We arrived last night here at Meriton Suites Hotel in Brisbane after flying from Singapore. We’re now 10 hours ahead of the UK and after a good night’s sleep, we’re ready for our first bit of exploring. Well, mostly! I’m feeling extremely jet-lagged, but I expected that – time for some fresh air and sunshine! The last time we were here in Brisbane was October 2016, doing pretty much the same thing – exploring the city.
But before all that, we needed to deal with some priorities: sort out the temporary Oz mobile numbers and master the tumble dryer! (Guess what I chose!). Ten minutes later, they were both sorted (but the SIM card activations did require an Australian address and personal details from our passports – the tumble dryer was a lot simpler!) ✅✅
9.32am: Today, we had ‘exploring’ on our minds. We were already semi-familiar with Brisbane and we were looking to seeing what has changed in those intervening years (if anything). As it turned out… plenty! 👍
For those less familiar with the city: Brisbane is Australia’s THIRD largest city by population (almost 3 million people live here) and it’s the capital of Queensland. It’s also one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations. Tempted? There’s more information HERE.
9.44am: We took a left out of the Hotel and after a short wander wondering if we were heading in the right direction, we soon found ourselves in a Food Court in Queen Street (what a coincidence). It ticked the ‘is it time for breakfast yet?’ box perfectly, and we settled for a quick bite at Soul Origin featuring some interesting variations on the standard breakfast. A Chorizo and Egg Sub for me and a Haloumi & Vegetable Wrap for Mrs P all washed down with a REALLY GOOD cup of coffee.
10.15am: As we emerged into the bright sunshine of Brizzie’s main shopping drag, it was now much warmer. For once, the forecast was correct, and we were now enjoying ‘mid-20s’ warmth whilst we continued our exploring. We decided to seek out the local Tourist Information Centre – and that was our first surprise of the day – the home of the Centre was the lavish (but long since closed) Regent Theatre.
I think we were marvelling at the ceiling and walls for so long, we almost forgot why we came here! They certainly ‘don’t decorate ’em like that anymore!’ 👍👍.
On our list was to find out more about Australia’s famous Gold Coast and how we could get there in the most direct and (ideally) cheapest method possible. Luckily, translink (the public transport agency of Queensland) had a customer service counter here and we were soon quizzing the very helpful Sarah as to our options.
Thanks Sarah!
It turned out that we could get where we wanted to go for the princely sum of… wait for it… 50 cents EACH per journey!! That’s around 25p and surely the cheapest rail journey ever, given the distances involved? After all, it takes about two hours to get there!
The ‘Go’ Card. Think Oyster Card, but cheaper!
This amazingly low price was a combination of using the translink GoCard and Government intervention deciding that the cost of living was crushing travel and by subsidising it, then things might improve. The card even comes with money already on it too! At this rate, they’d be paying us to travel! 😉. Look out for more details on all of this when we make the trip in a few days’ time.
I can’t wait!! 😁
We were certainly putting the staff through their paces today – and we weren’t done yet!
We wanted to find out more about the Brisbane River – and their ‘Clipper Service’. Luckily there was a member of staff onhand who knew the Service really well.
The last time we were here, we had walked along part of the Brisbane river. Since then, much had changed! It’s still a very popular pastime, judging by the number of people we saw walking/running/jogging, but now there is even more ways to enjoy the view. Now there’s the new(ish) boat service run by the Council. Take your pick: there’s the CityCat, the KittyKat (yes, really!) and the CityHopper – all new to us since our last visit here in 2016. There’s a great route planner HERE.
11.01am: Our final question for the team was to find out how close we were to Brisbane’s City Hall. Luckily, it was just a few minutes away using the very pleasant ‘diversion’ of the Brisbane Arcade. There’s bling and there’s bling… and then there’s the Brisbane Arcade!
What a distraction! The Arcade had plenty of products to help relieve the weight of the unsuspecting tourist’s wallet and purse. Watches, clothes, jewellery – it had it all… and more! At around 100 years old, it’s doing very well for its age! 😉
11.05am: Our final cultural stop was Brisbane’s famous City Hall.
Back in 2016, we’d travelled here by coach as part of our Cruise – and we arrived with seconds to spare. Today was less frantic, thankfully! Then, it was a free ORGANISED walk, courtesy of the City Greeters, but this time, we were going to do our own thing, and remind ourselves, at a more leisurely pace, what a grand old building City Hall is!
TODAY’S TRIVIA: Built between 1920 and 1930, Brisbane’s City Hall sports a very tall clock tower – 87 metres high!
Inside was very well-preserved
We hadn’t spent much time here last time and so today, was the perfect opportunity to put that right. Inside was as if it had been frozen in time. Every part of the building from the stonework to the walls to the flooring looked as if it had been built yesterday. Up on the third floor was also a Museum, although that didn’t float my boat, it was certainly very popular.
The lasting image for me was a photo taken from the gallery… ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Magnificent!
11.40am: With City Hall now completed, we headed down towards the River to catch ourselves a Clipper!
We didn’t have to wait long, but whilst we did, the vista reminded us of London’s Thames Clipper Services and the area around Westminster featuring our own Ferris Wheel. We were soon onboard enjoying views of the River that we’d not seen before.
We’d been reminded back at the Tourist Information Centre that the ‘Howard Smith Wharves had now been completely renovated‘ and it was ‘worth a look’. We took the advice and disembarked around 25-minutes later.
We’d not been this far ‘down’ the River before, but like London Docklands back at home, the disused Wharves were now long gone and replaced with lots of ‘shiny shiny things’. Felons Brewery were a big part of the new look, where their onsite Brewery and outdoor seating to sample their wares seemed to go on for literally miles along the riverfront. It was busy too! 😁👍
With the phrase ‘When in Rome’ in our heads, we ‘took one for the team’ and settled down amongst two very comfy beanbags and ‘tested’ their local cider called ‘Sonny’.
Honestly, we didn’t realise there was a Brewery here!Cheers!
12.25pm: Wow! With Steely Dan and Cockney Rebel tracks filling the air, mid-to-upper 20s temperature and some very comfy seating, it was all pretty much perfect in our book! 😉👍
The famous Story Bridge
My final shot of the day was the iconic ‘Story Bridge’. Built during the Great Depression and opened in 1940, it was a public works programme and is the longest cantilever bridge in Australia (one for the Pub Quiz, ehh??) 🤔
We could have easily stayed sipping cider all day, but that would have meant taking one more for the team and they would have then had to float us back up river back to our Apartment – and that wouldn’t have been a good look! 🤪🤪. We forced ourselves into walking a little more and in a burst of newfound confidence, we decided to NOT take the City Hopper in the direction of ‘home’, but to ‘experiment’ with the local buses. What were we thinking? Well, I know what I was thinking… 🤔. We staggered away from the water’s edge and stopped at the first bus stop we saw. The bus-driver was super-helpful and thankfully, we were soon back on familiar ground.
Ten minutes later, we were in sight of our Apartment and popped into the local 7-11 for some food for tonight.
Yes, very pleased with that on our first day!
1.45pm: What a great day re-discovering Brisbane! For me, it all felt ‘bigger’ and ‘buzzier’ than during our first visit in 2016 – and we’re looking forward to soaking-up more of the City in the few days we have left here. If you’re considering a trip, it all seems very English, with the added benefit of no language issues and super-friendly locals. There is clearly money being thrown at the city – maybe because the Olympics is coming in 2032 – culminating in a brand new city-wide metro system.It’s already really easy to get around here and the Metro will make things even easier. There’s plenty more information about the sights and sounds of Brisbane HERE.
Tomorrow, we’re going to explore more of the River. See you then! 👋👋
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!
I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!
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