Category: Brisbane

Rosie and The Operator are off to Queensland, Australia to visit family and soak up some winter sun after a particularly cold winter in Kiwiland, and, if the Aussies only do one thing right…its sunshine, so here we come!  

Our first impressions were of the city at night which was magical, in the daylight it was just as impressive.  Clean, open, green and accessible feeling, being the third largest city in Australia 2.5 million people cant be wrong.  Yet it does feel wrong, because you were not fighting amongst the crowds, you had space and plenty of it, brilliant! 

Gentle music was being piped into our pod and then a commentary started on the History of Brisbane and following the leaflet we received with our tickets we were able to pick out and learn about the major land marks we could see from the wheel.  Rosie felt she really got her monies worth after at least 10 revolutions.  Was well worth the wait YakYak…she thought so too.

The sun was out in full force and the fields were full of gum trees and scrub, drab, limp and strangely colourless, like the life had all been sucked out of them…for winter it did seem pretty dry.  3.5 hours later we drove through the pretty Victorian town of Childers and Rosie rang the Ballerina to let her know we were an hour away.  We then turned onto the Isis Highway and the landscape changed to one of green bounty, orchards of macadamia’s lined the roads and sugar cane fields looked lush and green. 

The Ballerina and The Buffoon have a cunning plan…by introducing Rosie and The Operator to the ‘delights’ of their regional brew and them being full fee paying recipient’s of a tour of the distillery, Ballerina and The Buffoon get to tour for free if they sign up as Bundaberg Rum Ambassadors….oh, that’s a free tour and free samples and a free discount book of booze savings.  The only catch, you have to be local to be an Ambassador.

Being at river level gives you a totally different perspective of the city, the riverside apartments tower over you and those lucky enough to own homes on the riverside…well, the private jetties with boats moored alongside speaks volumes for the wealth here in the city.  River spray was mingling with a slight drizzle that had begun to fall. 

Pinkyfluff had our ferry timings worked out perfectly, we alighted at the Queens St Wharf and were heading through town to The City Hall…we had an appointment with the Lord Mayor at 3.00pm…well kind of…..The city centre is leafy and green, beautiful sandstone and Victorian buildings with lacy balconies tower of you, towering over them are the new generation sky scrapers and the blue sky peeps out behind them all.

The journey from the bridge down to this flat area was a little hair raising.  A steep alley had to be negotiated…The Operator (under his breath) preferred it if Rosie walked…Rosie was a little apprehensive…and, buoyed by a little drunkenness thought, what the hell.  The Operator gave Rosie the game plan….