Queen Elizabeth II reveled in the crowd of people who came to see her wherever she went on her tour of Australia this month. Thousands upon thousands of Queenslanders came to see Her Majesty speak and comfort those whose homes were ravaged by the terrible floods last January.

Premier Anna Bligh took the Queen as well as the Duke of Edinburgh of the South Bank Rainforest where a contemporary addition, the Rain Bank, was launched and revealed to the public. The Queen followed this with a brief address on the aforementioned incident.

"It was with great sadness that I followed the terrible consequences this past year of your normally peaceful river rising up and overwhelming this popular public space," Her Majesty spoke eloquently of the devastation.

"Nine months later we are here to pay tribute to the resilience and courage of Queenslanders who bravely picked up their lives and rebuilt them after great adversity. I have seen the fortitude, ingenuity and determination of the people of Brisbane to overcome the setbacks of last January." After which, a reception for those most affected by the wreckage was observed.

The queen's solemn and exquisite speech seemed to mimic the mood of the whole of Australia, as she in return, made the country feel consolation. Outside the function more than a few people had a story or another to recount about the Royal Family. "I used to run up the hill (of the Governor's residence) to meet them, but I only ever saw Princess Anne," says Jennifer Elizabeth Anne Stephenson, born in the year of the Queen's first visit in 1954. "Today I just want to see The Queen."

Truly, it does seem that even with the rest of the world in a tizzy over her grandson and his new princess, the Queen still holds some enchantment over this part of the globe.

Australia