This year there certainly was a different feel to Christmas, if you have been a reader of my other blogs (thank you) you would be aware we are normally packing the caravan and getting ready to hit the road late Christmas day arvo. This year our plans had slightly changed but one thing would stay the same – New Year’s Eve in another Australian Capital City – this year we are off to Brisbane!

Fast forward to Saturday the 31^{st of} December where we were soon embarking on to our Virgin flight (after a 1hr delay) for the easy trip up to the sunny state “brisvegas”. After all the hustle and bustle of flying we soon loaded the MUX and set off into the chaos of highways and traffic nightmares of driving in a new city. To our surprise the drive was relatively easy and after approx 30-minute drive we were well onto our way in locating our AirBnB basecamp, which is located in the heart of Brisbane and a close walk or scooter from the central district.

31^st of December, It had already been a busy day with navigating our way around the city and we were soon heading off to our dinner reservations at the Morrison Hotel, which claimed to be the best steakhouse in Brisbane. So how was it?, well we didn’t have much to compare it too but can say we all really enjoyed our meals and after a couple of beverages we wandered off into the night heading towards the Brisbane River. It was a steamy night but not hugely uncomfortable, we walked around looking at how the city lite up before we headed back to the pedestrian bridge aka The Goodwill Bridge, to setup camp for the evening light show (fireworks).

HAPPY NEW YEAR from my family to you all, wishing you a positive 2023.

1^st of January, We only have a short couple of days in QLD and the gang wanted to head back to Movie World, to be honest, I am not really sure as to why this was the chosen theme park but it certainly has a little of everything and brings out the inner child in all, what is it with peeps dressed up as characters that we still get energised about . It wasn’t long before we were standing around in our first line to ride the Green Lantern Coaster, we had a couple of not so keen peeps in our group but hats off (literally) we all jumped onboard. The excitement had kicked in, we flew over to take part in the superman coaster, it soars at 100km/h pulling 4.2G and you certainly feel the acceleration decompressing your internal organs as it shoots out of the darkness. DC Rival is the longest, fastest, and tallest HyperCoaster in the Southern Hemisphere, this reduced the team down to 3 riders, travelling at 115km/h with 4.3g it certainly is a thrill and the longest ride time. We enjoyed the remaining of the day wandering the park, watching stunt shows, Scooby Doo in 4D and riding the Scooby Doo Coaster before the finale character parade, as previously experienced this theme park never disappoints.

A fantastic day was topped off by heading into the Surfer’s Paradise strip for a walk, shop and some dinner, it was a very quiet drive home back to Brisbane.

2^nd of January, The car was loaded as we headed off to our holiday surprise, I was continually throwing clues to the team and at one stage Belinda did mention what she thought we were doing but without conviction. We arrived at a storage shed location but the sign out the front said it all “Kangaroo Segway Tours”, what a scenic way to see, learn and experience the Brisbane city. We had never ridden a Segway prior to this experience, and it was awesome, the smiles on everyone’s face were amazing, our guide “T” was brilliant and made us all feel very safe and welcoming. Highly recommend this experience as you get to see the sights of Brisbane, including heartbreak hill, the museum, Brisbane river front, City Botanic Gardens, Story Bridge and past the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, such a beautiful city and so much to explore.

It had been a very big couple of days, so we headed back for an afternoon retreat, however Belinda and I set off for a walk back along the Brisbane River to take in the sights a little more, retracing some of the areas we rode past earlier in the morning on the Segways, noting the man made swimming lagoon.

Our day finished with us heading up to Mount Coot-Tha summit lookout over Brisbane, along with every other tourist – let’s just say it was certainly busier than we had anticipated, but it is all about timing.

3^rd of January, This morning we had the chance to meet up with our beautiful Aunty Marilyn and Uncle John, they moved up to Brisbane approx. 18moths ago and it was a very special couple of hours to catch up with them both over brunch.

It would not be a holiday without heading off to the DFO or shopping outlets and this would be the last chance to get anything required before packing our bags again for the next part of our adventure – our cruise in the South Pacific.

4^th of January, Early rise and shine as I cooked breakfast for everyone to try and use the stuff we had purchased, full bellies, bag weights checked and soon enough we were off on the way back to the airport, where we checked In and waited for our flight to Sydney – let’s hope for no delays this time.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a comment.