Brisbane, QLD


Sunday, March 15, 2009

OLD FRIENDS

This weekend we visited friends on the Gold Coast.

It takes about 45 mins on the M1.



Ben and Lyn have been our friends for 40 years. They took us out for dinner.
These two oldies have been friends since their early 20's when they lived in the same town in Switzerland. They decided to migrate to Australia to learn to speak English. They intended to return to Switzerland after a few years but as you can see they never did. After they learnt English, they parted ways. Bill went to P/NG and Ben went to Sydney. After 10 years they met up again in Brisbane, both with Australian wives. Since then Ben and Lyn have lived in northern Australia and in the Gatton area west of Brisbane but now they are on the Gold Coast.

The dinner was huge, Lyn and I had Barramundi.......

Ben had T-Bone steak....

Bill had Lasagna

We all shared a Tiramasu and went back to their place to play cards. We play a Swiss game called Jass. The boys verse the girls. Mostly the boys win but sometimes us Aussies beat them at their own game.

The next day they took us to the Gold Coast Botanical Gardens. They are new and still being developed but it was a nice place to be. The flowers were beautiful.

Gum blossom buds.
Gum blossoms
Then we walked through the posh suburb of Emerald Lakes. This is called the French Quarter, the appartments are modelled on the old French style.The appartments cost between $350,000 to over a million dollars.
The view from the apartments. Then we had a coffee there and returned to our humble abodes.

19 comments:

  1. I want one of those apartments! Looks like a wonderful place to visit and/or live.

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  2. It was good to see Ben and Lyn as always. They are nice friends.

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  3. By gee you weren`t joking when you said the meals were huge....It looks delicious...
    The botanical gardens look lovely....And I love the "Bird of Paradise" plant...I have one growing in my backyard but am still waiting for it to start flowering...Fingers crossed this year....

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  4. Beautiful photographs Diane (as always), and that garden is "to die for." I love those bird baths!

    I remember the first time I ever saw a Bird of Paradise. One of the cancer doctors I worked for at UT (Dr. Stanfield Rogers) had a greenhouse attached to his house. He brought me my first (and only) Bird of Paradise, and I fell in love -- with the flower, he was married.

    I never forgot his thoughtfulness sharing this beautiful plant with me.

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  5. What a lovely trip for you and for us. Great photos, thanks for taking us along.

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  6. Diane - Often when I miss my grandparents and I feel a sense of sadness, I come to your blog. You and BB as a couple remind me so much of my precious grandparents -- that love, admiration, having a wonderful time in life together, etc.

    I look at your picture above, and I picture my grandparents sitting there -- happy again in Heaven.

    I am so glad I met you and BB. You remind me so much how wonderful true love is for two people as they grow older together. I remember many times on our vacations when I stood back and watched them sitting on a hotel balcony and watching the ocean just as you two are doing here.

    Bless you and BB dear lady. I hope both of you know all the wonderful years my grandparents did together.

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  7. Sounds like a wonderful weekend with old friends, and yummy meals as usual. I love visiting botanical gardens wherever I am. The ones here in Darwin are a tropical wonderland but so few people go there. It must be one of the few Botanical Gardens where you can take your dog, Oscar swims in the ponds and gets fed by the park rangers.

    Mind you, in the paper yesterday there was a report of a 2 metre saltwater crocodile found in the little creek between the BBQ area and the kids playground - just where we walk every week! He must have followed the creek up from the beach, cheeky fellow!

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  8. Kathleen has said it beautifully Diane. I come to your blog and leave a little like the green eyed monster.
    I love the fact that you treasure your friendships.
    I thoroughly enjoy the pics and the pleasure that your blog brings each time I come here.
    Congratulations!

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  9. Hi Diane, it is so nice to have a friendship for such a long time. There are now some really nice places on the Gold Coast. We live out in the valley where the Kangaroos say good night to each other.

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  10. Lovely day...and photos...thank you for sharing the day

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  11. The food looks great you have some of the best photos here,I would love to live in an apartment with such a great view.

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  12. Another great post about good friends and wonderful looking food! What was the dish you had? I think it's so wonderful that you guys have kept up all your acquaintances from all those years back - that kind of friendship is rare, you know...

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  13. Another lovely day in paradise I see! 40 years is a long time to be such good friends. I hope we still are friends with our friends, in another 20 years....
    Lovely blog again Mum.
    Hope you're having fun on your road trip. Drive safely.
    Love, Carol

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  14. It all looks so lovely there, I do hope to be able to visit one day. That steak totally has me salivating, not seen such a big steak in months. And don't get me started on the Lazagne, oh my it looks divine.

    I hope that in years to come I will be able to call on old friends like that and have a good time with them as you have done.

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  15. Thank you all for lovely comments.
    Utah G. The dish I'm eating is Barramundi fish. It is a very popular tropical white fish and is beautiful if grilled. In the pic it has a cheese sause over it.

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  16. Thank you Kathleen for your endearing comments. I am glad we can bring you fond memories of your grandparents.

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  17. Lovely photos once again. Great food, and you do have fun, good on you.

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  18. I was getting a bit worried with no new blogs. Now I see Carol-Ann mentioned the road trip, so I'm assuming you are traveling and not posting for a while.

    Anyway, have a great time, take care, and please come back soon -- we miss you both.

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