Is this Brisbane or Bridlington??

It started raining again on Friday just after lunch. By Saturday morning it was a downpour and peaked at a torrent by tea time. It then eased into a gentle and unending drizzle until Monday afternoon when it started cruelly mocking us by displaying glimpses of beautiful blue sky only to hurriedly pee down as soon as we stepped outside.

We weren’t told about this. Has anyone ever read about it raining constantly in Brisbane? I’ve never seen even a mention of it in the guide books and certainly no where near close to the truth which should read: Australia – usually hot, occasional but prolonged bursts of miserable weather. Similar to Lancashire…

I think that we may have stumbled upon an international conspiracy.... Weather maps are tampered with, guide books rewritten and people are obviously brainwashed when they leave and only remember the three sunny days out of the month they travelled here. I can see the headlines now when we uncover this plot….Australia: actually a bit damp.

Despite the obvious meteorological similarities to the Rossendale Valley, we have been enjoying ourselves out and about in Brisbane. On Wednesday I was asked for ID for the first time in more than a few years. The bouncer wouldn’t let us in, even when I pointed out my wrinkles and Matthew’s grey patch. We had to go all the way home ( in the rain) to pick up our passports and here is a picture of us on the way home….



I was trying to look annoyed and seem to have succeeded instead in creating a perfect ‘cat’s arse’ (the look coined by posh spice after David was caught have an offside ‘root’).

The faff about was worth it though and Groove Armada were superb, the venue was really small so we were close to the stage and there was a really good atmosphere, I was also very pleased to discover that venues over here are air conditioned. We had a good boogie and the brownster hip wiggle had its first airing in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take the camera into the club so no pictures of Groove Armada in action I’m afraid.

We spent the weekend in a variety of different restaurants, cafes and bars watching the rain. We drove first to ‘Margate’ where we sat in the car and watched it rain on the sea and then to ‘Scarborough’, where we tried Moreton Bay bugs for the first time, whilst watching it rain. Then we drove up to Mount Coo-Tha, where you can see the whole of Brisbane, it was a great view – you can see a whole lot of rain from up there.

Here's the rain in Margate, if only we;d had a tartan blanket, a thermos and some nice cucumber sandwiches...



We also found a great bar on the South Bank which provides cold beer and comfy ( waterproof!) sofas out on the street which are perfect for watching the world go by on, and the rain….

It’s currently not raining out there and I even caught a few rays of sunshine this morning, but there are ominous clouds over the city and, oh….there’s a distant rumble of thunder… I’ll let you know if it ever stops, at least living on the 7th floor the risk of flooding is low…