Brissy: beaches, Bluey and babies

Quick stats:

• 5 movies watched (I probably missed a lot of in-jokes in Pokémon)
• 1 book read (hey, I was traveling and it was the longest Harry Potter book)
• 3 Aussie dream items achieved! YES. (more below)
• 1 bearded dragon encountered (on a hike)
• 8 brackets used so far already

The tour across Australia continues! This edition is in the Northeast part of the country, Queensland. Australia is actually very comparable in size to the States, yet its population is only 25 million. For comparison, Canada’s (entire country) population is 37 mil. & California’s (state only) is 40 mil. My trip from Melbourne -> Brisbane is kind of like Miami -> Washington DC.

It’s kinda hard for me to see that in my head but there’s a lot of empty space in this country. I’m sure the snakes and spiders require decently large personal space bubbles.

It was a blast! I hadn’t gotten to know my cousin’s family up there much and they’ve got four kids so it was a great chance to catch up. Catch up we did! So much playing time and quality baby squeezing time was had.

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We watched oodles of episodes of Bluey, a local animated kids show that is AMAZING. Each episode is short and charming as all get out. I hope it crosses the waters to others as it’s delightful. The kids loved dancing to its opening theme song, and I loved watching them. Seriously, look it up.

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Nat was kind enough to check two large items off my Aussie to-eat list: fairy bread and pavlovas. I know it may not sound like much, but fairy bread is a simple childhood joy that many grew up with but isn’t something you buy at a restaurant. It’s basically white bread (usually no crust), butter and hundreds & thousands (spherical sprinkles). Yup, that’s it! It was simple and tasty! I guess we did something similar when I was little (as a rare treat only): sprinkling sugar (sometimes Milo too) on buttered white bread. I could only really get this from a family with young kids, so I was super excited to finally try this. (Again, it’s the simple things.)

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Next, New Zealand and Australia seem to own the pavlova as a standard summer BBQ dessert (also a Christmas dessert!). I don’t love love meringue so I was wary, but Nat made a stellar one! She cuts down on the sugar a bit and adds an extra egg white for a chewier meringue. Gobs of whipped cream and seasonal fruit top it off and voila! I definitely had more than one slice…. possibly three.

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Another child-related one was a party pie! It’s really just an even smaller meat pie that are usually only at kid’s birthday parties. Since I didn’t know too many children who had close birthdays and didn’t want to get a box of 12 for myself at the grocery store, my Uncle helped me out and took me to a nice pie shop that sold them as sides (for your main pie). Again, this country has its priorities in line. I got a mince chicken party pie with my steak & mushroom meat pie. Dreams can be achieved!

Since I’m on a roll food-wise, I’ll add on that I tried a few more local chocolates: Violet Crumble (honeycomb) and Chomp (wafer + caramel). I never liked honeycomb much but this country really likes it! It’s everywhere. Violet Crumble was lighter than Crunchie so I liked that but it still sticks in your teeth so I doubt I’ll be a big fan. Chomp, on the other hand, is kind of like a Twix light, so I’d totally do that again. Adventures abound.

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In between eating we did get some sightseeing done. Hit up Kangaroo Point Cliffs, which are these climbable cliffs right downtown right along the Brisbane River. The local City Cat ferry is a great way to see the city but I’ll have to catch that next time.

Southbank is an awesome area with lots of restaurants and fairs. This weekend a Buddha Festival was on and we caught some fun free shows. The best bit was that they had an amazing free water park, with waves and sand and everything. It was akin to Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica with less shopping and more free park space. I love how much they invest in public park space in this country.

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I did get to see my first bin chicken there too! (Otherwise known as the ibis.) They’re seen around public spots, usually near food. I hear they’re in Melbourne but I haven’t seen any yet! This song sums them up quite well (warning: these birds illicit some strong language).

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My cousin lives in a sweet neighborhood with apartment-like perks (community center, pool, gym, etc) but they’re all in houses not apartments. They lived across the street from the pool so I got a lovely night swim session in. I even saw a kangaroo bounce by me on the walk home!

I took a train down to the Gold Coast and my Uncle took me on a nice hike along the Burleigh Heads. It’s the middle of winter for them. Winter. I was told this is as cold as it gets. Sure looks like it to me. Seems rough. Felt strong San Diego vibes here.

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Got back in Melbourne just in time for Tilly’s 2nd birthday! My uncle made a super impressive birthday cake (from watching YouTube clips!) with fondant and everything. We had a lovely day for Tilly full of bubbles and Paddle Pops. Loving all this family time and glad to be down here to spend it with them!

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Until next time! Miss my family and friends Stateside something bad this week too. I’m so glad I’m getting a chance to hang with my Aussie family right now and can’t wait to head back to the States… eventually. ❤