Day One : 27th Jan 2012

The alarm went at 6am - my first thought was NO MORE SLEEPS!!

Todays journey is only a short one… Longreach to Brisbane but there’s lots to do this morning to make sure Deb is ready for 5 weeks of “motel sitting”. Poor thing her head must be buzzing with all the instructions. Oh well she’s a wonderfully capable woman so we leave with no concerns!!

The plane was due to depart at 11.45am but we boarded @ 12 so only running a bit late… just as well we didn’t have a connecting flight ‘cos I would have been a nervous wreck already. I do tend to stress a little when travelling, must work on being a bit more laid back.

Off to a bad start with the photo ops… should have taken pics of Longreach Airport, plane etc…I’ll work on that too!!

I guess I should really add here that the plan was carry on only and given we’re gone for 5 weeks with temps varying from -3*C to 28*C it was a mission! My bag weighed in at 9.6kg and Rodds was 10.5kg but he reckons that’s only cos he’s got ½ my stuff ( NOT TRUE)!! Oh and I did pack and repack 3 times, I’m using compression bags this time which are great for getting it all in but do tend to crush the clothes a bit.

We landed in Brisbane, descending through the clouds with lots of bumps and dips and a pretty rough landing but were on the airtain in no time. Quick trip into South Brisbane, 5 minute walk to the Riverside Hotel, drop the bags and taxi to Jupiters Casino.We had a fantastic night, lots of roulette wins, played for hours and ended up $25 in front, not a bad nights entertainment!! We also made it into the Livewire Bar where I was the lone soul bopping around the dance floor. I even had people approach me and tell me what a great dancer I am!! Cool!! My kids would disagree, they always hated it when I danced around.

From there we wandered down Queen St Mall to Albert Street and ended up at Café Mondial for dinner. I’d recommend this place, the food was divine and the service was awesome… taxi back to motel and fell into bed, I think it was only about 10pm but who knows… 6 gins, 2 red wines and 2 Frangelico somethings later??!!

Tomorrow… Vegas!!