Settling in at The Gap in Brisbane

We are now house sitting for a couple who have travelled to England and Italy for seven weeks and caring for their pet Golden Retriever, Toby.  The first few days we were in Brisbane we enjoyed just "being at home" again after travelling for the past couple of weeks.  It didn't take any time at all to get to know Toby who is the most gorgeous pet around.  If we were going to have another pet of our own, it would have to be a Golden Retriever and hopefully it would soon grow to be as lovely as Toby!  Certainly high expectations on our part so just as well we are not in the market for a dog.

Toby enjoyed his normal routine of two walks a day down the hill to the local park - he walked well off lead most of the time but did get distracted at times by other dogs and the stream which he just had to investigate.  He would soon come back to us even if it was dripping wet!  There was an off lead dog enclosure in the park and although we sometimes ventured in Toby thought this was for the purpose of smelling only.

Walking Toby

The temperatures were cooler than northern Queensland but we soon adjusted and enjoyed this lovely days - most days between 25-27 degrees in the middle of the day.  The home has a great outside dining and lounge area and was a perfect place to while away the hours with a coffee, the newspaper or the I-pad.

Outside lounge

 
There were lots of birds in the trees around the deck area and they often came and sat on the fencing and dining room chairs.  As for their chattering - that was another matter!

After walking the dog and sitting enjoying the peaceful surroundings the pool was a great resource.  It is heated to the mid twenties and even for me who hates cold water it was not hard to venture in which we did most days.  From our bedroom we had a lovely view of the pool and often our swimming time was around 9 am - top priority before showers and walking Toby.

We do like to maintain the property that we are staying in, including being fastidious about the internal cleanliness and keeping the lawns cut and gardens watered.  Peter enjoys pottering and soon found the water blaster which was much bigger than our one at home so needed a work out.  Soon all the concrete paths had been water blasted and looked great.

We really felt as though we were at home and looked forward to the weeks ahead.