I can’t believe it’s been a year since I left Brisbane to go on an internal exchange program to live and work in London. I also can’t believe that I’m at the end of what free days I’ve had in Australia before I fly back to London (yes, you guys have got me hooked).

Thanks to all the people that managed to make time to see me on this whirlwind visit (again!). My apologies for those I didn’t get a chance to catch up with (but you’ll just have to visit me overseas!). I managed to spend plenty of time with the family, get to the beach briefly, and catch up with most people. I had a great dinner and a very enjoyable evening at the Belgian Beer Cafe last night and worked off what ill-effects it had with a hearty breakfast at the ever wonderful Gunshop Café (shown below) this morning.

Brisbane city and especially West End continues to change, and it struck me at how inner-city apartment buildings have built up in such a short amount of time. I’m intrigued to see what effect the supply will have on the property market and how different city living will be in five year’s time. I also visited the Valley for some tea but noticed that at least it had not changed too much.

Petrol’s expensive at AUD1.40/L (though maybe not compared to the English cost) and thankfully public transports improved slightly (they now have a 3am night train/bus service) with prices only increasing by a little bit.

Finally the weather in Brisbane was as brilliant as ever with mostly cloudless but always radiantly blue skies for my entire visit. The temperature has averaged a good 23°C during the day meaning t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops (but more colloquially called thongs) though it does dip down to about 10 at night.

This visit reminds me of how much I will miss but, in another way, of how much I can appreciate living overseas. Til next time Brisvegas!