The bus stopped at 11am for a lunch break and because we knew we wouldn't get another chance to have food we bought some bread and ham and made sandwiches. These kept us going for a while (it was wholemeal bread) and so when we got to Brisbane at 2pm we were able to go straight to the train station on the ground floor (the bus terminal was on the third floor) and catch a train to Northgate as our friend Carrie had instructed us. The train only took 15 minutes or so, moving through some Brisbane suburbs. We jumped off at Northgate but got a little confused as to which side of the track Carrie would be picking us up from as there were car parks on both sides. We decided to split up and had to wait around half an hour until she arrived on my side. Luckily, Matt could see so he appeared just in time to jump in the car. It was lovely just sitting in a nice car. I've missed that.
It was about a 20 minute drive to Redcliffe, the place that Carrie lived, which is north of Brisbane on the coast. She chatted for pretty much the whole journey telling us about her family and her house and her job and where she lives and what we can do tomorrow. It was nice to just sit and listen. However, we did feel a little awkward when we arrived at her sweet little house. Carrie's daughter, youngest son and husband said hello politely but didn't seem bothered that we were there. I felt a bit like they didn't want us there. I was super glad when after only five minutes Carrie suggested taking us on a driving tour of Redcliffe. It made me feel better when her son, Adam (15), said he wanted to come along as well.
We were taken through the streets of Redcliffe to a small shipwreck which unfortunately didn't look very impressive because we'd just seen a huge one on Fraser Island. However, we did appreciate the fact that it's quite cool to live near a shipwreck. Just north from there was a lagoon and although it didn't have the snazziness of Airlie Beach or Cairns it was still free and a great place for kids. Next up were the botanic gardens. These were only small and the main reason we were brought here was for the bats. There were hundreds of them just sitting in the trees, a few flying about, squarking loudly. It all felt quite eerie and I was afraid I'd get pooed on so I was glad when we left and started our search for kangaroos, the one animal we still wanted to see. Apparently, there are loads of them that just jump across fields, like bunnies and are probably nearly as common as bunnies. We tried a few different fields but it started to rain and we decided they wouldn't like the rain so would stay in their little burrows or wherever kangaroos live.
Redcliffe was a nice enough place and quite a bit larger than I thought it would be. There are four different areas so I'd say it is a bit like four different towns squashed together. Although they'd be very small towns, more like villages. Redcliffe is also the home of the Beegees which is probably the most interesting thing about the place. It was nice to see somewhere that wasn't touristy though.
Back at the house we had a nice cup of tea in nice mugs (I appreciate a nice mug now) and chatted to Carrie's daughter about her subjects at school as she was choosing her equivalent of GCSE options. Carrie had to leave as she was performing in a play that she'd invited us to. This meant that 45 minutes after she left we were taken down to the theatre by her husband Malcolm. It was only a small theatre about 10 minutes down the road and the place was full of locals making us feel like the odd ones out but in a nice way. We were seated at around 7pm at tables as there was a show and a dinner. It wasn't any ordinary show though, it was a murder mystery so the audience have to guess who the murderer is. The show was really great (a few of the actors were a little crap) but Carrie was by far the best! Her character was a drunk judge on a reality dance show (the show was called Murder on the Dance Floor) which she played perfectly. We had been sat next to two ladies who were probably in their late forties and so as a team we had to decide who the murderer was. While we were deliberating we ate some quite tasty food. I had sausage and mash and gravy and then desserts were brought round but because I was too into guessing who the murderer was I felt I didn't appreciate them enough. There were a few different options but they were randomly placed in front of people which was the worst idea ever. I wanted to try them all really but Matt and I got lucky as he had a banofee pie like thing and I had a circular chocolate tart with chocolate mousse inside and strawberries on top. Mine looked the part and tasted good but Matt's was also yummy so I couldn't choose a favourite.
It turned out that our group guess of who the murderer was and how they did it was completely wrong. Somehow we got two points out of a possible thirty (we don't know how) but managed to win a prize for the best team name: clueless. I think we won this because the name went with our score so well. One of the ladies had jokingly suggested the name so Matt and I wrote it down as it was the best one we had. The best bit was that the murderer was someone we hadn't even thought of; it was Carrie! I was rather impressed with the whole evening and didn't mind staying at the theatre for the 'after party' (the cast had some food and a few drinks). We chatted to Carrie's friends who had also come to see the show. They'd only just become friends again because Carrie was working somewhere (she's a temp) that this lady worked and this lady recognised her from the little place in the south of England where they both grew up. Small world! It turned out that Carrie had been friends with this lady's sister and so they all became friends again. They were lovely people who forced beer on Matt and told us about the amazing places that they'd visited, some of them we'd visited too!
As Carrie wanted a few drinks I drove us home in her car. It was nice to drive (I think it might have been a small Mazda) but the windscreen wipers and indicators were on the wrong side so I indicated with wipers a few times. It was gone midnight when we got back so we went straight to bed. We were sleeping in Carrie's 13 year old daughter's room which we felt guilty about but it was nice to have clean sheets and not have to check for bed bugs.
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