Brighton March 15/18

Hard to believe this is day 4 here at Brighton Beach, our 3rd home exchange location & our last before returning to NA. Brighton Beach is just north of Brisbane Airport on the Sunshine Coast. No internet with this exchange, John has mobile wireless but needed it for their travels. Hence the no recent blog update. Lewis was able to ‘borrow’ a wireless connection this morning & if you are reading this you know we had the same success! Our search continues for a local Internet cafe.
We had arranged to meet here Monday at 2pm. We arrived in Brighton Beach at noon after an hour’s drive north from the Gold Coast; time to shop at ‘Woollies” (Woolworths) for picnic fixings to enjoy at the beach 5 minutes from our destination. Meg greeted us with hugs & kisses, chilled wine & beer, cheese, olives and crackers while John shopped for steaks & shrimp for the Barbie! The house is as warm & inviting as the owners made us feel from the moment we met them. Screens on the windows & doors deter geckos while allowing the constant ocean breeze to waft through. The house is a large two-storey brick Cape Cod surrounded by wide covered verandas. There are large multi-panel wooden windows in each room; an open living concept with 12 foot ceilings, spacious rooms, few doors; a very comfortable home! Already we have adopted the local approach to sleeping with the windows open to enjoy those ocean breezes.
Tuesday, while Meg & John packed for their journey we enjoyed breakfast on the patio at Cafe on the Park. Photos & best wishes launched them & Mr. Pickles (dog) on their journey shortly before noon. We enjoyed a lazy couple of hours before a late afternoon long stroll along the ocean boardwalk. We were amazed at the distances people could walk out onto the tidal beach (low tide) and the speed of the Para-surfers soaring over the waves. We couldn’t resist the contagious laughter of 18-mth old Dexter running as fast as his little legs would carry him holding tightly to a leash attached to his 11-mth old puppy. This is truly a community of young families and senior citizens.
Wednesday (yesterday) after a relaxing morning we went grocery shopping at Woollies. After lunch we crossed the 3km bridge to Woody Point and drove north to Scarborough, the very tip of the Peninsula. We drove slowly along the scenic coastal roadway all the way to Morgan’s Seafood, a local market and restaurant situated on an operational fishing wharf. We stopped at Redcliff Information Centre and met Mary & Sophie – another find sample of local friendliness! We left with a shopping bag of materials on Brisbane & region plus our buckets filled with laughter! We strolled along a seawall walk accessible from Morgan’s, which Mary had suggested before we purchased fish for our dinner Barbie! Fresh prawns, sardines, Atlantic salmon, red snapper and ocean trout were our BBQ selections ($38 AUD). If that sounds like a lot of food....it was, but man oh man was it delicious accompanied with some inexpensive local chardonnay. As it was St Paddy’s Day, we delivered green cupcakes and wine to Fiona, the Irish expat who lives next door with her husband and 3 kids. What a day as we watched the sun go down; no not on Galway Bay but Brighton Beach!
BTW: temperature 29 C, cloudy with a few sun showers. We’re monitoring the cyclone due to hit 800 K north of us by Tuesday; evacuation has started on some of the lower altitude islands. We have the high ground plotted (Toowoomba) should it start veering in our direction! Don’t worry; we are safe!