Over dinner last night my sister Lisa asked a favour. Her former boss in Hong Kong had asked a number of current and former employees to write a piece that might be included in the school's 25th anniversary commemmorative magazine. While her words were accepted he asked for a new photo - one that clearly showed where she was living now. This, we feared, probably meant she should be posed with a koala and/or kangaroo outside the Opera House or Uluru, preferably both. She already lives on gum tree filled acreage but it has to look Australian to a foreigner. She didn't want to either insult nor disappoint so we worked on a compromise. Perhaps a beach would do it. Of course the beach closest to me really isn't a beach at all but a man-made lagoon overlooking the city. I needed something from the South Bank markets so the date was set. South Bank beach. This is the face of modern Brisbane, the city's playground. There is not giant red sandstone monolith, no tropical fish and no marsupials but it is Australia as we know and love it. And just in case it wasn't Aussie enough we grabbed an Australian flag. Sure that's ever so slightly piss taking but let's face it that's pretty Australian too. And then we took the dogs to the dog park because that's what these Aussies like to do on a Sunday.
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