Brisbane

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Back in a city! Cities are always a little tricky when it comes to where to park/sleep and how to get around, but we did pretty well in Brissy. We mainly based ourselves around the park in the suburb of New Farm and, for our trips into the city centre, found a great parking spot on the Southbank, next to some impressive cliffs that are very popular with climbers.



I had actually expected Brisbane to be more like a large town – not dissimilar from Perth or Adelaide – but I was very wrong. It’s a cosmopolitan city which bears a remarkable resemblance to… well… London! The Brisbane River weaves its way through town, there are all sorts of kinds of bridges as far as the eye can see, the Southbank houses the Cultural Centre (theatres, galleries etc), there is a big ferris wheel which is lit up at night, shocking rush hour traffic, buses everywhere, and the weather was very London too! It reminded both of us a lot of Melbourne too, but then that makes sense as Melbourne resembles London. Although not particularly a city boy, Dean really took to Brissy.



On Monday afternoon we went for a walk in the City Botanic Gardens. We thought we had found a good parking spot right next to them but two passers-by promptly told us that our van would be towed away if we didn’t move it by 4pm. Apparently, the buses needed that part of the road during rush hour traffic. A heavy bus presence certainly makes cycling rather thrilling as the official bicycle paths, which aren’t properly marked are in the middle of road to allow for bus lanes at the side of the road!



Tuesday was spent exploring the town centre. Brisbane’s CBD is certainly much more spread out than Melbourne’s and we suspect that Melbourne is larger that Brisbane only because of its sprawling suburbs. I had a very exciting appointment with the dentist to have the last attachments removed from my teeth. After eleven months of orthodontic treatment I now have my teeth back, yay. However, my excitement was somewhat short-lived when I was told that I would have to continue wearing my retainers around the clock for three months, before being allowed to switch to night-time use only. So the constant tooth brushing continues… but at least the end is in sight and the count-down to 31 August has begun!



On Wednesday we visited the amazing Powerhouse. The site for this hip arts centre is an old early twentieth century electrical power station which stood derelict between the late 1970s to 1990s and was refurbished in to then house four theatres, a riverfront restaurant, a rooftop terrace and several event spaces. It’s a wonderful building that holds its heritage well – the central space is several stories high, the old brick walls remain exposed, several old pieces of machinery are randomly displayed and there is an old graffiti wall which is now adorned with the names of benefactors that donate $250+ to the Powerhouse! We continued the day cycling along Brisbane’s Southbank which features a cool artificial beach, a beautiful Nepalese pagoda and garden, the ferris wheel and the Brisbane Cultural Centre. We had great fun sampling and buying yummy produce at the Jan Powers Farmers Market which sets up weekly in the northwest corner of the CBD.



On Thursday I had lunch with lovely Kass – always so nice to catch up with friends while we’re travelling – before we hit the Gallery of Modern Art (or GoMA, which is part of the massive Cultural Centre). The ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’ exhibition featured contemporary female artists working in Australia today. A very diverse exhibition, it included paintings, sculptures, photography, installations, textiles, videos and performances. You wouldn’t even notice that it was specifically about female artists if you weren’t made aware of it. By far my favourite piece was ‘Jungle’ by Noël Skrzypczak, a Canadian born artist who is based in Melbourne. Just stunning. Check out her website at http://www.nskzak.com/



Brissy sure boasts a very healthy arts scene and, according to the editorial in the latest copy of the ‘Brisbane News’ magazine, the city is regarded as a muse amongst artists, songwriters, poets and authors.



On Friday, our last day, we drove out to the Mt Coot-tha Reserve and visited the (second!) Botanic Gardens as well as the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. It’s Australia’s largest planetarium with some fascinating planetary and scientific displays. My newly found interest in all things astronomical was reawakened and we were once again reminded what a miniscule part we play in our galaxy and indeed the whole cosmos. We also learnt of another rare astronomical event, the transit of Venus, that will occur on 6 June. Earth will directly align with the sun and with Venus. If only it was safe to look at the sun, we would be able to see the small dot that is Venus complete its 6.5 hour journey across the sun (somewhat like a pea rolling in front of a watermelon!). As Venus’ orbit is on a different path to Earth’s, transits occur in pairs eight years apart, separated by a gap of 100+ years. The last one was in June 2004 and the next one will be in 2117! This event holds a special significance for Australia as Captain James Cook travelled to Tahiti in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus, and it was on this expedition that he later discovered the country’s east coast, where we are today.

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