We made our way up the Brisbane river late on Wednesday 13^th March ready for the arrival of the family the next day.  The following evening we excitedly waited outside Kate’s hotel for her arrival.  Bill’s sister was flying into Australia from NZ with her husband Barry and the teenagers, Will and Daisy.  We hadn’t seen them for over a year and were really excited. It was late by the time they arrived dragging huge bags with them for their 10 day stay.  We just had a drink with them then left them to settle in.

Will, Barry, Kate and Daisy in the gardens of the Southbank

The next morning I went for my little run-walk ending up at the hotel where we all enjoyed the hotel swimming pool, which fortunately we had to ourselves.  We all walked into the city for lunch and around the gardens on the Southbank.  They enjoyed their second night in the hotel in Brisbane then checked out and joined us on Camomile for a cup of tea before exploring more of Brisbane.  After spending their second day in the city they were picked up by cousin John and taken out to Boonah, a couple of hours outside Brisbane, for three days.

Catching the train

On the Sunday we got up early and caught the train to Ipswich where John picked us up to spend the day altogether.  John would have been Bill’s father’s cousin so he’s Bill’s cousin once removed … we think!!

John and Helen’s home

They have a lovely home high up in hills behind the city surrounded by about 20 acres of land, complete with their own lake.

Daisy and Kate in the canoes

Helen’s lovely garden

Kate and Daisy decided to have a paddle around in the canoes.  Helen has a beautiful garden which she spends long hours in.

All ready for our guided tour

Beautiful countryside

Koala sitting high up in the trees trying his best to ignore us

After lunch John took us for a walk around his land where we were fortunate enough to see a koala sitting high up in the trees trying hard to ignore us.  Our first wild koala in his own natural surroundings, we were really lucky.

Kangaroos

On the way back to the station John drove through an area where he knew there would be lots of kangaroos, so I enjoyed watching them too.

Bill and Barry with champagne to celebrate

On the Tuesday the tribe decamped to their apartment on the Gold Coast where they were to spend the second half of their holiday.  We packed a bag and joined them for two days.  Also to arrive was Susan, John’s sister, who had brought along a selection of photos of the family, young and old, from her collection.  We were able to show some of our collection too and we spent an evening puzzling out family connections.

The family gathering

So for the benefit of the family at home we have from left to right cousin John (also Nan’s nephew), Bill, John’s wife Helen, Kate, Barry, John’s sister Susan and Sue.  Barry cooked us a wonderful meal.

Wednesday 20^th Bill and I were dragged kicking and screaming to Wet’n’Wild!!  Only joking we all choose the water park out of the 5 available.  Cousin Susan decided to join us, brave lady.  Fortunately it wasn’t very busy because the school holidays haven’t started yet but that also meant that some of the rides were closed.  I enjoyed the ones that you sit on something to slide to the bottom but tried one of the flume rides that you slide down on your own back and managed to wrench my shoulder so decided against any more of those.  Bill very bravely joined the kids on some of the ‘sudden drop’ rides – very brave.

John and Helen

We all left on Thursday to allow Kate and Barry to enjoy the rest of their holiday with Will and Daisy.  John had come down from Boonah on his BMW bike while Helen had driven down with the others in the car.  So she was able to give us a lift back to the station to catch our train back to the city and Camomile.  Thank you John and Helen and Susan for having us, we had a wonderful time meeting you.

Will and Daisy are both taller than me now

We took these pictures before we left, not sure when we’ll see them all next.   Bye guys, good to see you. x

The Redgrove’s and the Tomkinson’s