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2002-07-25 - 5:53 p.m. Safe and settled in Brisbane! I'm exhausted but I have to try to stay awake until bedtime to avoid jet lag. The flight was actually not as bad as I'd thought - it went fast. The Quantas flightstaff was wonderful, and one of them (a young, clean cut male) was super cute and charmed all the ladies on the plane. On the long leg across the Pacific I had a great window seat at an emergency exit and could stretch out my legs. I watched "I am Sam", fell asleep halfway through "The Majestic" (no offense Jim Carrey) and woke up halfway through "Grease". I had two breakfasts, both quite tasty for airline food, and on the last leg I watched something with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, can't remember the name, "good little whodunit" as the lady next to me put it. The lovely Bella Sipthorp from the Powerhouse picked me up at the airport, and Stuart and Renko arrived about half an hour later so we waited for them. It was so nice to see them again. We live in the same city but somehow I never get to see Stuart unless we're both in another city. Customs wasn't much of a hassle, some lines but not so bad, and their little sniffer dogs are SO adorable, little brown and white beagles with black noses and pretty eyes. I half-wished I'd brought something stinky so they'd give me some attention!! ;) The venue is wonderful. It's this amazing sort of arts compound built in and around this big old powerhouse on the river. There's a better description and even pictures at the Powerhouse website. Everyone's very nice and professional and I'm very much looking forward to our two weeks here. We had a late lunch at the Watt restaurant downstairs, where we will no doubt have many more meals in the coming weeks. We shared a few things from the nibbling menu - potato wedges with avocado crush (basically guacamole); some lovely salads, one with pumkin and a lemony dressing, and one with this amazing goat cheese and fresh tomatoes and basalmic vinegar; some chips and this fantastically flavourful bean dip; spring rolls; and bread with this great spice mixture, that was my favorite taste. I have a nice little apartment just a few blocks from the Powerhouse, with a kitchen, nice large bath, and cheerful little yellow-and-white bedspread. Tomorrow I'm going to hit the supermarket down the street and stock up the fridge, if I have time. Now we're going to go to dinner, japanese bbq I think. I'm not tired I'm not tired I'm not tired.....
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