BRISBANE, ANOTHER GEM!
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View of the City from the South Side of the river[/caption]
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This is a view from the walking bridge showing our apartment in the background[/caption]
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A view of the swimming pool in the south side[/caption]
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The plough in , sounded like a good menu !![/caption]
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This creature is a water dragon , 3300$ fine if your caught kidnapping one[/caption]
Brisbane
Another great surprise, circumstances brought us to Brisbane as it was not in the original plans we were going to stay in the Gold Coast and then my travel adviser TRISH decided the Sunshine Coast was a better alternative. Sunshine Coast is 1 1/2 hrs north of Brisbane-and Gold Coast is 1 1/2hrs south, with the change of booking meant we had 3 nights in Brisbane.
The hotel we stayed in was called The Meriton Apartments , not a hotel silly!!
What a beautiful city ,population of 2 million once again spotlessly clean, the city centre is all pedestrian with bars and restaurants and shops all surrounding the walking areas.
Brisbane is also built on a river. The Brisbane River is basically the width of the Thames in London with 3 large traffic bridges that look like they have been there forever and 2 pedestrian/cycling bridges less than 10 years old, all located close to the city which interconnect with other pedestrian/cycling paths that go all over the city and through the Botanical gardens that once again appear to be In the middle of the city. If you didn’t know it you would think the city and roads where build around the cycle / pedestrian paths and gardens .
On the south side of the river, basically the whole length of the city is a playground of grass gardens with deck chairs, pubs, restaurants, a swimming pool of about 300 metres long with 4 lifeguard stations , kids area , adults area, with gas barbecue stations cleaned by the council daily , a herb and vegetable garden created and run by the city with free herbs and veggies offered three times a week from a little stall set up.it’s paid for with the taxes and all kept spotlessly clean . (I found out later that for the “average joe “ taxes are 42 ) This area also houses the convention centre, the theatre district , and cinema complex, no vehicles , all pedestrian, quite the set up all within walking distance of the CBD.
As we were only here for 3 days we did not travel outside of the city to see any surrounding area or beaches and basically walked everywhere (getting the wine and beers off the body) no buses, trains, and taxis or ferries for us !! But they were everywhere for the daily commuters. Just looked so easy to get around from one end to the other .
Another big plus of going to Brisbane was meeting up with 2 buddies I worked with in Calgary , Brad Copland and Denis Buttery. We met up with Brad and had a great session !!?! (He didn’t drink me right under the table ) before meeting up with wife lovely Nicole and gorgeous daughter Phoebe for supper on the South Side. Not like we had not seen each other for 7 years. This topped our visit to Brisbane , Denis we will meet at the next stop
So — Goodbye to Brisbane. Next stop, Sunshine Coast. Check it out on Google. I hope the sunshines!
