Rellies Rally

We had a wonderful day catching up with relatives yesterday.
I've put the map here in case you are as geographically challenged as I am.
So we are staying at the blue dot.  (Advancetown is the  closest locality)

Bulimba (where Pip, Andy, Mary and Howie live) is just near Brisbane, and Bellmere
(Where Ruth, Charlie and Cooper live) is at the red dot (Bellmere)

It's just as well we are Aussies and a bit of driving doesn't worry us too much, because we planned a few hours worth into our day yesterday.




After waking up at a leisurely pace and admiring the lovely sunshine we hopped into the trusty Pulsar and took the slightly more scenic route to Bulimba (suburb of Brisbane) in order to avoid tolls on the way (something we resist with a vengeance, since we come from a state without any toll roads).

We arrived to find a quieter home than usual at the Carters' place, as Zac, Luke and Ben (the resident triplets) are away on a school trip, so only the beautiful cousin Pip, husband Andy and the oldies (my Aunty Mary and Uncle Howie) were at home.

We had a lovely catch up over tasty lunch on the deck, including a rather special Hollicks (?) Coonawarra Cab Sav Merlot from 1999 which Andy has been waiting to drink.  We had a bit of a laugh when the cork split , had to be pushed into the bottle and Andy was then forced to use a tea strainer when pouring .  We were a bit concerned about the state of the wine (given the cork condition), but it was fine - tasting old , as we expected, but VERY drinkable. If I was better at describing wine I would try that here but maybe I won't embarrass myself by trying.

 Maybe I should have anticipated it, but was surprised by a birthday candle and decorations amongst the dessert specially for my birthday (a day late) and family singing "Happy Birthday"is always a heartwarming experience.

Birthday Girl -  only 1 day late

Delicious  desserts

Anyway, we managed to while away the beautiful afternoon with chat, food, drinks, a bit of reflection and a good few laughs and before we knew we it it was time to be on our way up the coast to our next visit.

One last photo with the crowd before we left.

From left: Howie, Mary, Trev, Pip, Andy.

We headed up to Bellmere, once again on the toll free route and on the way I was able to recognize a couple of our key referring hospitals.  Maybe I am slowly getting to know Qld a bit after all.

We arrived at Ruth and Charlie's in time to admire the work just being packed up on a lovely handcrafted bed, and meet Cooper,  before heading inside to catch up , play with lots of Cooper's toys and have a lovely evening meal getting to know each other a bit.  The problem with spread out rellies is that you don't get to know them well, so this was a great opportunity to spend a little time while we could.  The only problem was the long drive home again - managed admirably by Trev as usual. We took the toll route via the gateway bridge on the way home in order to get back to our beds a little faster. 

I didn't take a photo at Ruth and Charlie's place, but Ruth did, so I will add it if I can.  Hopefully it will show us sharing the bedtime story with Cooper who is a very cute and very bright kid. Thanks Ruth and Charlie for welcoming us into your lovely home.