diversion [dih-vur-zhuh-n]: Brisbane

Lori and I celebrated our 21st Anniversary on Thursday. It feels like a lifetime ago that we were in St. John's celebrating our 20th with friends and family. Lori took a couple of days off and we flew to Brisbane for the weekend. It's our first trip away since we've been in PNG and we were ready for it. We enjoy our life in Port Moresby, but we were ready for a break, where we could walk around on our own and go out in the evenings.

The simplest thing I can say about Australia is, I love it. I cannot express enough how much it feels like home to us. To paraphrase an Australian friend who referred to Canada as "Cold Australia", I will refer to Australia as "Warm Canada". It's friendly, clean, safe and just plain normal. We always assumed that we would retire in Canada, but we might have to investigate the immigration requirements of Australia.

This was not much of a touristy trip for us. The first couple of days were spent shopping for things we could not get in PNG. The rest of our time was spent just enjoying the multitude of restaurants and pubs in Brisbane. I am happy to announce that the Craft Beer Industry is alive and well in Australia. We hit a couple of brew pubs with great beers, tasty food and live music.

Brisbane is on the east coast of Australia, north of Sydney. The city itself is not right on the ocean, but it's on a river that leads to the ocean. There are wonderful neighbourhoods like South Bank and Eagle Street Pier full of restaurants and cafes. Here are a couple of shots of the walk along South Bank with it's man-made beach and markets.

The city is so accessible with free public transit in the inner city. The best way to get around is on the river itself. Within the downtown core, you can get on the City Hopper ferry for free. If you want to go further, you can get on the City Cat for $6.