Brisbane

Sunday left me nostalgic for our refreshing rain so Monday it poured all day. As Katie Fortune and I rode the train for the city today we passed puddle after puddle and a few lakes too. We were dressed for the weather, with coats and umbrellas but I was perplexed to see many elegantly attired young ladies waiting at the stations along the way, all in designer dress and most wearing exceedingly high heels. Finally my curiosity was satisfied when I learnt that this is the day of Brisbane's Ekka Show and these young ladies were off to the races, to paddle in mud and clutch umbrellas to protect their feather headwear.

Katie and I were content to visit the Museum and the wonderful Queensland Art Gallery where I was entranced by the work of both Hans Heyson and Joe Alamanhthin Rootsey whose exhibitions presented contrasting perspectives of the same beloved landscape and gave me just a glimmer of an insight into life on this vast continent. The paintings provided the stark context for the museum exhibition on the incredible journey of Burke and Wills who in the 19th Century travelled south to north and back again, straight through the centre of Australia, only to die from exhaustion just kilometres from the coast.