The usual morning of packing up an Airbnb. Millie did some drawing and painting of Australian animals.

We had a bunch of food leftover in the fridge so I made us sandwiches and wraps for the travel day. We checked out at 11AM and rushed over to Kmart. Kmarts here seem to be the go-to Australian big box everything store. We returned the cooler and booster seat we bought down in Adelaide. A little bit naughty but also felt less wasteful than throwing them both away. I was excited that they took them back and we taught Millie the lesson “a penny saved it a penny earned.” Between the packed lunches and the refund, today might be the first day of the trip where our incoming cash > our spending.

Then we headed to the airport. We had to do three loops to figure out where to drop off the car, but we figured it out. We walked right through security to our gate.

Nick and I keep talking about how Australia is a high-trust society. This might feel especially so after being in developing countries with more corruption, but we keep noticing it. When we dropped off the car, a lady took our keys and didn’t check for any scratches or fuel levels. We didn’t have to show an ID at the airport, and only needed to show our boarding pass once to get on the airplane. The stores in the airport all have self-checkout and no security barriers. High-trust society.

Millie ran some laps and then we had a 4 hour flight. We took a taxi to our new Airbnb and then walked out for a late dinner. We stopped in at the grocery store to get basics for breakfast tomorrow. Our little neighborhood is great. Within a block we have a huge grocery store, coffee, pharmacy, bookshop, and pizza place. There’s a great forecast and significantly less humidity than the tropical north. I’m excited to explore Brisbane in the coming days.