Andrew and Nikki around Oz: Shailer Park

We are now at Shailer Park, house sitting for a couple who used to live in Canberra and are visiting their daughter in the US (all very familiar) and Canada. Benji, the lovely Golden Retriever is our charge and he and our little Maxi have developed a familiar but stand-offish alliance. They stay and look after the house while we are out.

Benji is quite a big boy and he loves his walks.

He has also discovered Maxi's rope toys and he loves a tug-of-war with it. When we come home from somewhere, both he and Maxi proudly bring us a rope each. Very cute.

Mark and family spent a week in Byron Bay during the Victorian school holidays and Andrew expressed a desire to visit them there, so we went for part of the day and we had lunch together and a nice walk on the beach.

Andrew with Sean and Josh at Byron.

We finally went into Brisbane itself and visited the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) where the Margaret Olley exhibition is on as well as Bill Quilty's works. Quilty was one of Margaret's numerous protegees.

Here is Andrew with Cathy and Ashton who are visiting from frosty Canberra. We are at the GOMA cafe along the Brisbane riverfront.

A triptych of Olley.

There was a family setting at the gallery for children to draw their faces a la Quilty which Nikki had to try. Here is her creation.

A nice old Queenslander in the city.

The former Treasury building which is now a casino.

The foyer with the chandelier which is in the form of two snakes intertwined.

There is a steak house restaurant in the casino and this is the showcase showing the various types of excellent Queensland meats.

The old windmill, built by convicts in 1828. It was used both for grinding corn and punishment (as often the wind was not enough to run the mill and humans then did the turning).