Last flight out…..

Spent the morning packing up and deciding what to jettison. I figured a fleece wasn't going to get much use in Bali….

Went to lunch in trendy cafe near M&K's. Annelise ate calamari for 6th day running. Back home, some folks had a nap whilst one wrote up the blog.

We said goodbye to Casuarina beach at 6 and headed up to Brisbane. We parked up near the City Beach - a man made inner city beachfront next to the River with sand and lifeguards. M&K pointed out the sights and we strolled along a new but tasteful promenade of al fresco eateries. Selected an Italian and took in some pasta and pizza. The area had a very Mediterranean feel - lots of families out for dinner in the open air, all very relaxed.

Michael took us on a quick tour of Brisbane: first up was the "Valley" and China town - looked as this was the area which was interesting in the early hours.

Next was the XXXX brewery. . Turned right shortly after and drove up many hairpins bends to a busy car park with a lot of jostling for a space. Clut-tha Hill. Up top was a truly spectacular panoramic view of Brisbane. This was magical and was a lovely end to the stay in Oz….Ignoring the bar, restaurant, ice cream and picnicking groups we went for the viewing platform and took it in. The local astronomical society had set up a telescope display for the folks. (saw nice cluster near southern cross). Annelise went to the ladies and cane running back unable to use the facilities because there were hundreds of giant frogs. Being the tour naturalist I went to investigate and identified this to be a pottery species, identified by common genetic mutation of broken off leg.

Tour wasn't quite over: called in at the Breakfast Creek Hotel on the way to the airport. This establishment seemed to offer a variety of food and drinking options for the destination drinker, all in one huge colonial Queenslander style building. Time was limited so I ordered 2 pots of bees knees and we moved from trendy loft style bar to good old fashioned boozer. From this tour, Brisy seemed a good town, modern CBD, lots of swanky apartments and fun night life.

Checked in (good airport too!) and had a final coffee with our hosts. Said farewell to Michael and Kylie and they disappeared from view as we descended to security clearance.