House guest

Alison and I had fun on the weekend as we had a chance to play host to Rudi for two days. It was a sadly short visit with less than ideal weather but we did our level best to showcase the nicer sides of Brisbane, knowing that little could live up to his death defying and suicidal experiences in kiwiland.



The rain persisted through most of Friday despite our shallow promises to the weather gods but thankfully our planned activities weren't ruined. As is traditional on our practised Brisbane tour, Mt Coot-tha made an early appearance on the itinerary accompanied by a politely received lecture on the geography and history of our little city. This was followed by an afternoon on the City Cat and walking through the city proper where our resident tourist picked up a strikingly Australian Akubra. Well... to be precise I believe it was a knock off but I'm sure no one back in Malaysia would be able to tell the difference.

For dinner we'd booked a table at Tukka where we sampled local flora and fauna in a gastronomical treat. I'd only been there once before with mum and Cel so I'm glad to say that the second visit didn't disappoint. Our selection for the evening was somewhat less adventurous than my last visit and while possum wasn't on the table this time I think we were quite happy with our selection of Emu and Wallaby dishes.



Saturday morning saw us returning to more honest fair with a heart clogging Bacon and Egg roll from the local bakery. Freshly nourished we raced away to the Gold Coast in hope of beating the predicted heavy showers. By the time we got to the beach I'd describe the landscape as definitively drenched although that would not deter Rudi from having a play in the water. Alison and I were happy enough to sit back and enjoy the show and though the final outcome certainly looked painful, I'd like to think that Rudi had a good time in the waves. I've been meaning to have a little play with Comic Life and dedicate the following short strip to our brave albeit accident prone friend.



After tending to his wounds, we drove up the coast to Southport to get some fish and chips. The fish mongers were over populated with a placid flock of pelicans that were patiently awaiting feeding time. Alison held up remarkably well and pushed her ornithophobia aside to focus on the meal at hand.



Some of the birds opened wide to take advantage of the rare Brisbane rain and have a quick drink. Rudi thought he'd see what all the fuss was about. It wasn't long then before we had to take Rudi back to the airport for his flight. We said our good byes and were left with the promise of more frequent visits in the future.

Sunday was fairly uneventful although I had a short surge of excitement when I discovered that the local Harvey Normal at Indooroopilly had a Rock Band demo set up for use. I got to try the drums and wowed surrounding eight year olds with my purposeful percussion, well constructed and definitely great fun. The guitar on the other hand was far too spongey for my taste compared to Guitar Hero 3 though I'd assume that one would grow accustomed to that over time. None of the staff seemed to know exactly when the game would be released in Australia though reports indicate sometime in September for the shiny sum of 300 AUD. Time to start saving me thinks.