The team celebrated their reunion at the Palace Bar and Grill. Nancy and Todd are glad to be together again, apparently.

Journal by Nancy Olson

Today was a super-duper special day. Today was team arrival day!

I've been in Brisbane by myself for a week. Until Adam arrived yesterday, I was on my own. But today, the family has been reunited in the lobby of the Palace Backpackers on the corner of Edward and Ann Streets in downtown Brisbane, Australia.

I went for a run this morning, as has become my Brisbane routine, and then I did the shower/breakfast/Internet thing. I was anxious to make sure everybody was good to go concerning where to meet, since that decision and the dissemination of information was my responsibility. I sent the address out over e-mail yesterday, and I checked for replies this morning. Nothing from Todd, Nick, or Chanda, but Neil replied to tell me he, Colin, and Justin were in the know. See, I had a sneaking suspicion Nick and his gang would probably go to the Riverside Hotel, which was the last word he'd received before I sent the e-mail out yesterday.

I was in the lobby waiting to check into our new rooms when I heard a familiar voice yell my name. It was Chanda! Oh, frabzjous day! We collided in a joyful embrace, and then I was reunited with Nick and then Todd. They had gone first to the Riverside, but they figured it out and found their way to Palace. We stood in the check-in line for a few moments and caught up a little bit before Justin came sauntering in Joe Cool-style and said hello. Behind him, Neil ran in and hugged everybody, and then Colin. They were all laden with surfboards and bags and looked like they'd been having some good beach time in South America.

Adam returned from the gym, and the family was complete. We stood in line to check in and created some real stress for the poor backpacker/employee girl behind the desk. The Palace was kind enough to discount our rate by $3 per person, per night, but there was a little confusion about which room(s) we would get. Everything was smoothed out, and we all moved in.

Each did his and her own thing (I yapped my mouth off all day to poor Chanda, because this was the first time I'd had a teammate to talk to in two months), and then we met in the lobby at 2000 to go downstairs to the grill to celebrate our reunion and Colin's birthday. He turns 24 on the 17th, so his celebration began at midnight.

It was a festive evening, and we're stoked to be back together as a team. Now, what we really want to do is spring our vehicles from customs and hit the road!

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