Brisbane Day 1

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It was a long day of travel getting into Brisbane; 14 hours from LA to Brisbane alone. When Sophie picked me up at the airport I am sure that I was smelling a bit ripe. We took a quick trip to her apartment where I had a shower and was able to meet one of her roommates, April. I had gotten in around 7:00 am so we were both ready for breakfast. Sophie took me to someplace called 63, the place had the most extensive breakfast menu I may have ever seen. There was some clarification needed on the menu but for the most part I could tell what everything was. No, I did not try vegemite; the stuff smells like death. I had some French toast, eggs, and two rashers of bacon, the nice thick English style, not the thin puny American style of bacon. Catching up with Sophie was nice, we haven’t really had a chance to talk since parting ways after Costa Rica, so it was nice to just sit and talk for a while.



When it was time to pay the waitress kind of looked at me funny after I tried to walk away leaving her a conventional 20% tip. I forgot that they don’t really tip here, so I politely took my change and we were on our way to South Bank. We took a stroll down the bank of the Brisbane river, walked down to the ferris wheel that had been in place since the world’s fair was held here, we sat on this little man made beach and watched some kids swim as some of the lifeguards did some kind of strange photo shoot, eating some candies we had purchased at an Aussie Sweet Shop.



After killing enough time that we thought we might be able to check-in to the hotel, that Sophie was kind enough to set up for me, we made our way through the city. Stopping at a park that Sophie helps host a early morning outdoor workout, we took a quick walk and I took some photos of the Brisbane skyline. We then took a drive over Story Bridge and made our way towards King George Square to check in to the hotel. I laid down for a nap as I was pretty exhausted from my travel and wasn’t quite on the right time yet. Sophie’s dad was getting married the next day on the Gold Coast and she had family in town so she made the drive down to be with family leaving me to my own devices.



The nap was much needed, after about an hour I woke up, showered, grabbed my tripod and camera and headed back down to South Bank. I passed through King George Square and made my way through the bustling streets filled with Friday night pedestrian traffic. The area I was in is the heart of the city, so there was some great people watching. I made my way back down to South Bank while noting some shops and restaurants that looked promising. The lights on the ferris wheel were beautiful at night, so I stopped along the way to take several photos. My goal was to take a reflection picture off of the man made beach that we had seen earlier that would capture the skyline. I don’t know that I love what I got, but we’ll see when I pull it up at home. Regardless, it was a beautiful night with a gorgeous full moon that shone off of the river, and a great first night in Australia.



On the way back to the room I stopped and walked through a couple of shops, picked up a few items that are not worth noting here. I elected on a quick slice of pizza for dinner, it wasn’t worth it. I sat at the intersection of two closed off streets and did some people watching while I ate. I made my way back to my room around 9:30, it had been a long day and I was ready for sleep. Which I found after reading a few pages of my book. Strange dreams came to me, the most memorable one was trying to save my brother Brock who had tried to do a trick into the water and hit his head and shoulder on a hand rail while jumping from a significant height into the ocean. I don’t quite know what it means, but I was reminded how glad I am that he didn’t go cliff diving with us two weeks previous.



Day one in the books, in the morning I am off to the Australia Zoo.

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