didn’t bend too much when throwing the ball because I was afraid of tipping over.  Adam gave me a 30 point handicap which turned out to be necessary considering the only reason pins fell down was because they were knocked down by other pins.  I don’t think I even broke 80.  I can see my family now trying to fix my stance and telling me how I could bowl better…good thing I don’t really care, I just enjoy the game!