old mates and mexican food

Flew into Brisbane around lunchtime today and then drove to the hotel in my zippy little red rental Getz. As always when I see Brisbane in Spring I was struck by the beautiful purple jacaranda trees everywhere ~ so pretty.

I wanted to get a few supplies so I took a little wander around Fortitude Valley half the afternoon. I had just been thinking that 'the valley' didn't really live up to its skeazy reputation when I finally found the local shopping mall...right across the street from seven XXX establishments in a row - everything from an adult bookstore to a peep show to a strip club. O_O

In the evening I headed to Pepe's Mexican restaurant to meet up with Deg and her husband, AG, and Nomes, who drove down from the Sunshine Coast. She only moved to Queensland a few months ago ~ Deg has lived in Brissy for several years now ~ so they were catching up with each other as well as with me. It's amazing how normal it feels to be with some people. It seemed like a week or two had gone by since I last saw them, not three years. Such a great night! Good food, good conversation, a lot of laughs ~ I could so hang with these people every week. I barely know AG, but he is just like Deg in all the important senses (clever, witty, fun, pure-hearted) and it was great to have him along.