All is quiet in the Haines Brisbane residence at the moment. We haven't been doing much lately as we're saving our money for when my parents come over at the end of March for 4 weeks, in which time we're planning on a week up on the Great Barrier Reef. Besides that, the weather here is still crap. … read more

On Saturday it was Australia Day which meant yesterday (Monday) was a public holiday. The net result was a fantastic 4-day weekend for me! We decided to partake in Australia Day celebrations by visiting South Bank. Before that however, we took a train into the city and had a walk up Queen St Mall. … read more

Steph and Lucy's first weekend in Oz wasn't the best. We've had glorious weather for weeks now but since they've arrived it has been miserable. We did take them to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast on Saturday and braved the beach for a short while, but the wind was that strong we were getting … read more

We're entering storm season now here in Brisbane. The weather has been pretty good during the day but most evenings we've had thunder and lightning. Last night we had a fantastic lightning storm. One really loud crack of thunder made us jump out of our seats. I ran upstairs to check Lauren was … read more

Every now and again we like to treat ourselves and try out a really nice restaurant. With Rach starting a new job on Monday and with me securing a new job, and with Cath volunteering to babysit for Lauren, we decided to try out one of Brisbane's award winning restaurants last night. We chose Il … read more

I've just been Clay Pigeon Shooting for the first time ever. There's a shooting complex only 5 minutes drive from where we live so I went along with George, my neighbour. He held a gun licence in New Zealand and grew up as a hunter so he'd done it all before but for me, the last time I'd held a gun … read more

Another great weekend. On Saturday we went to the beach again. We've been trying different beaches each time for a little variety. The beaches here go on for miles and miles and there's never any problem finding a quiet one. The only problem being though that the quiet beaches often aren't patrolled … read more

Last night we went to the Brisbane Riverfire - the opening night of the 10-day Brisbane Riverfestival. The Riverfire is a spectacular fireworks display along the river from Story Bridge to Victoria Bridge, and includes a 'dump and burn' by RAAF F-111 fighter jets. Because we new that it would be … read more

Our first set of visitors from the UK have been confirmed. Rachelle's sister is coming over with her daughter in November, and my Mum and Dad have booked their flights for next March. We're really looking forward to having the chance to show people around so they can see exactly why we've moved … read more

On Saturday we had our first experience of 'The Ekka'. The Ekka is an annual 10-day event formally known as the Royal Queensland Show. It was originally called the Brisbane Exhibition but what with the aussie habit of shortening any words over 5 letters it's now known as the Ekka. We presumed that … read more

I had a meeting on the 32nd floor at work today. It's a bit distracting when you have a view like this... Taken with my Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot Camera phone read more

I should read the local papers more often, as when I went out for lunch today I had no clue why roadblocks had been set up and why police were milling everywhere. I soon discovered the reason why when I came round the corner to St Stephen's Cathedral. It was the funeral for Brett Irwin - the police … read more

The USS Kitty Hawk is in Brisbane this weekend - on one of the stops on her final Pacific Tour before she returns to be de-commissioned next year. Even though the ship wasn't having an Open Day, we drove down to take a look. Because the Kitty Hawk is a SuperCarrier, it's too big to make it up river … read more

This photo doesn't really do it justice. I'm going to have to invest in a camera with a decent flash. This is the view I get of the Brisbane CBD from the CityCat every night leaving work. read more

Not sure what this was about. I came out of work yesterday (Monday) and this yacht was on the jetty surrounded by film crews. The helicopter onboard had its rotors running and there was what looked like a butler standing at the top of the gangway. I couldn't work out whether they were waiting for … read more

The weekend is here! I can't believe I've just completed my first full week of work in Oz and I've done absolutely nothing! The client I'm working for still hasn't sorted me out a PC or account to access the systems. Nor do I have a swipe card yet to get physical access to the building. I have to … read more