Going Northeast for Warmer Weather

When You’re Below the Equator…

It seemed counter-intuitive to travel from the way south Adelaide diagonally northeast to Brisbane and encounter much hotter, more humid weather. In February. This would be like flying from Phoenix to New York City. But February in Australia is equivalent to August in the US. The more southern places–Melbourne, Kangaroo Island, and Adelaide–were warm enough (and even atypically cool for the season), but Brisbane was sticky, and one afternoon experienced a monsoon-style rain that flooded the streets, which were totally dry three hours later.

Brisbane Bustles

Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the capital of Queensland. It winds along the Brisbane river west of the Sun Coast and Gold Coast resort areas. Its CBD (Central Business District) includes a pedestrian mall that goes slightly uphill leading to a striking bridge over the river to its South Bank arts and culture precinct, replete with museums, music hall, and theaters. We visited two museums: the Queensland Museum and the neighboring Queensland Art Gallery. The architecture of each is stunning. The first gave us some insight into the ecology and aboriginal origins of the area. The Art Gallery featured an interesting collection of Australian art.

Brisbane also was the headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur between his forced abandonment of the Philippines and his famous “return” during World War II. Too late, we learned there’s a MacArthur Museum, which would have interested us history buffs, especially Eli from the military standpoint. Next trip to Brisbane…

We barely touched the surface of what there is to do in Brisbane. But I had a mission there (more about that later), and we also visited friends.

More Fun with “Local” Friends

We’d met Kim and Hal Fiske and their daughters, Joy and Grace, in Beijing, where they lived for several years, and became close friends of Amy and Jonathan. Kim, a native of Vietnam, is a fabulous cook and was instrumental in the founding of Susu, our kids’ group of Vietnamese restaurants. Hal is American, an attorney for an oil company, and we also visited them in Houston, when he was working at corporate headquarters. Joy was three when we first met her, and Kim was pregnant with Gracie. Now Joy is a senior in high school, and Gracie is in the equivalent of junior high. While “stationed” in Brisbane, they live in a stunning modern home along the river’s “suburban” course, and we had a wonderful dinner there, complete with an early birthday celebration for me. Kim’s birthday was two days later, and we took her to lunch on the terrace of a restaurant located at a garden center business with its own lush gardens. Afterward, she dropped us off at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

Koalas AND Kangaroos

Lone Pine is a rescue facility for both koalas and kangaroos, and we were able to get up close to both–holding a koala for a photo (one of the few super touristy things we did) and feeding kangaroos. Most of the latter weren’t really hungry, as so many visitors buy the feed and offer it to them. But we did use the opportunity to interview a few more in our “quest” to bring two back for Mirah and Rivah.

The Mission–A Mini Introduction

My paternal grandfather’s original surname was Igra. For some reason, depending on whom you ask and we can’t ask him anymore, he changed it to Grossman, my maiden name, when he settled in Milwaukee. There are many Igras in the world related to us. In fact, the plot in my novel, The Nice Little Blonde Girl, is based on the story of a real cousin in that clan. I’ve long known that a branch of the family was in the umbrella business in Australia, as well as in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Thanks to Professor Google, I was able to connect with the current owner of the Australia operation, Alicia Mor-Hyde, who relocated the business from Sydney to Brisbane. Through her, we also met an Igra cousin in Sydney. All this truly turned out to be a saga that merits its own post, as does our final stop in Australia, Sydney.

Brisbane photos

Want to meet Mirah and Rivah?

With Kim Yen Fiske on her birthday. She’s about 30 years behind me.

A piece in the art museum sculpture garden: Icebox!

The purveyor of blanket and rug art at the Brisbane CBD Wednesday market

Banana bread is big in Australia. Also in our family, as it’s a Jonathan fave. We tasted a few, but Eli still maintains mine is the best.

Early birthday celebration with the Fiske family. Stupidly, we all forgot to take other photos that night, but a photo of this lovely family is behind us, and Hal and Joy show up. Gorgeous and divine-looking and tasting cake.