Surf's Up in Brisbane

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Arrived in Brisbane after a seven hour flight from Singapore – Business Class of course !

Brisbane is Australia’s third largest city and is vibrant and buzzing, some might say brassy... we stayed in an apartment on the 19th floor of the Oaks Festival Towers, centrally locally in the CBD (not to be confused with an SBD, according to John ! ) convenient for the bars, restaurants and public transport, Festival Towers incorporates the Festival Hall where all the famous names have played including The Beatles, Neil Diamond, Rolf Harris ! Tonight we had our first BBQ, not Australian but Korean...what’s that all about ? We couldn’t find an Aussie BBQ so settled for the Korean BBQ Restaurant.

Friday 12th November - Up early for a day out to “Surfers Paradise” on the Gold Coast, caught the 7.25am Gold Coast Express train from Brisbane Central Station to Nerang and then a bus from Nerang to the coast. The public transport system is excellent. We had a surfing lesson booked 10am-12pm with Sam the typical male blonde 20 year old Aussie surfing instructor dude. He was very attentive to Vicky, leaving John to his own devices, telling him he was a great surfer and needed no instruction... yeh, just check out the photos. Obviously the surf lessons we had at Fistral Beach in Newquay last year stood us in good stead as we were both up on our boards riding the waves in no time...not ! It was totally back to basics as we had forgotten everything we knew !

Lunch in Surfers Paradise that can only be described as a bit Benidorm / Blackpool, Vicky was chatting with Sam and he said we were lucky that Brisbane was our first stop in Oz as things could only get better and we will really appreciate everywhere else that we visit ! Came back to Brisbane on the Gold Coast Express, exhausted after surfing. A visit to the Bottle Shop (that’s off licence to you), cooked in the apartment (salad !), and had an early night Down Under !

Saturday 13th November – Up early again for a 7am pick-up to Moreton Island for another action-packed day. We took the Micat Ferry to the island with a pre-booked group made up of Japanese, American, Norweigan, Swedish, German (all teenagers on their gap year), we were the only Brits and the oldest ones – Adventure before Dementia ! We were ‘punk’d’ by the driver for putting our hands up when asked “anyone from England ?” – and duly ridiculed for being pomms - lesson learned !!

An hour from the Port of Brisbane on the Micat and we really were in paradise. Moreton Island was discovered in 1770 by Captain James Cook and named Moreton Bay after the then President of the Royal Society of Britain. The island remains one of the few untouched areas of natural wilderness along the east coast of Oz with white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and refreshing freshwater lakes. Amazingly unspoilt it offers activities including sand boarding, 4x4 driving (there are no roads on the island), and shipwreck snorkelling. We strolled along the beach and we were extremely fortunate to see a pod of dolphins, in an out of the water right in front of us, it was awesome !

Vicky relaxed on the beach while John went shipwreck snorkelling. “Swimming with the fishes” is amazing, seeing all types, colours and sizes of fish. The snorkelling guide gave us bread to feed the fish, and hundreds swim towards you to take the bread from your hands – the trick apparently is to try to catch them but no luck ! Saw the amazing sight of the sea-bird diving for fish into the water where we were – where is that underwater camera when you need it ?!

Moreton Island really is the most beautiful, clean, tranquil place. We came away with our memories and left only our footprints.

Back on the ferry and stayed in the apartment for the evening, shattered ! This is Brisbane on a Budget ! Lots of early nights down under !

Sunday 14th November – Last full day and evening in Brisbane, strolled around the Riverside Market and along the river and through the Botanic Gardens, seems to be an emerging theme on this trip !

We walked down to the Riverside for a meal in the evening, ate at the Jellyfish Restaurant - John had Moreton Bay Bugs, the local dish and highly recommended.

Leaving Brisbane in two hours for the flight to our next destination - Cairns.

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