Blogs from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

Tour Days 64-74 – My plan for this holiday revolved around two cruises which included a cruise from San Diego, California to Auckland, New Zealand aboard Holland America’s ms Noordam and then a cruise from Singapore aboard Holland America’s ms Westerdam that made four ports of call in Vietnam as well as an overnight stop in Shanghai, China. To fill that eight–week interlude (26 NOV 2023–17 JAN 2024), I planned to visit friends as well as travel a bit in New Zealand and Australia and find some land tours of, perhaps, Tasmania, Indonesia or Philippines. I spotted a 29–day (Bangkok to Bangkok) land tour of southeast Asia that included Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia that fit perfectly into my time slot. A long, complicated Vietnam “tourist visa saga” led me to abort the four–country, 29–day land ... read more

As we cruise towards Brisbane I see a small pod of spinner dolphins from the balcony. (They spin around as they break water.) Just then Ian enters the cabin and we watch them for several minutes together. It would have been sad to have gone the entire cruise without seeing dolphins, other have been spotted many times but we always seemed to miss them. In the morning on opening our curtains after mooring during the early hours at the brand new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal we have a pleasing vista of lush green woodland, reeds and a muddy beach. The effect is spoilt slightly when we go out onto the balcony look towards the city and see a series of car parks, an industrial area and the city airport. Ah well. Some facts about Brisbane; Brisbane ... read more

As a director of Inbound Media, I often have to travel to different cities in Australia to either meet clients or attend conferences. Recently, I got a chance to explore Brisbane city thanks to a Google SEO (Search Engine optimisation) conference. Firstly, the conference was amazing where I got the chance to meet some amazing digital marketing and SEO experts. It was also great to network with other business owners and marketing professionals. Some of them are in my business network now. But mainly in this article, I want to share my experience of Brisbane city which is Australia's 3rd largest city in the Sunshine state of Queensland. Firstly, Brisbane is a nice laid-back city with not much traffic and crowd unless you go to a festival but otherwise it's pretty easygoing. Sydney and Melbourne are ... read more

Part of the riverside site where the gardens are located was originally a botanic reserve. It was established in 1828 to provide food for the early penal colony. The City Botanic Gardens officially opened in 1855. Macadamia Nut - This tree planted by Walter Hill in 1858 is believed to be the world's first non-Indigenous cultivation of the macadamia. F. Jemmy Morrill and the brolgas sculpture - Queenslander Lindsay Daen created this bronze sculpture. It is on permanent loan from the Queensland Art Gallery. The sculpture is of 22-year-old seaman, James Morrill. In 1846, he was the sole survivor of an outer edge Great Barrier Reef shipwreck. Saved by the Aboriginal people, he lived with them for 17 years before returning to the European settlement in Bowen, North Queensland. He helped to improve indigenous and early ... read more

Du premier au 7 janvier 2020 : Nous passons la semaine à Brisbane chez Alan et Carole. Le premier janvier, nous mangeons mexicain en famille, puis nous allons nous promener au centre commercial Toowong Village. Le lendemain, Alan nous emmène au Royal Park Hotel où il nous a réservé une chambre. Nous prenons un superbe steak pour le déjeuner au restaurant Parlar, puis nous visitons le parc en face de l'hôtel. Le soir, nous dînons indien au MEHFIL INDIAN restaurant. Le 3 janvier, Alan nous a réservé des place pour le ATP tournament, qui se déroule à Brisbane, avec justement ce jour-là, la rencontre France-Chili. Superbe journée, surtout pour moi. Le 4 janvier, nous allons nous promener avec Ryan, le fils de Carole et Alan. Nous faisons un tour de grande roue puis nous allons au ... read more