Local & Country Tours: Brisbane Immersion, Part II
One of the favorite parts of the CSC experience was getting to know the area I was in. Along with the previous weekend trip, more adventures happened in the 2nd week-weekend!
Thursday Night
Before going into the weekend, CSC went to a Broncos (Australian professional rugby league football) game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs! I didn’t know any of the rules (although there are similarities to American football), but the energy was so great that it was exciting to cheer for Brisbane’s team! I was excited that Trent (RFDS), Nick (UQ), Jake (ABV) and John (IBMer & CSC alum) came as well.
The Weekend
During our 2nd weekend in Australia, we had one free Saturday and on Sunday the team did Prestige Day Tour’s ‘A Day in the Country’.
Saturday
The CSC team was divided to do small group tours. In the morning, I joined Black Card’s Cultural Tour’s Brisbane’s Aboriginal Walking Tour.
During the first week, both ABV and RFDS acknowledged the Traditional Owners and Elders past and present, to honor the indigenous people and their history in Australia. In this tour, there are aspects of Australian history that are not easy to hear, but it was important, that while in this experience, to learn more about the Aboriginal and Indigenous people of Australia. For those 3 hours, we listened and reflected.
The tour consists of walking around Brisbane (it was a beautiful day) and visiting various museums, city murals and sculptures, and art galleries that hold Aboriginal and Indigenous Australian art while a local guides taught and explained what we were looking at. They were fantastic hosts and open to all questions we had. Most of where we went were free exhibits or outside where I would have not noticed the art if outside the tour.
In an awkward transition for both this blog and at the time, the late afternoon / evening was a bit more light-hearted and hoppy. Another sub-group of the team went to the XXXX (Four-ex) Brewery. I enjoy touring breweries to learn about the process and the see how the company showcases their history. Four-ex was the most elaborate tour I’ve done where you feel like you’re in a theme park ride while walking around the production line.
You start in their restaurant to check in then walk to the entrance of the tour to put on orange vests / safety eyewear and watch two interactive movies about the history of beer and XXXX Brewery. The next step is walking through to a room that overlooks tanks and you get a walkthrough of the different components of how beer is made. The tour continues with seeing areas of the factory including canning and delivery. Since we went on a weekend, there was no live production happening. The end of the tour includes a room displaying their advertisements / special edition cans and eventually the tasting back in the restaurant.
Overall, it was a great Saturday getting to know Brisbane and some of the CSC members more. The day ended going out to nearby neighborhoods and enjoying each others company.
Sunday
Up early, the team boarded the vans to go on Prestige Day Tour’s ‘A Day in the Country’! I was excited to step away in the city again (and also see wild kangaroos). It was a relaxing drive seeing the country of Queensland.
The trip included going to the town of Boonah to enjoy tea and scones, nature hikes (and waterfalls!), bird feeding and kangaroo watching, lunch with a beautiful view, and wine tasting at The Overflow Estate.
Relaxing Sunday (Funday) and geared up for week 3!
The Broncos game was August 16, 2018.
Weekend 2 dates were August 17–18, 2018.
