Brisbane Best Bits

I’ve just come back from Brisbane, capital city of Queensland and about 1:15 north of Sydney as the crow flies (if its fluttering around in a Qantas jet). It’s been a great week. No doubt this was supported by the fact that I wasn’t at work and could sleep in if I wanted, hang around our rented apartment if I wanted, and even more importantly messy real life interruptions were greatly reduced!

But even without the usual reasons for taking a holiday, Brisbane is a great and easy destination to head for.

Here is my list of Best Bits.

Motorways and major roads – great and most in good condition, lots of big signs to tell you which direction to head, and highways all over the place. We, and our Tom Tom, loved driving around.

Public transport. We caught a train from Yeerongpilly and for the next 2 hours could go anywhere we liked within certain zones. Our allowed zones happened to include ferry travel from Southbank to the city. Once we reached the other side of the river, we caught the free bus that travels around the city centre – much cheaper than a tour bus and it goes past most of the notable spots like Government House and the main shopping strip.

The Brisbane River. We had a  riverside apartment with nothing (apparently) between us and Mt Coot-tha but the river, a golf course and lots of bush. The river is a winding strip of fast moving brown water that changes character with the passage of sun, clouds, moon and time. In the early morning, it brought rowers down on training runs like schools of noisy fish. At night time, we watched party boats move up and down. When it rained it became misty and mysterious. When the sun shone, it glittered.

The trees – flat topped with tropical flowers dripping off them in puddles of red and orange. I don’t know what they’re called, but I wish I could grow them at home. I’d plant a comfy bench seat underneath and spend hours contemplating life and daydreaming.

Our apartment was wonderful – modern, spacious, all mod-cons kitchen, and free wifi! What else could a person ask for?

If you know what any of these plants/trees are called, please let me know. These particular ones were pictured at the University of Qld – St Lucia.

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Ordinary you… on holiday

If you think about it, any holiday or journey to places elsewhere is really just taking the ordinary you, with all your everyday thoughts, habits and expectations, to a different location. For most of the time, you will still be the same old you. But, if you think of your trip in parts, you will experience it differently and the ordinary you, for that little part, will be extra-ordinary.

For instance, the ordinary you doesn’t ordinarily experience the lift-off of an aeroplane; the roar of engines as they power-up, the lurch of the aircraft as it leaves earth and your stomach as your body re-configures its place in the world. Your ordinary self does not usually let out just a little, slightly embarrassed sigh of relief as the plane goes from ungainly grounded vehicle to smooth-flying jet: that tiny moment when it feels as if the plane is deciding whether or not to fly or crash. I love this part of a trip. Up until these minutes, the routine of checking in, getting through security and then waiting for your flight to be called, feels like drudge rather than going on holiday. Take-off lets ordinary me know that, at this point in time, I am something more. I am no longer in my ordinary life.

And then there’s the clouds. During my usual week/life, I often forget to look up to see what’s happening in the sky. Even when I do, while the cloud formations and sky colour are often awe-inspiring, seeing them from above is something completely apart from the real world. Last week, I drove toward a sunset in which the clouds appeared to have been dipped in liquid gold. It was glorious! But from a plane, where you can see all the dips and curves, the mountains and valleys that are only hinted at from earth, that is truly heaven.

The next part is arriving at your accommodation. Finally, you will find out if ordinary you was able to choose something out of the usual. Is the hotel room as good as the pictures or better than the pictures, or a dismal failure. I’ve just arrived in Brisbane having chosen our holiday apartment from stayz.com.au. The photos and description all sounded great. The reality was way better. Spotlessly clean, modern, lovely views of the Brisbane River (we’re waterfront), a pool downstairs and nice area to wander around in. We enjoy looking at all the houses wherever we go. Architecture changes so much from region to region and some of the “Queenslanders” here are amazing. We’re in Tennyson Reach (even sounds good) about 20 mins or so from the city.

When we travelled to New Zealand a few months ago, I used lastminute.com and found some so-so and some wonderful accommodation. Queenstown was amazing. Invercargill okay. Te Anau very so-so (don’t get me wrong, beautiful town, wonderful views and lots of great accommodation – just not the place we stayed at).

As usual, I’ve digressed. The part of the holiday where you walk in to the room/apartment/cabin that you’ve booked (almost sight unseen) and it’s great, that part takes you out of the ordinary and into someplace new.

I’m still sitting in my first full day of Queensland. The heat after the cool of Sydney is much appreciated. Our stretch of river changes with the light and, right now, has disappeared into blackest night broken only by the city lights in the distance. It’s wonderful and every step we take as we move around our lovely apartment keeps us out of the ordinary, at least, for these precious parts of our holiday.

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