Brisbane

Wotif.com have turned up a huge old colonial house (www.franklin-villa.com.au run by the fabulously named Forrister Jenot) built in 1800, situated south of the river (yes, I am prepared to go south of the river) in Highgate Hill and we even get a 4-poster bed and a Jacuzzi in the bathroom. It looked good on the website, but we didn’t quite appreciate how lucky we’d struck until we got there. The huge downstairs living area and outdoor pool are set up to be shared by everyone who rents one of the five bedrooms (a kind of high-class backpackers), but there’s no one else here except a guy who’s working at the nearby car show from 10am til 10pm for 10 days straight (and that was the only straight thing about him). Which means that once the kids are in bed, we can play snooker in the snooker room, use the internet or sit in the sitting room, cook in the huge kitchen or swim in the pool. We can even go up to the verandah and admire the view of Brisbane twinkling in the distance (not too much of a distance this time).

Making the most of our fab location, we head into town for a walk around the CBD, China Town (not really a town, more of a China Street) and drive into the trendy Fortitude Valley, all rounded off with a visit to Strike bar for a game of tenpin bowling. Sadly, despite constantly thrashing him on the Wii before we left, Will won this time. I can use my weak back as an excuse for not being able to get down low enough (and I’ll have to remember that excuse, you never know when it might come in handy).

Down at the South Bank (which looks scarily like London’s South Bank), apart from a lagoon (open air swimming pool, right next to the river, complete with sandy beach) and a gorgeous riverside walk, there’s an Andy Warhol exhibition on which I’m desperate to see. I drag Will in kicking and screaming but he’s soon as immersed in it as I am and the kids are even enjoying watching his 15 Minutes tv shows which are playing. It’s a great exhibition and made child—friendly by being able to do your own 15 seconds of film, have your photo “Andy Warholed” and stand in a room filled with silver pillow-shaped helium-filled balloons which you can bash around. A great way to spend the afternoon.

And what greater way to spend the evening than dinner with the rest of the Rolleys. Louie’s cooking and we finally get to meet her mum Helen, her sister Annabel with boyfriend Brendan and catch up with Jack and meet his girlfriend Sam. Poor Harley manages once again to be the target of an angry dog’s attention when Helen’s dog Rudy, a normally placid sausage dog, decides he doesn’t like him. Thankfully this dog was hustled away before he could bite!