Brisbane Storms

It's tropical storm season here at the moment and this year it has been particularly bad. Tonight we've been treated to yet another fantastic lightning storm after a very hot day, but it was rather mild compared to what happened on Sunday 16th November when we had the worst storms for 30 years.

Luckily we escaped the worst of it where we live on the south side of the Brisbane river. No such luck for those in the northern suburbs, especially The Gap where my boss lives.

This YouTube video shows how bad it got in The Gap. In particular watch what happens from 1 minute and 30 seconds in:



My boss's house was without power for 4 days after this.

On Thursday the 20th November we had another big storm, and this time I got caught in it. I was working in the city at a client site and left a little early to go to my office for the first of our 2 Xmas parties - this one being the one where clients were invited. In the office, we had the weather radar up on one of the Plasma screens so we could watch the storm coming in. When we realised it was heading straight for us many of us decided to leave to try and get home before the worst of it reached us, particularly after what had happened the previous Sunday. So I set off walking to the train station (as my usual bus didn't run that late) and got half way there when the heavens opened, and as is typical, I'd happened to have left my umbrella at the client site.

The rain was coming down so ferociously that I decided to take shelter in a shop entrance and wait until the worst of it was over, thinking that it would only be a short one. Twenty minutes later it was still horizontal rain so I thought bugger it and set off again on a brisk walk.

Near the train station there is an area where I need to cross two major roads with a traffic island in the middle. I crossed the first road and just as I got to the traffic island the hailstones started. I couldn't believe it. Whilst waiting for the traffic lights to change, in a very short period of time the hailstones started coming down faster and in increased size. I was watching them fall all around me - the size of golf balls. The thing is, for that short period of time I had absolutely nowhere to hide. I was stuck, and the hailstones were coming down that hard I thought to myself if one of these hits me smack on the head I'm going to be in trouble. Yet, the unbelievable part is that none of them hit me. They were falling all around my feet yet I managed to stand through it for a good 2 minutes before the traffic lights change, and then run across the road to shelter without a single one hitting me.

Talk about lucky!

Playing the Tour Guide

Our latest set of visitors arrived safely on Friday - Frances and Rob - so we had a busy weekend playing tour guide.

Friday evening we took them to the Manly Harbour Village Halloween Street Party. Loads of people dressed up (kids and adults) and joined in with the 'spooky street parade' at dusk. There were kids rides, live entertainment, dancers, street performers, and all in all it was a great atmosphere.



We'd booked a table at the Boats restaurant which overlooks Manly parade so we had a great view of proceedings as we were waiting for our meal to arrive.



We later went to Rach's work (boat club) for a drink before proceeding home, and we came out of the club just in time to see the closing fireworks. A pretty good welcome to Australia for Frances and Rob I reckon.

On Saturday, which turned out to be one of the hottest days so far this Spring, we took them down to South Bank and spent some time on the city beach and in the lagoons. We later returned home and went in the pool, before finishing the evening off with a customary barbie and a few beers.

On Sunday I managed to get some work done while Rach and Lauren took them to SeaWorld.

Frances and Rob have now gone up north to the Great Barrier Reef for a few days. If they think it's hot in Brisbane they're in for a shock up there!

Who's Got My Go Card?

Yesterday when I went to get on the bus to work I realised I'd forgotten my Go card, which is basically an electronic card you can use with the Brisbane transport system - I can top the balance up online and simply touch on and off buses and trains, and it automatically gets deducted (it's basically an RFID card like the Oyster system in London).

Anyway I had a look round for it this morning and couldn't find it, so I went online to check the last transaction. It seems some cheeky twat has been using it for the last 2 days. I can see that he/she got on a bus this morning on my route and got off in the city, obviously using my card to get to work and back.

I've rang up and cancelled it but of course, it's not as simple as cancelling the card and sending me a new one. I have to order a new one (which will cost $10), and then complete and post a form for them to transfer the balance of the account from the old card to the new one. All of which will probably take weeks knowing how council departments work.

I'm not sure whether I lost it or someone pick-pocketed me. I've realised it must have been Wednesday evening. I remember Wednesday evening because we had a monsoon. I got off the bus to walk the remaining distance home and got caught up in absolutely amazing freak weather conditions. Apparently during that brief storm, which lasted about an hour, we had over 3000 lightning strikes.

I've never seen anything like it. Only muggins here was stupid enough to be outside walking the streets in it. I remember having this gut feeling that I was going to be struck by lightning any second, as everyone else was inside or in their car (apparently your car is the safest place to be during lightning). Also, living in sunny climes I didn't have a jacket or umbrella with me so I was absolutely drenched by the time I got home. At least it was warm rain.

According to this Brisbane Times story it dumped down nearly 60mm of rain in that 1 hour and 32,000 homes lost power.

Bribie Island

Continuing our quest to discover Brisbane and the surrounding areas, on Sunday we spent the day at Bribie Island. Bribie Island is approx an hour's drive north of Brisbane and the only Island close to Brisbane that is connected by a bridge.

We started out at Bongaree which is on the South East of the Island. Being on the sheltered side of Bribie this is a lovely little village that is ideal for young kids, as there's virtually no surf. There's a small beach with a pier, which is surrounded by parklands with plenty of BBQ areas and children's play areas.





From Bongaree you can get a view of the bridge back to the mainland. Also, you'll have to take my word for it because I forgot to take a photo but to the left of this image there would be a view of the Glasshouse Mountains in the background..



After having lunch at Bongaree, we then drove 7km straight across to the west side of the Island to Woorim. Whereas Bongaree is ideal for the small kids, Woorim is great for the big kids (me), as there is plenty of surf to play in but nothing too scary..



Although Lauren is like a fish in the pool she's still wary of the ocean...





More of our photo's on Flickr

Father's Day at Icon

Yesterday it was Father's Day here in Australia, and so for a treat we went for Lunch with George, Julie and Reyce to Icon at Raby Bay.

We'll definitely be returning to Icon again. The food was fantastic, especially given it was a buffet. Usually at buffets you end up getting the cheap cuts of meat, but not so at Icon. It was only $30 per head for adults and $15 for kids and the quality of steaks, salmon, prawns, etc was superb. After sharing a bottle of wine and a few beers we made our way home to continue drinking in the garden. Back to business as usual for Sundays then!

Some pics...




More pics on Flickr

Manly Harbour Festival

Yesterday, Rach said she wanted to get some spring cleaning done so I took Lauren down to the Manly Harbour Festival. Here's a few pics:

A little something for the adults...


And a little something for the kids...





This is a view of the rear of Rachelle's work. You can see two cranes - one is dredging and the other is pulling out piles - making ready for the new extension to the marina...


We also had a drive round the corner to Wynumm so Lauren could have a swim in the Wading Pool. This is the first time we've been there since it has been refurbished. I didn't realise how huge it is...


Lauren was the only one brave enough to take a swim. It's still too cold for the Aussies (and me)...



I'm really jealous of Rach getting to work here (certainly beats my view of office blocks)...


I couldn't believe how quiet it was. It was a bit windy but was still a beautiful day - we definitely needed the sun tan cream.


More photo's on flickr

Brisbane RiverFestival Weekend

A few of our pictures from last weekend...

On Saturday we had planned to go on board HMB Endeavour - the replica of Captain Cook's ship which visiting Brisbane for a few days, but we got there a little late as Lauren attended a friend's birthday party in the afternoon. Plus, we couldn't be arsed to queue for an hour so instead we spent some time on Portside Wharf where HMB Endeavour was berthed.


On Saturday night Rach went out with the girls whilst myself and George babysat for the girls, and watched the RiverFire fireworks on telly. Seemed very different watching it on telly after being there last year.

We were both feeling a little rough on Sunday morning, but nevertheless we got up and went down to South Bank for the free breakfast BBQ that was being held on Goodwill Bridge.


Afterwards, we walked across into the CBD and checked out Brisbane Library. Very funky indeed. There's more computers and Plasma screens than books!


We then walked over Victoria Bridge back to South Bank and went to the Brisbane International Boat Show being held at the convention centre.



Afterwards, we went for a late lunch at a greek restaurant in South Bank.

More photo's on flickr

They've Arrived

A landing time of 6:50am meant it was an early start on Sunday to ensure we were there to meet my parents at Brisbane airport. It was great to see them emerge through the arrivals tunnel after not seeing them for 10 months. My mum burst into tears, bless her, and Lauren was very excited to see her Grandma and Grandad. The excitement increased when she discovered they were bearing presents!

My Dad was sporting what looked like a very sore (red) head. He'd got himself sunburnt in Singapore. He'll never learn.

Luckily, after a long period of mediocre weather, Sunday was glorious for their arrival. It was about 27 degrees and barely a cloud in the sky.

I was expecting that they'd want to get their heads down when they got back to our house after a night flight from Singapore, but they instead decided to stay up and see the day through. I've always gone straight to bed after a night flight - I can't function when I'm tired. They're obviously made of sterner stuff than I am. Maybe I was adopted?

Later Sunday morning we took them out to see a bit of Brisbane. We drove to Bulimba and got the CityCat down the Brisbane River to South Bank Parklands. We showed them around South Bank and had a really nice pub lunch.

We got back to our house about 3:30pm, which we decided was a good time to take a swim in the pool. This time of year (Autumn here) the pool spends much of the time in the shade and as it's much cooler in the evenings it doesn't stay particularly warm during the day. You could say the water is 'refreshing'. That would be one way of describing it. Anyway we all braved it with the exception of Rach who I don't think I'll get in their again until Summer. Nesh! It's actually alright once you get in, honest!

After a swim we all played Uno Attack and had a few glasses of wine before it was time for me to depart to Brisbane airport yet again for my flight to Sydney, which is where I am now.

I believe my parents are in Mooloolaba now on the Sunshine Coast (1.5 hours north of Brisbane). Yesterday they spent the day at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast (1 hour north of Brisbane). So they're definitely making the most of their holiday.

I'm flying back to Brisbane mid-afternoon tomorrow so I'm back into time for us all to go out tomorrow night. We're going to see Phantom of the Opera.

Life is Ticking Along

All is quiet in the Haines Brisbane residence at the moment. We haven't been doing much lately as we're saving our money for when my parents come over at the end of March for 4 weeks, in which time we're planning on a week up on the Great Barrier Reef.

Besides that, the weather here is still crap. The locals are describing it as one of the best summers in years - mild with loads of rain. This may seem strange to us poms but knowing how hot it can get here in the summer I can understand the appreciation of a reprieve. The combined dam levels are currently at a whopping 37%, and if they reach 40% there is talk of a lowering of the water restrictions. A couple of weeks ago we had 110mm of rain in less than an hour, resulting in large areas of flooding and even one death - a local teenager tried to surf the flash flood and got his ankle stuck in a drain and subsequently drowned. Apparently it's going to get really hot again in March and we're in for a mild Winter. It only usually gets as low as 18 degrees C here during the day in the Winter anyway so I'm not sure what they mean by mild!

If I'm not depressed enough by the rain then I can always count on my beloved Liverpool FC to depress me even more. What the hell is going on with that team? How can we get knocked out of the FA Cup by Barnsley? The Rafalution is well and truly over. Benitez, you have to go.

On the work front I'm back and forth to Sydney every week at the moment. I don't mind it so much though because I'm clocking up loads of air miles! In fact, I'm trying to get much savvier with my finances. I always fly with Virgin Blue for which I get velocity points (air miles). And to add to this I've now got a credit card for which I get velocity points on purchases. So I now use the credit card for all purchases and set the balance to be paid off in full each month. The NAB (National Australia Bank) credit card comes with two credit cards on the same account - 1 Visa and 1 American Express - and I get double the points if I use the American Express.

It's working out pretty well because using the BPAY system in Australia I can pay most of my household bills using the credit card as well. I've set the maximum balance of the credit card to be roughly the same as my monthly income to counter the risk of not being able to pay off the monthly balance. At the moment I've earned enough velocity points to buy half a tennis racket. So if all goes well I should be able to clock up enough air miles to make it back to the UK roughly some time in 2025!

Australia Day Weekend

On Saturday it was Australia Day which meant yesterday (Monday) was a public holiday. The net result was a fantastic 4-day weekend for me!

We decided to partake in Australia Day celebrations by visiting South Bank. Before that however, we took a train into the city and had a walk up Queen St Mall. Queen St Mall is an open air shopping arcade and pretty much the centre of Brisbane. Like many other cities, as a central pedestrian area there's always the odd sideshow (or freak show), busker and human statue to entertain the passing public. Surprisingly, Queen St Mall was the quietest I've ever seen it. Whenever I'm there during my lunch break at work it's always heaving with people. It's really strange to find a city centre shopping area that's busier during the week than at the weekends. Maybe most people had sense and decided to head to the beach for Australia Day?

After getting some lunch in the Myer Centre (after finally deciding what to have from the endless selection of food outlets in the food court) we walked over the Victoria Bridge to South Bank.

South Bank is always a hub of activity when there's public events to celebrate and Saturday was no exception. However, having seen most of the stuff before (it seems like Brisbane is celebrating something nearly every weekend) we headed to the newly refurbished lagoons to cool off.


More photo's on flickr.

The beach in the city should be a must for all cities I reckon. It would be nice to work that side of the river, with the option of taking a dip during lunch or straight after work. A large section of the lagoons is pretty deep (out of my depth anyway, which is not hard) so good for swimming. It was hard getting Lauren out when it was time to head back home.

We could have hung around for the obligatory fireworks but instead we headed home and went next door for a BBQ and a few glasses of vino.

On Sunday we thought we'd try out another beach. This time we headed down to Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast, which is south of Surfer's Paradise. As soon as we arrived though we realised that we should have checked the conditions before we left. There was heavy wind on the beach, which was weird because as soon as you walked off the beach the wind died to a light breeze. The ocean was pretty rough too.

Not wishing to miss an opportunity I braved the conditions and went in to jump a few waves. I didn't last long. The ocean was lovely and warm but the continuous rush of fast incoming waves made it dangerous to venture in too far. Similarly, there was a strong under-current (rip) that was pushing northwards. I reckon if I'd have picked my feet up for too long I would have been at Surfer's Paradise within a matter of minutes!

Conditions weren't much easier lying on the beach. The wind was picking up the fine white sand and blasting it against our skin. You have to be a committed beach God/Queen to put up with that level of discomfort. We soon left the beach and headed back home. The elements had beaten us so we retired to the comfort of the complex swimming pool.

On Monday we did have plans to go to an expats meetup at a British pub in the city. It was such a lovely hot day however that we couldn't bring ourselves to spend the afternoon in a pub. Instead, a good few trips were made between the sun longer, pool and beer fridge. Particularly as it was touching 34 degrees inside the house!



The weekend wasn't all play though, I did manage to get a few hours in on Monday working on my business (mainly trying to coerce developers in India to actually do the work I'm paying them for!).

A Washed-Out Weekend

Steph and Lucy's first weekend in Oz wasn't the best. We've had glorious weather for weeks now but since they've arrived it has been miserable.

We did take them to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast on Saturday and braved the beach for a short while, but the wind was that strong we were getting sand-blasted.

We've not had much luck with restaurants either. We went to Amici's, an Italian restaurant on the South Bank in Brisbane Friday night, but the service was atrocious and the food pretty bland. Then, with the weather being bad on Saturday we went for a long lunch while down on the Gold Coast. And it was a long lunch. Again, the service was crap, we waited ages and when our meals finally arrived they screwed up the order. Gordon Ramsey could do with taking a trip out here for his next series of Kitchen Nightmares! Seriously though we're being really unlucky at the moment because it's not normally this bad.

Extreme Weather

We're entering storm season now here in Brisbane. The weather has been pretty good during the day but most evenings we've had thunder and lightning. Last night we had a fantastic lightning storm. One really loud crack of thunder made us jump out of our seats. I ran upstairs to check Lauren was alright as I was sure it must have scared her to death, and unbelievably she was still asleep. How she had slept through that I'll never know.

It's getting really hot out here now, we were all wilting over the weekend. I've been trying to hold-off on using the air-con unless absolutely necessary, for a number of reasons:

1) It costs money;
2) It's bad for the environment;
3) It dries out your skin; and
4) It won't help us acclimatise.

We gave in Friday night though and switched it on for a bit. I don't mind the heat during the day but being hot and sticky at night is not very pleasurable. It's not so bad downstairs in our house but upstairs is a different matter - it's like a sauna even with all the windows open. We've got air-con and a overhead fan in our bedroom but there's nothing in Lauren's room or the spare bedroom. We've put a standing fan in Lauren's room but all that's doing at the moment is moving warm air. It looks like we'll have to buy air-con units for both rooms. My computer equipment is in the spare bedroom as it doubles up as my office so it's getting dangerous to turn them on without air-con.

We at least have one reprieve - it's so nice to be able to go and jump in a swimming pool whenever we want to to cool down!

Il Centro

Every now and again we like to treat ourselves and try out a really nice restaurant. With Rach starting a new job on Monday and with me securing a new job, and with Cath volunteering to babysit for Lauren, we decided to try out one of Brisbane's award winning restaurants last night.

We chose Il Centro in the CBD.

This is what I had:

POLPI E SEPPI SALTATI IN BURRO D’ OLIO E PREZZEMOLO CON CROSTINO
SAUTEED OCTOPUS AND SQUID IN GARLIC AND PARSLEY BUTTER WITH SLOW BRAISED VINE RIPENED TOMATO, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL AND CRUSHED OLIVE CROSTINO

SCALOPPINE DI VITELLO CON FETTUCCINE CARBONARA
PARMESAN CRUMBED VEAL SCALOPPINE WITH FETTUCCINE CARBONARA AND WILTED SPINACH

FRITTE TIEPIDO CON GELATO E SALSA DI CIOCCOLATO CALDO
WARM PROFITEROLES WITH CARAMEL GELATO AND HOT CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Rach had:

CAPE SANTE IN PADELLA CON RISOTTO GLI ASPARAGI E PROSCIUTTO
SAUTEED SCALLOPS WITH LIME CARNAROLI RISOTTO,ASPARAGUS AND PROSCIUTTO AND TARRAGON JUS

ANATRA CROCCANTE ARROSTO, PATATE CON SPINACI E RUCOLA
SLOW ROASTED CRISP DUCK BREAST WITH AMARENA CHERRIES AND BLACK PEPPER SALSA,DUCK FAT BINTJE POTATO, CREAMED SPINACH AND ROCKET

TORTINO AL CIOCCOLATO TIEPIDO CON GELATO E SALSA DI CARAMELLO
WARM CHOCOLATE TART WITH PASSIONFRUIT AND WHITE CHOCOLATE GELATO AND CARAMEL SAUCE

All in all, whilst the setting and service was excellent, the food was a bit of a let-down. Whilst no part was particularly bad, the food overall was a little bit bland - it didn't live up to the promise of the menu. Looking again at the website I can see that whilst Il Centro has won awards, it has been a number of years since the last one.

The total cost including drinks came to $215 (£90) which was about what I expected for a prestigious riverside restaurant, although in the end it proved to be slightly overpriced for the quality of the cooking.

We had a good night nonetheless. Especially afterwards when we watched England beat the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup. I think I'm going to enjoy giving the aussies some stick next week at work!

Go Ahead, Make My Day. Punk!

I've just been Clay Pigeon Shooting for the first time ever. There's a shooting complex only 5 minutes drive from where we live so I went along with George, my neighbour. He held a gun licence in New Zealand and grew up as a hunter so he'd done it all before but for me, the last time I'd held a gun other than at a fairground was the annual shooting test in the Navy, where I got to fire the SA-80 Combat Rifle.

To say it was my first time shooting moving targets I did alright, I hit roughly 70% of the targets.

It cost £30 (£13) and that included gun hire, cartridges, instruction and 25 targets. Good value for money I reckon. We'll probably make a regular thing of it.

Another beautiful weekend

Another great weekend. On Saturday we went to the beach again. We've been trying different beaches each time for a little variety. The beaches here go on for miles and miles and there's never any problem finding a quiet one. The only problem being though that the quiet beaches often aren't patrolled by Surf LifeSavers so they don't advise you to go swimming. This weekend we fancied a swim so we went to one of the patrolled beaches. We chose Couloundra, the first resort from us on the Sunshine Coast about 1hr and 20 minutes drive. King's Beach at Couloundra turned out to be really family-friendly. For a change, the waves were only small so it was easily swimmable. Even Rach went in!

On Sunday we went for a community BBQ at the park near where we live. Everywhere you go in Australia you'll find public BBQ's provided by the council free of charge - every park, by the river and by the beach. Most are electric but you still find some wood-burning BBQ's knocking about. It was a wood-burning BBQ that we used on Sunday. Luckily there were already some pre-cut logs waiting for us as none of us had thought to bring an axe.

Besides us, there was a family from Scotland, a family from India and a family from France. We all chipped in and shared each other's food and booze, and me and Craig (Scotland) tended to the barbie.

It's so nice to be able to make plans for the weekend without having to worry about the weather forecast. It's 30 degrees every day here at the moment. It's got to the point where we've started to put the fan on at night. We've managed to resist the temptation to put the A/C on yet though - not good for our electric bill or the environment!

Brisbane Riverfire

Last night we went to the Brisbane Riverfire - the opening night of the 10-day Brisbane Riverfestival. The Riverfire is a spectacular fireworks display along the river from Story Bridge to Victoria Bridge, and includes a 'dump and burn' by RAAF F-111 fighter jets.

Because we new that it would be packed all along the riverfront with people trying to get the best vantage point, I booked us on a dinner cruise on a Kookaburra River Queen paddlewheeler.

Thousands of people lined the river banks waiting for the fireworks display to begin...


We boarded one of the two River Queens and sipped the complimentary champagne (coke for Lauren)....


When it started, the fireworks display was really spectacular...


In the next photo you can see the afterburner of the F-111 to the right of the fireworks...


The only let down of the night was the cruise, as for some reason we never left the side. The other boat did but ours didn't, and I'm still not sure why. The ticket office is close to my work so I'll be having words with them when I go in tomorrow!

See more of our Riverfire photo's on flickr

We're getting visitors!

Our first set of visitors from the UK have been confirmed. Rachelle's sister is coming over with her daughter in November, and my Mum and Dad have booked their flights for next March.

We're really looking forward to having the chance to show people around so they can see exactly why we've moved here.

This is the first place I've ever lived where I can actually say I feel proud to live here. It's such a difference to the depressing drabness of Doncaster and Worksop.

Brisbane is a city of 1.8 million people, yet because it is spread over such a large area it doesn't feel congested. As a relatively new city, you can also tell that some kind of planning has gone into the layout. One advantage of this is that there are lots of parks and green areas. It seems like nearly every street or neighbourhood is separated by a park. And every house, street and neighbourhood looks different. It has variety and colour. You don't drive down a street in Brisbane where every house is the same build and look as in the UK.

I think our love for Brisbane has helped dampen down any homesickness we might otherwise have had, or should I say what Rach might have had. I've moved around regularly since I was 16 so I new I'd be ok. Whereas in Rachelle's case, up until now she's never lived outside of a 20-mile radius of Doncaster, so I was worried that she might find it difficult.

As it happens she's been fine. Both Rach and Lauren have settled in really well.

And as for me, it's now nearly 3 months since we arrived here, and although there are people and things in the UK that I miss, I can honestly say I haven't once had any inkling of regret.

There's no going back!

Ekka 2007

On Saturday we had our first experience of 'The Ekka'.

The Ekka is an annual 10-day event formally known as the Royal Queensland Show. It was originally called the Brisbane Exhibition but what with the aussie habit of shortening any words over 5 letters it's now known as the Ekka.

We presumed that the Ekka would be held in in the middle of a park or field, so we were surprised to discover that it is actually held in the city. A large part of the city is effectively cornered off. We were amazed by the scale of the event. There was even a cable car set up to take you from one section of the Ekka to another.

The Ekka is organised by the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland, so the general theme is 'the country comes to the city'.


All in all it was pretty good but we ended up coming away about 2pm (we got there about 9:30am) as it was so hot. It was about 28 degrees but it felt like the hottest day since we arrived. The attractions included an animal boulevard, side shows, agricultural displays, fairgrounds, and a showbag pavilion. My particular favourite was the Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion as there were loads of stalls offering free tasters of wine and gourmet food. I could have easily spent the entire day in there! It also had cooking demonstrations.


We went there mainly for Lauren though. She seemed to enjoy it. She got to milk a cow (sign in on flickr to see pics), went on some rides, stroked a llama, and came home with some goodies.

The Ekka is also famous for its show bags. These are bags of items from a particular brand, such as Barbie, Shrek, etc heavily discounted from what you'd normally pay for them. We bought Lauren a Barbie showbag and Fairy Princess showbag - one of which contained a wedding dress which she wouldn't take off for the rest of the day!


See more of our Ekka photo's on Flickr

Official Ekka website

View from the boardroom

I had a meeting on the 32nd floor at work today. It's a bit distracting when you have a view like this...
Taken with my Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot Camera phone

Brisbane CBD comes to a stand-still for Brett Irwin funeral

I should read the local papers more often, as when I went out for lunch today I had no clue why roadblocks had been set up and why police were milling everywhere. I soon discovered the reason why when I came round the corner to St Stephen's Cathedral. It was the funeral for Brett Irwin - the police officer who was shot dead last Wednesday issuing an arrest warrant to a man in Brisbane's north west.

As you can see from the photo's I took, the mourners and onlookers were numbered in their thousands....
According to the local paper there were 3000 police officers in attendance...

This would have been a good time to rob a bank..


Photo's were taken with my camera phone, hence the dodgy quality. I didn't take any pics of the honour guard as they came out of the cathedral as I thought it would have been a bit crass to have taken photo's while everyone was paying their respects (especially when there's 3000 coppers in the immediate vicinity!).