Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Oh my, this water!


One could think that the honeymoon is over when watching the news. In the past 24hrs, some locations in Queensland got 300 mm of rain and there is more to come (150 more expected in the next 24hrs).
These images are quite scary from where I stand. People all around Brisbane are being evacuated, water is rising above what I would consider a safe level, and roads are being closed one after another. 











The trauma of last year flood is not that far. Half of the campus of St Lucia including daycares and sport facilities  (tennis courts, swimming pool) was under water at this time last year. Everything is being rebuilt and getting ready to re-open to the public, and I cannot imagine what would happen if the Brisbane River would overflow 2 years in a row (com’on, we want to go to the pool!).

From a “Local” point of view, however, there is nothing to worry about. Summer in Northern Australia is just humid, which is not without reminding me (to some extend) summers in NYC. You know, that sticky air you have to move through?! At least here there is no subway J and one can breathe: temperatures are going down at night and we get some nice breeze.
No rain tonight, it should be back on Friday. Let’s hope that this break will be enough to all stay dry and safe, like what our new phlegmatic Australian friends seem to think, and to enjoy the National Hollyday!
HAPPY AUSTRALIAN DAY! 



Tuesday, January 24, 2012

January in Brisbane

Here we are, new country, new job/new school, new life. We've been in Brisbane for 10 days now, and I've grew accustomed with the city organization. The suburbs organization should I say.
map of Brisbane

St Lucia, Kangaroo Point, Taringa, Toowong, Indooroopilly, Wooloongabba: no doubt... I'm now in a subtropical region, but moreover, an exotic one. For the past few days we have been trying to find a neighborhood that we could call home, and we have found one. Indooroopilly it is!
We'll keep you in the loop and post pictures of the house as soon as we move in.

Meanwhile, one has to keep the kids busy to prevent extreme boredom and fights between siblings! Thanks god for Australia's natural treasures and particularities, we've been visiting the Koalas and Kangaroos among other local creatures, at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary http://www.koala.net/. We even have a year-round family membership!


Don't they look happy?!
The University of Queensland Campus itself is a tropical garden, with gigantic lizards out-of-this-world (out-of-my-world anyway!), great variety of vegetation, lorikeets, multicolor birds, turtles, and monster bats... More pics to come, be patient.
That's it for today, so far so good. Future is looking bright!