Brisbane and injury update

Hi everyone!

As I write this update, we are camped in the forest at Binna Burra campground in Lamington National Park (near the NSW border). Stuart went back to see the hand surgeon yesterday after having the cast on for a week now. The x-rays revealed that nothing has changed, which is actually good news, as no surgery is required. But it also means that the bone has not started to heal yet, so the cast must be kept on all the time, including showers, which is a real pain. The bruising and swelling has also not yet improved, but we were told this is also normal.

So, given that we have a week before we need to see the surgeon and hand therapist again, we have headed out to see some more countryside, before returning to Brisbane for the check-ups. Hopefully we’ll then be moving on, with a referral for another check-up in Sydney in about six weeks time.


We are adjusting to the role changes around camp, although sometimes it feels like we are starting out all over again in unfamiliar territory. The role reversal was quite accentuated today when we packed up the camper and I had to drive with the trailer through Brisbane and up into the winding mountain roads – with Stuart now navigating.

Getting into some trailer maintenance

 Brisbane is a beautiful city, with great ‘Green City’ initiatives like the new City Cycle – a coin operated bike hire system with numerous pick up and drop off points throughout the inner city, and Food Connect - check it out at http://www.foodconnect.com.au/. There is also a fantastic farmers market scene that supports a huge number of artisan food producers.

A City Cycle station at West End

 We especially loved the West End markets and the farmers markets that are held every Wednesday right in the City’s main mall. They both had everything from local cheeses, meats, spices, herbs, bakers, hot smoked salmon, handmade cornish pasties, pastries – with each small stallholders specialising in just one or two things! We loved it and have been eating so much fresh food! Yesterday had made asparagus, mushrooms and eggs for breakfast, then pork with mango salsa for dinner!



Stuart amongst the bustling City Farmers Market



 We also caught up with my friend Luke who moved from Perth a few years ago and has a funky Queenslander house full of character on a big block with beautiful big trees, right near the train station and local shops. Great lifestyle. Yes Luke – I’m jealous! Both Stuart and I have fallen in love with the beautiful old Queenslander houses, with all their timber and stained glass windows. Luke was also very generous and let us off-load the kayaks and mountain bikes for this week, since we won’t be using them and it makes setting up the camper easier for me! Thanks Luke!

So here we are, glad to be away from the city for a while and in a national park known for its large number of “walking” tracks. Thankfully, walking is one of the activities we can still do! It’s very beautiful here as we are perched on the top of a mountain and can actually see all the way to the coast.
We also finally managed to get the photos of us surfing at Noosa off the camera! So here are some snaps of me struggling to catch a wave, and Stuart making it look like the most natural thing in the world!

Until next time... we hope everyone is doing well,

Stu and Mish