Day 3 in Brisbane was a short workday, which was a good thing since I apparently caught the plague or some sort of really bad head cold. We hiked across the 10 lushly landscaped acres from our villa to enjoy breakfast in the hotel restaurant. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but the breakfast buffet in Australia is very hearty. In addition to eggs (scrambled and poached) there is spaghetti, veal shanks, sausages in dark gravy, bacon, and roasted tomatoes. I settled for bacon and eggs. Jenni had her usual.

We walked over to the roundtable discussion. The room was packed with key education stakeholders from the Queensland area as well as a couple of researchers and representatives from the national government. Because of my sudden and unexpected illness I was without any makeup, devoid of contacts, and sneezing and hacking into my growing mound of tissues. In spite of my disease, we all had a very rich discussion!

Afterwards, our friend Carmel agreed to give us a lift to the city. We had a lovely ride in and she dropped us off in the west end.

We visited a few quirky shops and then grabbed one of the best meals of the trip at a little bistro called Chop Chop Chang. I enjoyed it very much in spite of the giant planet of the apes art (that movie totally freaks me out!)

I was determined not to let the horrible head cold ruin our trip. so we walked to the Cultural Center and bought tickets to Le Noir, the dark side of cirque.

With a few hours to kill, we strolled through the South Shore to buy some souvenirs. On our way we were stopped by two guys with a camera and microphone. They asked if they could interview us for a show they were doing on computer repairs. We said sure!

The first question they asked us was how long we had been using computers. We said about 25 or 30 years. Then they asked us if we ever had any problems using computers. We said no, we were very good at it. They asked if we’d ever had a virus because of our computer use. We both said no, we’ve got Macs. Then they asked if we’d had any viruses before we started using Macs. We said maybe, it was a long time ago but that was one of the reason we switched, to avoid the Macs. Then they asked if we ever let our partners know we’d had a virus. I suddenly realized they weren’t talking about “computers” at all! Jenni asked what they meant by computer partners. They said, you know when someone puts their USB in our drive. Jenni was involved in some lengthy discussion about why she didn’t really think it was necessary to tell her partner but I leaned in and said absolutely, I would absolutely tell my partner about my “virus”.

They thanked us for our time and we walked off. I told Jen I didn’t think they were talking about computers. She insisted I have a dirty mind. Whatever! I just hope my Australian friends who view the edited version on the Aussie style Trigger Happy TV show realize we had no idea what they were actually talking about!

We found a little candy shop and Jen stopped in to top off her supply.

She wouldn’t try the Witchitie Grubs so I bought a couple. For the record, they are quite tasty and unlike anything I imagine a real grub would taste like. Then we found the public beach on the river.

And walked through the rain forest…

to the Nepalese Temple.

The sangria of the day was grapefruit and lychee at Ole, a local tapas bar.

We went back to the cultural center so we could be on time for the show. I had an onion and cheese pastie for dinner while we waited. Jenni adjusted the heat, which caused the entire thing to glow bright red. It’s a Christmas miracle we didn’t get kicked out or burn the place down!

The seats we had for the show were in the center and only about 8 rows back. The only seats better were on the actual stage and the last time I scored seats on the stage it was for the Woolley Mammoth production of Allow Us To Present and they lynched a man in front of us. This was much more enjoyable. I loved the DJ in the booth above the back of the stage. Very Zoolander. Plus he played excellent music.

The show was amazing. My favorite part was the roller skating couple. I never should have stopped taking lessons! Jenni liked the couple suspended by ribbons. The show was fantastic! I’d have taken pictures for you, but I didn’t want to distract any of the performers who could have plunged to their deaths at any moment.

Lucky for us, our bus arrived shortly after the show ended. We had a very chatty bus driver. Thankfully Jenni sat up front and kept him company, because I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Turns out neither did she, but they both enjoyed their conversation nonetheless and we made it back to the villa safe and sound!