In September 2015 I visited Brisbane and
Townsville to catch up with friends (Brisbane) and family
(Townsville). It wasn't meant to be a tourist trip but Brisbane ended
up that way. My friend Alison, with whom I was staying, was held up
at work. Seeing as she was working in India at the time, “held up”
meant she arrived days, not hours, later than planned. Thankfully she
did get home for the last couple of days of my visit.
I stayed at Wolloongabba and didn't get
north of the Brisbane CBD except to have brunch with my friend
Joseph. On Southbank, as well as lunch with my friend John, I was
able to ….
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| The Gabba cricket ground |
... stroll through the riverside parklands and
beach, including a leisurely browse through the Sunday riverside
market – only one purchase, a casual shoulder bag. Quite restrained
of me :-)
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| Epicurious Garden, Riverside gardens |
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| Epicurious Garden |
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| Riverside Beach |
... use Alison's ticket to a concert at QPAC
(Queensland Performing Arts Centre) – Simone Young conducting the
Queensland Symphony Orchestra performing Mahler's 6th
symphony – the one with the hammer of doom. Impressive!
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| QPAC |
... 'do' the galleries – Queensland Art
Gallery, GOMA (Queensland Gallery of Modern Art) – and the State
Library
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| Aboriginal art at GOMA |
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| GOMA |
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| City skyline from GOMA |
... ride the river ferries towards the mouth
of the Brisbane river. On Alison's return we took the ferry in the opposite direction, to St
Lucia where her office is located – when she's in town!
I really like Brisbane. It has retained
many more of its old buildings than Melbourne has and the skyscrapers
are not nearly as tall. Plus the mall really is car free, as a proper
pedestrian zone it is a pleasure to walk there. I loved the way different coloured Chinese lantern bushes had their stems entwined so that several different coloured flowers appeared to be on the one bush.
Across the river ...
I took the free bus to North Brisbane
“just for the ride”, walked about the city, did a DIY tour of the City
Hall, visited the art museum at QUT's Gardens Point campus, strolled
through the City Botanic Gardens.
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| On the river -- Storey Bridge |
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| Brisbane City Hall |
I particularly enjoyed the City Hall where
I did a DIY tour seeing artefacts from Brisbane's sister cities, the
concert hall with its swirling, changing-colours ceiling, the Museum of
Brisbane, and a tour of the clock tower from which there are some
worthwhile views of the city.
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| The concert hall in Brisbane City Hall |
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| Views from the City Hall clock tower |
During the DIY tour I stumbled upon the
mayor's office. Not a guard (with or without weapon) in sight - amazing! I was
made most welcome and the receptionist pointed out another display area that I would otherwise have missed because it wasn't on the
self-guided tour itinerary. I also bumped into a small guided tour
and joined them to see the otherwise off-limits basement area where, during WWII, there was a Red Cross R&R centre for servicemen.
Recent repairs to the building had uncovered signatures and messages written on the walls above where the
urinals were installed at that time – graffiti then, historical record now.
The Museum of Brisbane was showing
paintings and stained glass by William Bustard ... more pictures and
some cartoons rather than lots of glass. Of the paintings, most were
excellent water colours; the oils were not so good. There was also a
fascinating exhibition relating the story of the Brisbane River from
source to sea.
And somewhere along the way, I lost
most of the photos from my 'north of the river' explorations :-(
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Castle Rock, Townsville - watercolour by William Bustard
from the exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane |
Townsville was strictly family, as
planned. Most of the time was spent 'hanging out' at home but we did
have a day at an animal park, Billabong Sanctuary, a short way south
of Townsville, and visited the Museum of Tropical Queensland,
followed by an ice-cream and walk along the beach before I headed to the airport and home.
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| Feeding the crocs at Billabong Sanctuary |
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| Juliette running along the beach at Townsville |
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| Magnetic Island, off the coast at Townsville |
