Brisbane Duck Race

A fabulous storm rolled in one night this week.  It was amazing to watch the dark clouds suddenly take over the sky within a few minutes.  This was taken from our 8th floor balcony.



Storm clouds rolling in.

So the bad news is that they do not really celebrate Halloween in Australia.  There are a few private parties, or a few kids may knock on a known neighbour's door but nothing like the traditional North American Halloween.  The kids were pretty bummed about that, especially when we heard about the awesome plans for "Halloween in the Village"in London.  To ease the disappointment, I gave them 20 dollars to blow.  They worked together comparing sweety prices to get the most for their money.  It was a very serious but fun undertaking!



Proud shoppers



Happy Zac

 Although we did not have Halloween, we did have the Great Brisbane Duck Race this past weekend.  It is a city wide fundraising event for Cancer.

 On line we bought a family of 5 rubber duckies.  Then on Saturday we went to the rivers edge for the festivities and the race.  There was fair like atmosphere with food stalls, face painting, a petting zoo, lots of picnickers and of course the duck races. 



Jacaranda flowers everywhere

Zac holds a really squirmy duck

Zac feeds the goats

When the time for the races began, people lined up along the river.  First they raced the individual entries of motorized duck boats. 

Motorized Duck Boat contestant



Ready, Set, ...

At last it was time for the big Rubber Ducky Race.  On a barge on the river was a huge container filled with over 30 000 ducks.  Come on duckies 28093, 28094, and 28095!  Give it up for 28096 and 28097!!



30 000 ducks about to be dumped into the river.

Ducks racing between the floating lanes.

Which one is ours???

Alas our ducks did not win the new car but we did help raise money for a good cause. 

On Sunday we went to the market for some vegetables.  Then we decided on a cruise!  For less than four dollars (2 dollars for kids) we traveled from one end of the Brisbane River to the other on the City Cat.  It was a lovely hot, sunny day and  a lovely cooling breeze could be found traveling the river. 

It takes about an hour to travel down river from the closest City Cat stop from out flat.  Our trip took us from St. Lucia (the neighbourhood we live in) into the city centre, around Kangaroo Point (where Serenna and Jason do rock climbing) and north past some nice looking residential areas.



Brisbane City Centre

Close up balcony details of that middle building



Pedestrian bridge complete with solar paneled roof shade.

City Ferry (as apposed to the larger sleeker City Cat) for quick trips across the river in the down town core.



Sitting outside on the City Cat (having a cheap tour).



Riverside Cafes and restaurants with a weekend market.

Kangaroo Point is a quiet area  along the river. Great for rock climbing the cliff wall.

North End of Brisbane River

Serenna and Jason made sushi for dinner. There is a huge Asian influence here.  So everything we needed for sushi and miso soup was readily available at the corner store.

Sushi a la Serenna.

 Lots of pictures but not too much news.  We are into our work, school, gym, housework routine so daily life is not so different.  We have some very nice weekend trips planned for November.  Serenna's birthday makes an excellent excuse to do some more travelling.

Talk to you again soon,
xox Penni-Sue