Rainy Sunday in Queensland

I am almost 64% of the way through the longest stretch of not seeing my wife and kids since Angel and I were married in 2000.  On November 7th, I boarded a plane at LAX after kissing my wife and kids goodbye.  They were headed home and I was headed, quite literally, to the other side of the world.  These are my stories.

First stop: Auckland

First, I must say that New Zealand is frigging awesome.  Even their airline is great.  My trans-Pacific journey first took me into Auckland, New Zealand where I was able to spend most of the day exploring the city before my early evening flight to Brisbane.  To set the tone of NZ, let’s just say that the extreme nature of this country is something that can’t be found anywhere else.  Example: The tallest structure in Auckland is the Sky Tower which is over 1000 feet tall.  In true kiwi style, you can jump off of it.  If that wasn’t enough, there is a casino at the bottom – sweet!  I am looking forward to my return trip to NZ after Christmas which will be my 3rd visit to the extreme island nation.

DESTINATION: BRISBANE

The reason for my excursion down under is work.  I am helping one of our clients configure our software to be used for coal seam gas exploration and production.  My office is the white building on the right side of this picture showing downtown Brisbane.

Brisbane is a great city with lots to see and do despite most locals seeming to think of it as the boring sibling of Syndey.  With the Brisbane river meandering through the city, there are several interesting bridges including the notable Story Bridge. The people here are all very friendly, with a laid back attitude that welcomes foreigners with genuine warmth.

Some of the things I have learned during my first 3 weeks here:

Aussies like to shorten everything with fluffy pluralizations - for example, sunglasses are sunnies, slot machines are pokies, and a stubby is a small bottle of beer Z is not “zee”, it is “zed”, and they pretty much never use it Asian food is everywhere, and so is Subway Rugby is separated into flavors of Union and League.  Union is the upscale sport with more financial backing, etc. and League is the slightly rougher working man’s version of the sport The grocery store will invariably be closed when you need it to be open koalas really do look like they are wasted all day long the most confusing part about driving on the left side of the road is that all of the stuff in the car is reversed including the turn signals and radio volume When it comes to cricket, the answer to the question of “Who’s winning?” is entirely more complicated than an American can comprehend Tipping is neither compulsory or expected in Brisbane – which is helpful since everything is more expensive than in Houston When it comes to food or drink, “hot” is Australian for tongue scalding – let is set for a minute, mate!

Brisbane is a great city for walking around, and has some really cool restaurants and bars as well.  As with any city, there are distinct neighborhoods that have their own culture and style.  So far, my favorite has been Fortitude Valley as it has the highest concentration of mountaineering outfitter stores, swanky clubs and bars, and restaurants that have something other than Chinese food.