Valentino, Lamington's and Mount Coo-Tha

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Tuesday, September 21, 2010:
Today I attended a fantastic Valentino exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). It featured 72 of the designer's gowns, from his original designs to his latest. Some of the highlights were gowns worn by Jackie O, they had her wedding gown from her wedding to Aristotle Onassis. They had the dress worn by Elizabeth Taylor at the premiere of 'Spartacus' ( white with Ostrich feathers all around the bottom), the gown worn by Cate Blanchett when she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 'The Aviator', and my personal favorite - the gown worn by Julia Roberts when she won Best Actress for 'Erin Brockovich'. Beautiful exhibit!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010:
In contrast to yesterday's wander through the peaceful, classy exhibit of designer gowns, today I ventured into the Queensland Museum to get my learn on. Well, I forgot that the kids here are on school break, so it was total chaos! I tried my best to concentrate amidst the screaming kids and managed to see some interesting exhibits. There was one on Burke & Wells, and their explorations in the 1800's into the outback. I saw some exhibits on the wildlife of Australia, sea life, the history of the explorers, trades, mining, the Aboriginal peoples, and the Torres Straight Islanders. Also saw one of the original fire vehicles, and was impressed that it was a ford and said "made in Canada" on the description! It was a very informative day. However, the day took a sour turn when I left the museum, went to eat my lunch on a nice riverside bench, and got caught in the rain!! It's rained almost every day since I've been here! enough I say, enough! I got home, soaking wet with a new blister 😞

But, the day improved after supper when the rain had stopped and Jodi and I headed out for a drive to Mount Coo-Tha for some beautiful views of Brisbane city at night! Stunning! Then we drove to the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane City and had a nice walk along the cliffs and the river. There is park area along the cliffs, and lots of people come to the cliffs for BBQ's walks, bike rides, and to amsale up the cliffs.

Thursday, September 23, 2010
Today I met Jodi for lunch, and had a true Australian treat, the Lamington! It's a delicious spongecake dipped in chocolate and covered in coconut. I learned later on that it was named after Governor Lamington, when he had unexpected company. His cook had nothing on hand to serve for tea, and so in a last minute effort, she took some old sponge cake, dipped it in chocolate and rolled it in coconut. His guests loved it so much, and asked the cook what she called it... and she said (not that you could ever anticipate this) "It's called a Lamington, after the Governor"... and it's been a hit in Australia ever since!

After luch, I went to the State Commisseriat, which is a building that was built by the convicts to distribute food and tools. I was given a personal tour by one of the volunteers at the Commisseriat, I think I may have been one of the youngest people to walk through the door in a while, they seemed really excited I was there! She gave me a great tour, and told me a lot of information about the formation of Brisbane. Brisbane City was originally used as a convict colony where they sent the criminals who had re-offended and needed harsher punishment than the prisons in Sydney. The Commisseriat was built from the iron stone of the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. I can just imagine hauling stones across the river and building this building would be pretty harsh punishment! Plus the regular 'floggings' my tour guide explained to me. Sounds like fun. But, like all good things, it must come to an end. Supplies took too long to get there from Sydney, and they ended up sending the criminals back to Sydney. However, the original buildings had been built, officials remained, a town was formed (you know, something along those lines).

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Comments

[schu]

Cliffs
Love the pics of the cliffs!! Beautiful!!