Our second week in Brisbane has proceeded at a pace possibly even more languid than the previous week . We had scoured the huge pile of local publications and handouts that Rosa had saved to show us what was going on in the city during our stay and set out a list of suitable places to go, gigs to attend etc. However a combination of bad management and just plain lack of commitment has meant that we have missed almost all of them! Instead we have been content to spend time hanging out with Rosa, Steve and the lovely Trixie, being a part of the day-to-day stuff of life. Our main activity was a trip to Ikea to buy a high chair for Beatrix, in anticipation of her graduation onto solids scheduled for her 6 month birthday. We also got a set of the necessary plates, spoons bibs etc. A ’dry run’ in the house showed that Beatrix was quite happy to sit in the chair but she managed to strike fear into Steve’s heart when he saw how well she could upturn the bowl, drop the mug and throw the spoons. He is now shopping for a large oilskin mat to cover the whole floor!

As we mentioned in our last blog entry, we have taken a couple of walks around the area . Their lovely characterful home is located in Deagon, the next suburb to Sandgate where Rosa used to live when we visited last year. It took a few days before we actually realised just how close - when we suddenly recognised that we were literally just around the corner! The sign to distinguish one suburb from the other is just a couple of blocks from their current house. Deagon is just a little further from the shore but is still only a short walk away. This part of the shoreline is not really beach but the shore walkway/cycle track has been developed over time for some length and is interspersed with attractive parks for the kids and barbecue sites. There are also numbers of ‘arty’ installations that reflect the early settlement of the area. This seems to be a common theme all along the shoreline throughout the area, with many towns and bays being keen to install something to commemorate the first identification or settlement by Europeans. These often note the ships and the names of people involved such as the captains and give quotations from the ships’ logs. One such artwork in Redcliffe is particularly intriguing in that it names the convicts from the first boat to settle the area and their trades. It was interesting to note how these were a really useful range of skills that must have needed to be put to good use in raising the first buildings and starting to scratch out a living from the land. The original aboriginal peoples are acknowledged but not named.