Noah and the Arc

After Sydney it was off to Brisbane for the week. I hadn't been to Brisbane since the UNCRFC tour in 2001. Even then we were only in town en route to Fraser Island.

This time I flew into town on Monday was staying until Sunday when I would be off to Perth. I made it to the city center early Monday, dropped my things at the hotel and went down to the office. Brisbane had been hit hard recently by several "weather events" that included a cyclone and severe flooding of a large part of the state, including Brisbane.

As I went down to the office you could still see buildings along the river, incuding our office building, that were recovering form flood damage. The guys in the office told stories of watching boats being swept away, not because they broke their moorings, but because their moorings tore loose and went hurtling down river, dragging the boats after them.

In the evenings I didn't do too much. I used the time to work out a fair bit and caught up with two friends. Katie I met in Colombia and she and her boyfriend and a friend showed me around a bit. Also this week, an earthquake devastated New Zealand. I have several kiwi friends, including Katie and Ben (my other friend in Brisbane). Thankfully all of my friends, that I have been able to check with, are ok and so are their families.

I went out with Katie and friends again and met more of their friends (who were fleeing NZ). On the weekend I caught up with Ben, who I met when I lived in Sydney and saw him in London when he toured through Europe about 18 months ago. It was his birthday the foloowing week so he was having a party on the weekend. It wass really cool and good to catch up with him again. I did get out an walk along the botanical gardens on the river front and see town, but I didn't really do any touristy things.

Then Sunday it was off to Perth...