We had our showers, gathered the last of our things (🤞) and dropped our bags into Steve and Margaret's vehicle. They were so very kind enough to offer to get up early and take us to the airport. The ride there was actually quicker than we had figured using Google maps. It might have been because of the relatively new tunnels that had opened up that take you a good portion of the way there. We arrived with more than an hour before boarding, said our goodbyes (we'll see them again in Cairns mid-week) and headed into the airport.
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A side note of thanks
One of the greatest joys of traveling is not just the places we visit but the people we meet along the way. Back in 2016, during a European tour, we had the pleasure of meeting Steve and Margaret. For about four weeks, we explored cities, shared meals, and experienced the wonders of Europe together as part of a group. Though we were essentially strangers at the time, they showed us warmth, kindness, and friendship that extended far beyond that trip.
Over the years, they often encouraged us to visit them in Sydney, and about a year ago, we finally decided to make it happen. Margaret, in particular, was a huge help in getting everything set up for our time in Australia. Their invitation wasn’t just a casual offer—it was genuine hospitality at its finest, and they went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed for a fantastic stay.
Travel has a way of revealing the kindness in the world, and this experience with Steve and Margaret is proof of that. It's not just about the places you go but the people who make those places feel like home. Thank you, Steve and Margaret, for your hospitality, generosity, and for reminding us that friendships made on the road can last a lifetime.
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We made our way to the kiosk to check in, installed our luggage tags and the dropped our bags on the conveyor belt into the abyss. If you have ever lost luggage, watching your bag disappear behind that rubber drape is enough to give you nightmares. Fortunately, I'm writing this at the end of the day, so I know our clothes arrive with us today.
Our next stop was security screening before heading to the gate. It is interesting how different things are here. For instance, Nothing has to come out of your bags. Not your laptop. Not your CPAP machine. Not your liquids. And not only that, when I placed my backpack in the tray, I realized that I had water in the new water bottle that I had picked up a few days ago. I said it out loud so the security person could hear, and maybe point me to a place where I could go and empty the contents. Instead, he just looked at me and said, "It's alright mate, no worries", and just let me put it through the x-ray machine like that.
Laureen's bag got flagged and put in the search queue. We have come to expect this with the one crochet hook that she travels with. It looks like a long sharp thing on their machine; but once she shows it to them, they let her through with it. However, this is not what triggered the search. Instead they looked at this little set of cross-stitch scissors that made it through Canadian and American (and other countries on previous holidays) security screenings to come to Australia. I mean, seriously. If you are going to take away those tiny little scissors, you are going to need to take away my belt because the prong on mine could hurt someone. So, she had to surrender her tiny scissors, but I got to come in with my unknown liquid (just water) in my water bottle. It makes no sense.
Once we made it through security, we stopped at a Hungry Jack's and I had a breakfast sandwich, hash browns and OJ before we made our way to Gate 7, where our flight would depart from. Quick trips to the loo and then we boarded. Our next realization was that no where along todays airport journey were we ever required to produce photo identification to match to our boarding pass names. Not when checking in our bags, not through security and not at the gate when boarding the aircraft. As we boarded the plane, we mentioned this to one of the airline stewards. She said they only check identification on international flights not on in-country/domestic flights.
We moved down the narrow aisle of the airplane to find our seats. Turns out that even though we had asked for seats with some leg room, we sat one row behind the last emergency exit, just so we could longingly look at the leg room the people in front of us had. Well, I was coveting it. My knees were touching the seat in front of me. Thankfully, this is only an hour and a half flight.
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| Crammed in our Seats From Sidney to Brisbane |
For the most part, the flight was uneventful with just a few little bits of turbulence along the way. I tried to sleep, but didn't really get much of it. We departed the plane and found the baggage claim area, noting that our stuff was to appear on carousel #2. A quick check of the Samsung and Air Tag apps showed that the abyss followed us to Brisbane as we watched them emerge from behind that rubber curtain. We quickly lifted them to their wheels and then made our way to the parking structure, where the car rental places were located.
In Australia, they drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in North America. I have driven in this manner a number of times now, twice in England and once in the Bahamas, so it was not going to be anything new. And, given that I rode shotgun as Steve drove us around to the various places we visited while staying with them, I was able to prepare myself for the more challenging aspects of driving here: Right Hand Turns (like our left hand turns, but from the opposite side of the road) and Traffic Circles (which you travel clockwise on the opposite side of the road to what we are used to). They handed us the keys to our silver Mitsubishi, Outlander, and bid us a safe travels. We dropped our luggage in the boot (trunk), walked around the vehicle to make sure that there were no dents or window cracks, and then buckled up for our first drive in Australia.
It was about 12:30 PM local time. Queensland is in a different timezone than New South Wales, so we lost another hour. Given that we gained about 10 on the way here, one would think it was a non-issue; but add the weariness from a couple of days of restless sleep, the travel and now that one lost hour and we were starting to feel tired. We decided to make our way to the hotel so we could get our bearings, and see if they had our room ready, we would drop our bags and find a place for lunch. Into drive she went, and off we went with me keeping it on the left side of the road. "Stay left", will be my mantra for the next few hours and every time I get behind the wheel here. Let's hope I remember to get in on the other side of the car. (I also quickly came to understand that the signal light handle is on the opposite side of the steering wheel than our North American vehicles. The windscreen (windshield) received a quick whip by the wipers on most corner turns. Laureen occasionally chuckled.)
With the coordinates plugged into the GPS, we began to make our way to our accommodations for the next 3 days. As I had suspected, my prep for being the driver by riding in the front with Steve paid off. I felt pretty comfortable behind the wheel. One thing of note, when you sit on the other side of the vehicle than what you are used to, you can no longer rely on that natural understanding of how much of your car is on your right and how much of your car is on your left. You now have to adjust for about 2 feet to the right because you are sitting on the other side of the vehicle. This is what I had to concentrate on for the next few hours. Luckily, the vehicle had a lane departure warning. So, each time I naturally wandered a little too far to the left, I would feel it vibrate. Ok, I got this.
The next bit of fun arrived when we got near our hotel in the downtown area of Brisbane. Just like back home, Australia has that dreaded fifth season - Road Construction. As we arrived at the road that we need to turn on to, to get to our hotel, we found that it was closed. Ok - so we went a little further and tried to come at it from around the block. No dice. Something isn't right here??!! So, we made the loop again, looking for another way to get into the area. Once again, we couldn't find a way in as all the roads were either blocked, or were oneway's that we couldn't navigate. I pulled over, and Laureen got out to try and walk over to the location where we thought the hotel was located. Even this proved to be a challenge.
As she was coming back to the vehicle, I saw her stop and start talking to someone. The person was behind the corner of the building, so I didn't see who they were at first, but then, not one, but two police officers came out from around the corner and were motioning the direction to go. She walked back to the vehicle to let me know that we had to stop at the one end of the closed road, and the worker who was standing there would let us through once we told them that we were guests of the hotel behind the pylons and barricades. Sigh. We would have never found the place had it not been for those police officers. Thank you!
After making our way through the construction, pedestrian walkways, and a seedy back alley, we were at the Hyatt. Our room was ready, so we made our way upstairs and dropped off our bags.
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| Clean Room View |
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| Ensuite Attached |
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| A View of the Brisbane River from our Window |
We unpacked a few things, and then went for a little walk to find a place for lunch. We decided to go to Macca's (McDonald’s) today, just because it was close and familiar. After that, we took a short walk to find the spot where we needed to be for tomorrow's river boat tour. There is a little more to it than just a trip down the river, but I'll save that for tomorrow.
Back to the hotel, we picked up our rental vehicle and headed for the Sunshine Coast. But first, we need to replace the hijacker's scissors that were surrendered at the Sydney airport. So we made our way to a K-Mart where Laureen found a set of nail clippers that would replace the confiscated item. Since nail clippers are not pointy, we might be able to bring them on the next flight. We also stopped at a grocery store to get a few things for breaky tomorrow. Since we had an early start, we will just eat something in the room and then be on our way. Allows for a bit more sleep (if the phone doesn't ring).
From there we made out way to Low's Lookout to get a glimpse of the Sunshine Coast. The lookout was surrounded by homes that get to see this view every day. It was stunning.
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| The Sunshine Coast |
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| Obligatory Selfie |
From there we made our way to a spot where we could access the beach itself. I'm not sure what it is about the beach, but it immediately has this calming effect. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore, the smell of the saltwater and the light breeze blowing through your hair. There is just nothing like it.
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| View to the North |
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| View to the South |
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| Obligatory Beach Selfie |
I gathered a little bit of sand for the collection and then we just stood there for a little while and took in the stunning view. I could spend some time here for sure.
We hopped back in the car and headed back towards Brisbane. The trek to the Sunshine Coast was about an hour an a half drive from the hotel, so we decided to pick a place to stop for dinner along the way back. We had heard of this Mexican placed called, Guzman Y Gomez, and we found one on our return path. Great food.
From there it was a little more than an hour drive back to the hotel and it was mostly in the dark. Tomorrow should be a fantastic day!
Curt and Laureen in Brisbane, Australia
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