23 March 2009

Hello Brisbane! The Mupersans have arrived!!!

What better way to make a house feel like home that to have family and friends over for a barbie?! I can only give you an impression of our housewarming on Saturday..... blue skies, sunshine, family, new friends, the smell of boerewors on the barbie, laughter, splashing in the pool, squeels of children's laughter, beer bottles & wine glasses clinking, happiness, laughter, an afternoon downpour, stomping in puddles, piggy in the middle in the pool, great conversation, laughter..... *sigh* What a fabulous day!


Food's up!


Geoff trying out the "orgasmatron"


More boerewors anyone?


Splish splash! Jazzy & I splashing in the rainwater after the downpour


My neice has a shoe fetish! Jazzy walking around in my shoes


Little Miss!

I can't believe how much Jazzy looks like I did when I was her age! Mons, I forgot to show you those photos so I thought I'd scan them for you....


Mandy in 1976 (3 going on 4 years old)


Mandy in July 1975 - just over a month until my 3rd birthday



Mandy in July 1975 - just shy of my 3rd birthday


Sunday night we went off to Brisbane to see Chris Isaak. He was playing at a spot called Riverstage which is in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. What an absolutely stunning venue! We got there quite early and took a stroll through the gardens to the gates for Riverstage only to find that we had another hour to kill....


Scott strolling through the gardens


Mandy in the botanic gardens with the city in the background


Scott under the Banyan tree - I fully expected a hobbit to invite us in for tea!


We decided to take a walk down towards the Brisbane river until the gates opened. What a great surprise when we came to the Goodwill Bridge. It's a pedestrian & cycle only bridge - no cars or bikes. This bridge takes you over to South Bank where, over weekends, there are markets during the day. There are also restaurants, gardens for picnicking, play pools with fountains for the kids and a man-made beach complete with lifeguards. It was a great walk and a place we'll definitely be back to visit.


An aerial shot of the Goodwill Bridge. The Maritime Museum is in the foreground with South Bank along the left hand side of the river. Riverstage on the other side of the bridge.


Scott on the Goodwill footbridge over the Brisbane river


Mandy at South Bank


Scott at South Bank


Scott at the fountain pool


Mandy in the man-made lagoon


Scott on the bridge between the lagoon and fountain pool


The man-made beach


Mandy @ South Bank


And then it was time to head back to Riverstage for the Chris Isaak show. There were thousands of people queueing when the gates opened at 7pm. No one pushed or shoved, no one got agro, everyone just moved along in the split queues, joking, laughing along the way. Bags were checked, tickets scanned and wrist bands put on. No hassle, just unbelievably efficient!

The venue itself is an open air theatre. Think Kirstenbosch on a steeper slope and more space and a large, permanent stage with dressing rooms and a viewing deck. The majority of the area was booked seating - about 3500 people. Behind that, was unreserved seating so people arrived with cushions and blankets. There was also a demarcated area where people could sit on their own camping chairs right at the back. So no hassles like at Kirstenbosch with rude people sitting on chairs in front of you! There were food and drink stalls - apparently they ran out of white wine before the show even started! Scott and I grabbed a burger and cooldrink each and sat down just in time to see the opening act. Mark Spano! He came third in last year's Australian Idol - he was my favourite. So it was a real treat.

And then it was Chris Isaaks' turn to hit the stage. And boy, did he! In a bright pink suit with sequins! What a great performer!!! I'm not entirely sure how to classify his music..... crooner, rock, rock 'n roll, country.... it's all there. And what a sense of humour! For his encour, he came on in a suit made entirely of mirror squares! Yip, mirror squares. He's a character of note and it was an absolutely amazing show in such a beautiful setting.


The pink dot in the middle is Chris Isaak - nope, we didn't have the VIP seats to this one!


The pink suit...


The mirror suit...




Just a couple of snippets from the show

And that was our weekend! :-)

1 comment:

mupersan said...

Wow, what a blast.. I get to drag Mandy around the world, and she gets to entertain us all.. Once again, an awesome blog.. I was wondering last night as to what Genre you would classify Chris Isaac in..