Downtime in Brisbane

6th-11th May - Downtime in Brisbane

It felt good to be back in the city! Brisbane is the first 'real' city we have seen in Australia, after Cairns being a lot smaller than expected, and it was nice to be back amongst the hustle and bustle. With most people working the 9-5 we had a walk around the city and the botanical gardens. After taking some time out we then caught the train over to the Suncorp Stadium, home of the Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Reds. It was an impressive stadium but nothing on Old Trafford! The XXXX brewery is situated next door to the stadium and we managed to book ourselves onto the brewery tour.

On arrival we were given a brief introduction to beer and how it was founded by monks who accidentally left wheat bread out in the rain, allowing it to ferment and produce something like beer! The XXXX brand name originates from the X rating they gave to the first beer, the more X's, the better quality. Anyway, less of the facts, more of the tour! We were taken around the factory and saw one of the world largest fridges where the beer is kept after production. Just to give an idea of how much beer is actually produced the guide told us that one of the cannisters can hold 250 000 litres of beer and it would take 240 years for one person to drink if he went through a 6 pack a day! Now theres a challenge! And to top it off they have 32 of these cannisters! A lot of beer! Moving on in the tour we saw the adverts with the phrase being 'better make it another XXXX mate!' Finally, we arrived at the bar. The first beer we tried was a special edition XXX beer which was only available here in Brisbane. Then it was onto the bitter before hitting the lighter XXXX gold and then the stout. Definitely made the most of our $18 spent on the tour! Leaving the brewery at 6.30PM slightly merry we made our way into the centre for a night out.

Next day was spent relaxing in the Botanical Gardens in front of the Parliament building where a Pro Life Protest was being held. In the evening we visited the cinema for the first time in 4 months! It felt like being at home again! Finally, on the 11th we caught the bus onwards to Surfers Paradise...

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