After a week in tropical Queensland it was time to head on down the road. We got an early start for our trip from Cairns to Airlie Beach and that was a good thing as due to a lot of road construction the trip took over eight hours - mainly on a narrow single lane highway. The area had experienced a cyclone about a year back hence the need for road repair. Fortunately we passed through a number of different settings so that made up for the delays. The Whitsunday Islands off Airlie Beach are gorgeous! Unfortunately we didn't get to tour them as I was rather 'under the weather'. I'm not sure what hit me (think it may have been food poisoning) but I didn't venture far for a couple of days. Rob used the time to tour the area and work on his tan - not too hard to take. We then drove to Townsville for our flight to Brisbane. We had prearranged the flight which was a good thing as the drive would have been another 24 hours! It's nice country side, but not that nice that we needed to see it all.

We are now in Brisbane (or Brissy) as the locals call it. The size and traffic were initially overwhelming after time in smaller, more tranquil locations but we have settled in nicely. We have a beautiful condo right on the river -- a gorgeous, relaxing setting. The river winds its way through the city and the roads do the same so nothing is in a straight line. This makes for twisty streets but beautiful lushly landscaped neighborhoods. Brisbane is a lovely city with a nice mix of older colonial homes /buildings and modern high rises. They seem to do a good job of combining the two.

Another attractive feature of Brisbane is that one can be at the beach in about 45 minutes. To the north is the Sunshine Coast with a number of quaint towns (many retirement residences) and gorgeous beaches. To the south is the Gold Coast which is known for having a more lively, partying lifestyle - with plenty of Waikiki style skyscrapers. We did what the locals do and spent the weekend checking out the beaches. Playing in the waves at Surfer's Paradise was great fun - one just had to make sure they wore a good secure swim suit!

Today we visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Although we have seen signs notifying us of wildlife in the area we felt we should take in one zoo to be sure we saw many of the rarer, local species. The 'sanctuary' was very well done! There was plenty of opportunity for koala viewing as well as a unique opportunity to wander amongst some kangaroos. Rob is still looking for some 'roos' in the wild but we've been coached that we'll see more as we head south. So here is the question of the day - how many koala photos did I take? hint - there are 130 koalas in the sanctuary and I didn't photograph them all.

Rob is planning to golf in the morning (imagine that) and then we'll head into the city center for another look around before heading to Melbourne on Wednesday. We'll be in touch again from there.