Monday, December 1, 2008

Just Being...

Yesterday morning Matilda and I had to be out of the house early to get her to a Cheerleading display she was participating in. After dropping her off I went in search of coffee and the newspaper and a quiet, shady spot to spend an hour or so reading. I found a beautiful park, sat in the shade and wound the car windows down so the breeze would waft through...put a favourite CD on and just drifted for a while.

After she was finished I wasn't ready to go home, wanted more of that relaxed time I had spent alone so we headed to Kangaroo Point Cliffs...right on the Brisbane River. The City of Brisbane has set up this public space to be used by the community for rock climbing and abseiling. I guess they figured that people would use it anyway, they just made it more attractive and much safer by adapting the top of the cliffs. I really love the positive development of this public space.


The view from this part of the river in both directions is spectacular, to the east there is the city and Storey Bridge, to the west there is South Bank, the new Brisbane Star Observation Wheel and GoMA (the Gallery of Modern Art). We found a seat just for two in the shade and just sat and watched the world pass by on the river. CityCats passed every 10 minutes or so, I love that Brisbane uses it's waterway as a means of public transport that costs very little to use (Melbourne could certainly learn a lesson or two here), the trip from the University of Queensland to Brett's Wharf is a fantastic way to spend an hour or two, you can get on and off as you wish...there are a number of beautiful parks along the route as well as the Powerhouse Arts Complex...it has a great cafe overlooking the river and lots of fun, free activities for children.

We didn't venture down the steps right to the river, sculpture gardens and maze...I'm not quite up to that many steps yet, 3-4 is my limit at present but that's improving all the time. We just sat, chatted and let the river breeze pass us by...we also took some "Thelma & Louise" style photos with my phone, a moment or two of silliness...we'd wave to the CityCat passengers just to see how many would wave back. I'd post the pics but cannot for the life of me find the software that I need to install before I can upload them to the PC.


I really enjoy the time Matilda and I spent together away from the rest of the family...there was just the two of us for almost 13 years and we did so much together. I think it's important to find time to spend like that. We don't have to "do" anything, we spent far too much time "doing" and not enough time just "being". We couldn't have done it if Myles were with us yesterday, he wouldn't have had the patience to just sit...he'd have had to have been up and down the steps, climbing the huge Moreton Bay Fig behind us or just wanting to get going. It made it an even more special time for Matilda and I...she gets just being.

6 comments:

Kelly said...

ohh the guilt! i definitely need to do more of that with both my girls. yikes. can i do some individual 'being' time before i leave? thanks for the push! So nice to do when a) you have time and b) you remember! and those moreton bays...i grew up in sydney and i loved them as kid, great memories of mini cities at the base of the tree..faeries, cars, even smurfs. not so many here in temperate SA. I do not however miss the thought of fruit bats shitting in my open toe sandals!

Lissy said...

Oh bliss...the more I hear the more I want to come up there. It just sounds so lovely Kerrie!!
I just want to hug that huge fig...

Anonymous said...

What fun! And how nice that the two of you can enjoy that time together. I hate to wish the kids older, but I do look forward to days when they are able to just 'be' and don't need to be moving one hundred miles an hour.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous pictures! You have inspired me to find time to just *be* with my kids and not always *doing* - you're absolutely right about that. Lately we seem to be on a treadmill and I need to do something about it :o)

Lynda said...

What beautiful photos.. and the tree is incredible! Your time with Matilda sounds wonderful.

Karin said...

What a nice day. Sounds divine. Glad you are doing so well!