An Emotional Oz Experience to Remember

Marsden Point  and we're away

23 Years is a long time between hugging children, but it happened to us. My son moved to Australia as a 16 year old and owing to circumstances, we couldn't get together during the intervening years. He is now 39 and we felt it was time to make a determined effort to travel to Brisbane, Queensland and meet up with him and three Grandchildren who we hadn't met, although we had spoken often on the phone.

We decided to fly from Whangarei as the drive to Auckland and the return at night time just added extra drama to our trip, We only had 6 nights as we had to fit our holiday escape between print editions of our publication. Air NZ offered a good deal early in March so we booked our return flights and looked forward to a holiday in Oz.

Waipu Cove from the Air

The weather from Whangarei to Auckland was lovely and clear and the camera clicked merrily away until our two hour Auckland stop-over. The fun started when the nice Customs man didn't like what he was viewing on the x-ray screen. He invited me to follow him to another counter where he started to unload my onboard luggage bag. He couldn't identify a container, which turned out to be my large plastic pill box  and then he wanted to identify all the medication inside. Lot's of fun! Then some person shouted out to "take my cap off and look directly at the camera" which was apparently trying to confirm my face with my passport photo, a difficult job as my passport photo doesn't show any smile lines whatsoever. And they want to charge you a tax for this privilege?

Finally it was time to board our A320 Air Bus and we left for Brisbane. Drinks were provided and I had a lovely meal of Chicken Masala with a small bottle of wine and Lyn had a Lasagna, which she enjoyed. We felt it was an appropriate choice as my son Nick had always demanded Lasagna as his birthday meal choice.

Archer Hill Apartments

The weather stayed fine until we approached Moreton Bay, where the clouds rolled in and darkness descended rapidly. As our luggage had been 1st loaded it meant it was last off the plane (our own reasoning) so when we cleared customs there were only about ten people in the huge reception area, however none were related to us! We realised we were 1\4 hour earlier than expected and being a Friday work day, our reception committee were still driving to the airport! All of a sudden familiar voices rang out from the escalator and a very emotional Dad and Son hugged one another. Tears were shed and it took a moment to realise that the tall strapping man with broad shoulders and strong handshake was the same young, slim teenager who had left New Zealand shores 23 years before. Nick and I went in his car (a very tidy Holden, named "Eleanor "While the girls went in another car)

Pool at Archer Hill 

Our destination was a fabulous Apartment complex situated on the Gold Coast, which was incorporated into a tourist Hotel golf course and Hotel complex, with 24 hour security, swimming & spa pools, restaurants and all those other goodies that make for a leisurely holiday. Over the next 5 days we managed to see a range of Brisbane experiences and along with further family get-togethers with our OZ Family we had a very enjoyable time.

Some of the Highlights of DAY ONE were:

Marina

Marina Mirage and the Brisbane River front where you can wander along a boardwalk that seems to stretch for miles. Hundreds of pleasure boats tied up at Marina's, many with For Sale signs tied to the rigging. Some of the craft were L-A-R-G-E and I hate to think how much running costs would be for even a day on the water.

Lot's of restaurants ranging from simple cafés to very imposing waterfront eateries, with imposing menus to match.

We stopped for a coffee and shared a scone (it was HUGE, came with cream and jam and cost $5.90 Aus)

After walking my arthritic knees off, we stopped by an adventure wharf, where numerous tourists had gathered, some to climb aboard a large jet boat (similar to the Queenstown variety) others to go para-gliding and a couple who rode a jet ski after about 1/2hr instruction from a guide who followed them out to weave amongst the river traffic.

Palazzo Versace

It was very pleasant just sitting under a canopied verandah watching all the movement around us as we waited for our hard working lady chauffeur, who promised us a little "Tiki Tour" on the way home. We had a look at Palazzo Versace Hotel with it's grand marble floors (we were distinctly  under-dressed for this visit and didn't wait around) checked out their restaurant where a Buffet Breakfast cost $46Aus and where Gentlemen are required to shave before partaking of a "facial massage" and where there are many other rules on Hotel Etiquette listed on their advertising (too many to mention here)

(We took a quick look at Sea World from the outside and promised to return on "Grannies Day" when the prices are 1/2 for Seniors.)

A nice drive down Surfers Paradise followed by a visit to a local Farmers Market in Narang, gave us an insight into the local inhabitants desire to purchase good quality, local produce at cheaper prices than in the supermarkets. There was even a butcher calling himself "The Mad Butcher" and he told me that he was a Kiwi, who had lived in Australia for a number of years. Not sure if our own "Mad Butcher" is aware of his popularity overseas, but the chicken sausages were delightful when cooked on the BBQ next day.

Some of the less pleasing aspects were:

TRAFFIC! OMG the traffic is absolutely so heavy on the motorways, even early in the afternoon. They do have a T2 lane system where cars with more than two  passengers get to use an outside fast lane, but even this lane was very busy for most of the trip home.

The size of the cockroach in the bathroom had to be seen to be believed! I have seen some large Wetas, but this huge brown insect was scary! Most of the birds we saw,were not only large, but VERY NOISY!

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View of the Great Dividing Range

On Day One it was wonderful to finally reach the sanctuary of our apartment, four floors off the ground and with a wonderful view. The cold beer added to the pleasure!