Two posts in two days - a record!

Our first new tunnel (one of four planned or under construction) opened this week. Named Clem7 after a former lord mayor of Brisbane plus being part of the M7 motorway, it has brought both praise and condemnation from all and sundry.

It is free for the first three weeks, then has a discount of 30% for another month, but since it is free and new, it has been plagued by sightseers and drivers with the mental capacity of my spasming leg - because it's free. Can you believe three cars broke down one after the other (in this day and age!) plus one stupid woman got out of her stationary vehicle and had a bit of a walk through the tunnel, thus holding up the traffic when it did start moving moments later. Good grief! I've been through it three times for work and it is just terrific. A journey to work from home across the river to Annerley which normally would take 35 minutes was down to 20 minutes. Superb! On the first day it took 10 minutes off the journey from home to Inala - again, superb! In the afternoon the signs warned of congestion in the tunnel, therefore the Riverside Expressway and the Inner City Bypass was used - and guess what? No delays at all (they were all stuck underground checking out the new free tunnel).

I just love the whole 6.8km of the thing. Mind you, when our neighbouring tunnel is also completed, it too will cut off enormous amounts of time at peak hours. Until 2012 we have to put up with lots of minor inconveniences, but come three years time I too will yet again be singing the praises of the BrisConnections tunnel, connecting to the Clem7, giving Brisbane the longest continuous road tunnel in the country. Eat your hearts out Sydney! (just joking).

At the top of this post is a photograph of the new Northern Busway tunnel, being built parallel to the road tunnels, allowing buses to travel virtually free of traffic obstructions (cars, lights etc) from Kedron to the CBD. It, too, finishes in 2012.

5th wet weekend in a row

(Photographed at our weekly trivia night recently)

It hasn't rained continuously over each weekend, but frequently enough for me and the rest of Brisbane to be over it for a while. Our dams are 98% full, our gardens verdant and lush, and our rain water tanks full to overflowing. I went and pruned a whole load of bushes and small trees this morning just so the jungle doesn't get away from me.

Right now the H2O is merely drizzly stuff, but we have a cyclone off the coast of Queensland expected to cross the mainland late tomorrow and expected to bring with it yet more heavy rain.

I must admit the light drizzly rain is very refreshing whilst it remains 26 C right now, so the fact that I put a whole load of washing on the line to dry speaks volumes for my optimism. If I have to bring it in tomorrow and finish it off in the drier I will, but I really try to avoid using it ever.

Rene has a new exhibition which opened last night - www.centredart.com.au - and we had a few visitors, but so far today he has had more visitors. It's not yet 2pm and more are expected. The photo of Rene at the top left of this page appeared in this week's local paper.

I have a final Saturday shift at the airport 4-8pm at International, and from next weekend my colleague and myself are going to trial Sunday 4-8 - we anticipate it being a little busier. I still enjoy the Airport Ambassador shifts, and will enjoy it even more so next term when my school load reduces back to 3.5 days a week.

I think I mentioned before that we saw Avatar in 3D (loved the effects, got bored with the film though towards the end) but we saw Alice In Wonderland in 3D a fortnight ago and loved it. I like Tim Burton movies a lot, and Johnny Depp is always good value. We also saw Avenue Q, the puppet and actor musical (billed as Sesame Street meets South Park) and I quite frankly loved it to pieces (it's on at QPAC Playhouse until March 28). The cast, the music, the musicians all contributed to a wonderful night out, and I loved it so much I bought a set of buttons to wear out when I'm feeling brave plus the CD of the Broadway cast. I have to note that to my ears the current American cast do every bit as good a job as the original Broadway cast, and perhaps even a slightly bit better in some roles. Top show - but I wish I could get the damned music out of my head! I keep humming 'Everyone's a Little Bit Racist' all the bloody time!

My glasses broke, so now I finally have new ones. I couldn't find a previous pair to use in the interim, so I settled for a pharmacy pair that were perfect for the left eye, not for the right. I struggled for 10 days like that. Not a pretty sight! Oh, I do love the new ones, but you'll have to wait for a picture.

Two weeks to Easter. Rene and I both have a whole week off then from school, so we plan on catching up on things around the house and generally sleeping. I am going to include a trip up to Toowoomba on a gallery day when Rene is at home, but apart from that I intend to attempt to relax a bit. I have to go and get ready for my airport shift, so for now, tata!

Rain, rain, go away......

It has rained for the last three weekends. Not solid rain, but drizzle and occasional thunderstorms. We had the threat of Brisbane flooding last Monday and Tuesday, but what happened was very local indeed. Our dams have a combined total of 84% (Monday edit - now 94%) and climbing. Two dams have been letting water escape for days now.

Out west, a vast area - larger than France - is under water or threatened with flooding. St George (near where I used to teach - Dirranbandi) broke an 1890 record yesterday for the highest flood ever recorded, and this water is like an inland sea - not very deep, but everywhere, from horizon to horizon. It is going to have incredibly good results in the future once it has fallen, but I remember it back in 1974 as hanging around for weeks.

Is it March already?

We've been back some six weeks now and I've let things in Blog Land fall by the wayside, however with this posting I'll be more up to date. The pictures are all over the place, but they all make for an interesting story.

These first two pictures are from our short two night stay in Taipei, capital of Taiwan. It is a most interesting city with lots of Asian hustle and bustle yet order and sometimes tranquility. The National Palace Museum (top) is one of the four top museums in the world - mainly because of the ancient Chinese collections from over the centuries smuggled out safely in 1949. Taipei's main concert hall is featured above. One dinner on the first night was like a sort of Mongolian BBQ with boiling water in the middle and a grille all around the outside, plus endless choices of meat, seafood and vegetables, along with rice and noodles - this was very good indeed.

The food is interesting, and they like lots of broiled meats and vegetables. This was one of our lunches (extremely inexpensive). New Taiwan Dollars have lost around 20% to the Australian dollar, so Taiwan is now one of the best value holiday destinations for Aussies. Add a frequent, clean and phenomenal MRT system (all English signs everywhere) and travel in Taipei is really simple. The locals are extremely happy and pleased to help visitors looking confused. The night markets are vast, too, and the drinks inexpensive. Rene and I liked it so much that we were sorry we couldn't spend at least a week exploring the provinces.

Old world architecture presented in a modern way. Below is the view from the top of T 101, until January the highest building in the world.

T 101 has a unique small footprint - very narrow indeed - and I compared it to the Sears (Willys) Building, Chicago, that I went to the top of back in October, which has a very broad base indeed.

Below is a picture of a place that couldn't be more opposite to Taipei - the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. We spent a week in Spain as part of our month in Europe over Christmas. Sadly, the gardens were nowhere near their peak, but the buildings were as impressive as ever, and it was a truly amazing place to visit - and in winter there are no crowds.

The gardeners were pruning and planting, but the fountains operated beautifully.

From the top of the fort, the view towards the mountains. The fort was constructed in the 14th century.

Across the valley, it is hard to realise from this photo just how enormous the palace grounds are.

The people standing on the fortress are testimony to the size of the structure.

One of the court yards in the palace. There are three palaces in the Alhambra complex.

The plaster designs in this ceiling have the most beautiful blue incorporated in the design.

One can only imagine just how stunningly beautiful these places must look like in spring and summer.

Ancient Granada sprawls below the Alhambra. There is low cloud in the distance, and the rain returned in the afternoon after our visit.

Icons are not allowed in Islamic interiors, but beautifully illuminated Arabic script is - as you can see from this great close up of mine.

These stunning ceilings were in several places. Perhaps my favourite architectural touch.

Incredibly steep steps and streets descending from the Alhambra down to the city centre.

The Royal Chapel where Isabel and Ferdinand are buried was worth a visit. Granada's cathedral next door was not - a very unsettling building where I felt quite uneasy. I have no explanation - I just did not like the 'feel' or spirit of the place. I was surprised by my reaction.

One entrance to the gardens and the steep climb up to the Alhambra. It was a challenge in winter, but I can't imagine Granada in the middle of a super hot summer being walking weather.

The recently restored Arab Quarter gates. There was a brilliant bar just before this gate where we tried great local wines and tasty free tapas.

We made a dash by Spain's high speed train from Seville to Cordoba to inspect the marvellous Mezquita church - part Moor mosque, part Catholic Cathedral. It was snowing outside now, and the light was poor, and my phone camera hasn't got a flash - but I reckon the pictures aren't too bad.

Stunning architecture, simply stunning. 2000 worshippers could be on mats at the same time.

The snow had started, and it was the talk of the town. Back in Seville, while we were away for the day, it snowed for the first time in 54 years.

After the Moors were evicted from the last part of Spain, this building was preserved, with the central part demolished to create a Catholic Cathedral of modest but impressive dimensions. It was hard to compete with the Moorish architecture, but what they did in building this alter and dome - with all its light - is quite stunning to witness.

We started our week in Spain by flying Ryan Air from Weeze in Germany (just across the Dutch border) to Seville, where we enjoyed some cool but sunny days. The cathedral was beautiful, and the Giralda Tower (above) is a triumph of Moorish architecture, and the cathedral attached contains Christopher Columbas' tomb.

This was one end of a bridge built for the Spanish Exposition in 1929. Beautiful tiles, and the weather wasn't too bad either.

The Plaza de Espana (second above) was a beautiful legacy of the exposition of 1929. Still used today as government offices, and occasionally for movie sets like Lawrence of Arabia (1962) where this setting plus many other Seville buildings stood in for Cairo.

The picture (above) shows the view from the Giralda tower. The top is reached by climbing a ramp, some 16 stories high. The ramp follows along four sides of a square tower. The cathedral roof is beautiful too.

The Plaza de Espana has impressive murals created from tiles. Each section on the base of the building reflects a part of Spain, Portugal and every other Spanish speaking country in the world.

This palace is just about refurbished and renovated - ready for the government to move back into.

From Spain, we go back in time to our brief stop at our friend Linda's home, situated in Kleve, Germany. The snow was still occuring on a regular basis, and after three weeks we were a little bit over it. Linda works in Nederlands but lives just across the border in Germany. It is very beautiful.

Fresh snow that morning made for a tranquil walk into town for some brief sight seeing.

Another of those "I was there' type pictures, but I like it ...

Anne of Cleves is the town's most notable native (briefly Henry VIII's wife) and Richard Wagner included the castle (Swan Castle) in Lohengrin.

Rene inspecting Linda's backyard, complete with a fresh covering of snow.

We had almost a week in Utrecht, our old home, and enjoyed cold weather which included periods of sunshine and snow. Rene met with the director of the Aboriginal Art Museum in Utrecht (above) and below is the view of the snow from the living room of our apartment. Our 1690 apartment was situated not far from our old apartment area, on a street said to be the oldest shopping street in Utrecht.

Yes, we did have some sun, but there was no warmth in it at all. We were filling in time at the laundromat (one has to have clean clothes).

Before we leave Utrecht, I just have to say that Rene got very, very ill in the lead up to the week there. We both had experienced colds etc that seemed to get progressively worse as the Christmas led up to the wedding. Mine was a comparatively minor bout, but poor Rene really copped it with a sore throat, temperature and constant runny nose. With all the talking and partying, eventually on New Year's Day his body and voice gave up, and he spent the whole day in bed. That is unheard of for him. He had been able to cope with the wedding day followed by New Year's Eve, but when the pressure was off, he just collapsed into bed and slept and slept. It did the trick because he was much better after that. We both were.

Having said that, Utrecht was wonderful as ever. The people hadn't changed in five years, the places had barely changed and the city felt very much like home. Friends seemed like they were before, only their children appeared five years older. We visited friends in their home just outside Utrecht - did it all by wonderful public transport - and it was like we'd last visited a month ago. Yes, they had two pet rabbits now (the size of small dogs) and the boys were in late primary and high school now, but everything else felt comfortably familiar.

We dined out frequently, and I have to say that all over The Netherlands, the quality and presentation of food remains outstanding. Yes, the small town pizzeria our family dined at on our last night was a bit of a Fawlty Towers experience (it happens) but an Utrecht dinner beside the canal in a favourite restaurant of ours was bliss, and in Rotterdam we were taken out to a most amazing restaurant with an impressive menu - and fabulous food. Home style cooking at dinners and parties also made for a wonderful experience, and we enjoyed the hospitality of many, many family and friends. You know who you are - Rene and I thank you very much indeed.

Kegelen...yes, those of you not Dutch will think this is ten pin bowling, but it is in fact the home grown game that has some significant differences. You use regular shoes, the balls are standard without finger holes. There is a barrier across the front so you can't cross it. The lane is narrow for half the length, then widens. There are nine pins lifted and lowered using rope and a machine. What does a large group do between the wedding ceremony and dinner? Well, I didn't really relish the thought of ice skating (since I don't) and the opportunity to break something valuable (like a leg, arm or wrist), so kegelen seemed a fun option. The electronic scoring showed at the end that, despite being the most senior player that evening, I was the winner by two points. Yes, my dear brothers, pick yourselves up off the ground...your older brother (59) actually won a sports competition against players as young as 17 (well, little Anneka is not quite 5). Might I add that Rene was just rubbish at this game. I am milking this for all I can since I'm ghastly at most things, especially anything competitive.

The family gave us a surprise night in a honeymoon suite at a local hotel (once a convent). This breakfast was delivered just before 11am. We'd only got there at midnight and had to leave by noon (although we had a 5pm check out) since we had to be in Utrecht by 4pm to get our apartment key - it was New Year's Eve, and we were currently in the south of NL and Utrecht is much further north. With the help of Jan and Claartje we got picked up, went home, got dropped off at Best station (it was just starting to snow again) and made it to Utrecht in plenty of time.

Before the wedding, the family assembled at Jan and Claartje's home. We had coffee and cake beforehand, then set off for the town hall. This cake was a champagne mousse with raspberry from de Bijenkorf in Eindhoven - light and simply delicious.

Here Rene tucks into a delicious traditional Dutch home style meal in the house where he was born. We had just returned from France, and we were invited to his uncle and aunt's home across the road from where Rene was brought up. His lovely uncle and aunt tried very hard to include me in their conversation and I felt truly at home there, but Rene was in his element - familiar old style surroundings (extremely Dutch) with food and drink to match. A truly memorable evening

The house above is where we had the dinner. Rene was born in a room on the right side of this house. Two months later his family moved across the road to their new home which was just completed (below).

On the way back home from Christmas in France, we stopped off at one of my favourite cities - Antwerp - for lunch. Here they are ice skating in the main square. I guess this was my third or fourth time in the city, and even in winter it was amazing.

The picture above shows a tram using the newest link in the extensive network in The Hague. This line was just being started on when I was working in Den Haag in 2004. It passes very close to one of the schools I worked at. Before going to meet gallery people in Rotterdam (where Rene has Aboriginal paintings being exhibited for sale) we took a detour via The Hague to drop in on one of my old schools and see what's changed. Answer? Not much, except for some staff. I must admit the snow and ice was a challenge to negotiate in the streets, but apart from that all was familiar and very nice indeed.

We're standing at Cap Gris Nez, the closest point between France and Britain. It was bloody cold and windy. You could see the cliffs, I swear.

Jan and Rene, plus a wayyy too eager and excited Splinter, on the beach near Condette on Christmas morning. Splinter even went into the freezing Channel and frolicked like there was no tomorrow. I was there too (NB shadow lower right).

This is Jan and Claartjes holiday home, situated in Condette, very near Boulogne sur Mer. It was very comfortable, and the town is very cute indeed. Boulogne was a surprise - very large, very post War 60's rebuild, but with an elevated medieval old city centre that is well preserved and extremely attractive.

Yes, food again, this time lunch in Dunkerque on the way to Condette for Christmas.

On our first morning in NL we went to the town hall in Son en Bruegel to meet with the celebrant; the government official who conducts the ceremony. She was extremely interested in us, and a week later she cemented together the pieces from our 90 minute conversation to create a most intimate and moving ceremony.

On our way to the twon hall on foot we passed beautiful Son homes smothered in snow.

The one above has a thatched roof. It was extremely large and very handsome in its proportions.

Yes, I know, I've posted this before, but I have to tell you this is my favourite non wedding picture of the whole trip - walking through a short cut in the small forest beside Jan and Claartje's home towards the town centre.

We were met by many scenes like this on our first day in The Netherlands. Quite beautiful.

OK, the rest here are an eclectic collection of stuff I found here in my picture folders - firstly a stuffy picture taken before we went to the top of T 101 in Taipei. God I look tired!

This airline has a sense of humour - T 101 followed by flying 101 - if you can click on the picture, each section of fuselage is labelled - I just love it!

My friend Di and I sat in a booth at GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art) here in Brisbane and played with a program designed for kids (I suspect). The result is truly scary.

I've forgotten where this impressively painted bus operates, but the creator of the art work deserves a medal. Now if that doesn't stop traffic in the street, I don't know what would.

The final two above are rather superb parts of the world. The top picture was sent the other day to a friend of mine here in Brisbane by his mother. It is of Sierra Blanca in New Mexico, the famous site of a ski resort in the central south of the USA. I've been up to 11 000' on that mountain, and the air was mighty thin up there.

The final picture is one I plucked off the net one day recently, at the North Pole, with sun and moon together reflected in the water. Stunning.