We suffer for our art!

Last weekend, we decided we needed a "bloggable event." One exciting event happened: the kettle blew the circuit and then the garage door opener almost caught fire. This was indeed a thrill, but the garage door mechanism was only smoking. Had there been flames....that might have been enough. But when it all fizzled out, we decided we had to go out and search for more blog material.

In 1824, 50 settlers came up from Sydney to live in the Redcliffe Peninsula (about 35 km north of Brisbane). This was meant to be a harsh settlement for incorrigible convicts. It never became self-supporting as the government had hoped. The convict labor wasn't motivated enough despite brutal treatment- not to mention the fact they were given no tools to work with. It must have been pretty hard to farm with no draft animals and no ploughs. After a few years, the settlement failed and moved to present day Brisbane. The town of Redcliffe is now a pleasant enough seaside town with a memorial to the first settlers. The tourist information center does seem rather vague on why the town failed in the first place.

We took our bikes and rode across the Hornibrook Highway - a toll road over Moreton Bay completed in 1934 to link Redcliffe and Brisbane. I'm sorry we forgot the camera, because it was absolutely hilarious. There is a sign saying "Take Care - Bridge Not in Good Repair." The fence on either side of the road was full of gaping holes. The pavement was full of holes. You could see through to the swirling ocean below, teeming with electric blue Blubber Jelly Fish. Rickety barriers blocked off sections that were especially precarious. Despite the danger, the bridge was full of families fishing, people walking and cycling. Little kids and dogs were running around with no fear. Raised in a family full of lawyers, all I could think of was potential litigation.

This all sounds exciting and fun as I write about it, but really it was fairly torturous. Elliott was saying "Can we go home yet?" every 10 minutes. The ride back from the bridge to the car involved a headwind so strong I still have an ear ache. It is unsure whether we will ever venture out again - is it worth it? This coming weekend, we were thinking of going up to the Sunshine Coast. However, the reality of homework may interfere. Elliott has a novel to produce in the next 10 days. Tim is off again for a few days, so we'll have to wait and see what we feel up to when he gets back.