Brisbane, March 2003

 

In March 2003 we took advantage of some super-cheap promotional fares to Brisbane (the capital city of Queensland) from Mackay on Virgin Blue, and spent a week seeing some of the sights of the city. The weather was most cooperative and we walked ourselves to exhaustion, but still have many things left to see on another trip. Don't let anyone tell you Brisbane isn't interesting -- it most definitely is! It may have been a boring place some years ago, but no longer.

This account of our trip doesn't do justice to our enjoyment of our visit. We'll definitely be back again. In the past we've spent only a day at most as a stopover on a trip somewhere else, but we now know that the city is worth a visit on its own. (Perhaps people from bigger places, who actually like bigger places, might not find Brisbane as enjoyable, but we've lived in Sydney and so we do have some standard of comparison -- and we definitely like Brisbane.)

Enough editorialising... here's our report.

Thursday 20 March 2003.
We drove to Mackay, where we caught a Virgin Blue flight to Brisbane. We were happy to find how easy it was to leave the car for secure parking at $8 a day (book ahead, then park the car in a 5-minute parking slot, turn the keys in at the Virgin Blue counter and fill out some paperwork).

Our flight was late, but they did have some good looking sandwiches for sale on board, despite the menu not listing them. (We had brought our own sandwiches, since we didn't know what to expect, either in quality or price, having never flown on Virgin before.) Neither of us liked the seats; not sure why, because on a longer trip to Sydney a few weeks later, Eric found the seats quite okay. Perhaps we'd been sitting in the car for too long on the drive from Airlie Beach.

We had a long wait at Brisbane airport for the shuttle bus to the Summit Apartment Hotel, but we did get to see a bit of the city during the drive. This hotel is about 20 years old, and is located at 32 Leichhart Street in Spring Hill, next door to St Andrews Memorial hospital. The apartments were in the process of being sold individually to investors, so we inspected various ones at different levels of the building. We also peeked into the sauna rooms and inspected the swimming pool. Pity we were too busy to take advantage of either of them!

The apartments have been fixed up a bit but are pretty much in original condition -- surprisingly good condition, by the way. They all have views, ranging from reasonable (lower floors) to very good (upper floors), tiny balconies, laundry facilities, and full kitchens; the ones we saw had bathtubs with the shower in them. Jean loves to soak in a tub of hot water after a hard day's walking, so she was delighted; so many places these days have showers only.

Eric walked to Boundary Road (the next street over, down a short, steep slope) seeking a store, and found that the 24-hour IGA there is terrible, with absurd prices and pre-stale stuff. He bought wine (at a liquor store) instead. We then walked to Woolworths (on Turbot Street, near where Boundary Road meets Wickham Terrace) to get breakfast supplies, and a chicken for dinner. Jean wasn't impressed by the steepness of the hills on Boundary Road, especially when she later discovered a less hilly route back up Leichhardt Street. Still, a bit of serious walking is good for us, and we hadn't had our walk for the day... or so we kept telling ourselves.

Friday 21 March.
After we collected our email, we took a long walk down the hill (by way of Upper Albert Street) through the CBD and across the river to West End, not taking enough time to explore the Southbank area with its art gallery and other places of interest. Around lunchtime we wandered back to the central city, did some shopping, ate lunch, and visited a friend's bookshop, Pulp Fiction, in Anzac Square Arcade.

We also found the shopfront where one can get city bus information. Although they did not have an overall map, they did have a large book in which you could look up various areas and get an idea which route numbers you wanted, then easily pick up a printed copy of a route map and timetable for the relevant bus route.

We were most impressed with the dedicated bus lanes in parts of central Brisbane, and going across the bridge to West End. Someone has certainly done a good job with the public transport in the central city. (On a previous trip we had taken a bus to the city from an outlying area and were pleasantly surprised by the cost and the speed of the journey.)

Saturday 22 March.
After breakfast, we took another walk to inspect properties in the Spring Hill area. This gave us a fine excuse to explore the area fairly thoroughly. It's an interesting mixture of rotting old houses, well-maintained old houses, and new (often high rise) development. A city bus route makes a loop through the area, and other city buses go through, mostly early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The Brisbane online bus service curiously can't find any of these routes if you ask it how to get from where we were staying to the city centre, though if you happen to know the route number it finds it okay.

Sunday 23 March.
Eric went off with friends for breakfast, then another friend for lunch. Jean went to a professional meeting in the city. The weather remained fine, though a bit warm.

Monday 24 March.
Around 8 AM we set out to walk along Gregory Terrace, then down Brunswick Street to the mall and Chinatown (in Fortitude Valley). The Valley has an odd mixture of the sleazy ("adult shops" and a reputation for prostitution) to the upmarket (new developments of garden-style apartment blocks; trendy cafes and shops). We imagine it's quite different (more lively) in the evening than it was early on a Monday morning.

From there we headed back towards the city along Wickham and Ann Streets. On Wickham Street, we unexpectedly came upon camping and hiking stores, in which Eric sought a day pack or some similar carry bag and Jean found some sturdy sandals with good arch support (Birkenstock), which she has been looking for.

In the evening we attended a Seekers concert, part of their final concert tour, at the Concert Hall in Southbank. The median age of the audience was, not surprisingly, at least our age or above. We were well towards the rear in row W, and sound was a little muddy, but generally good, and mercifully not amplified to the level of most music for younger audiences. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Eric tried to talk Jean into attending the Bruce Springsteen concert the following night, but she decided that enough was enough.

Tuesday 25 March.
After checking out of our room, we left our bags at reception and headed off for some more sightseeing. At noon it was time to go to the airport. This time the Virgin Blue flight was on time, but the seats were no more comfortable. We picked up the car quickly and easily at Mackay airport and drove home. We could easily have spent another week exploring the river, and Southbank, and the museums, to mention a few of the attractions. A friend had recommended renting bicycles, but Jean decided her knees would never survive that!

Here are some useful and interesting websites about Brisbane.

Some general information from Walkabout: http://walkabout.com.au/locations/QLDBrisbane.shtml

The government website with bus transport information: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/transport_parking/buses.shtml and ferry transport information: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/transport_parking/citycat_ferry.shtml

One of several portals to information about Brisbane: http://www.bne.com.au/home_index.html

Access Brisbane, a guide to access and facilities for people with disabilities plus stories, art and feedback: http://brisbane-stories.powerup.com.au/access/default.htm

Queensland Museum Explorer: http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/

Information about typical Queensland houses, an interesting architectural adaptation to the climate: http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/features/qldhouse/

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