Saturday, November 8, 2008

Today was my day to roam around Brisbane, or BrisVegas as it is sometimes called. J dropped my off at the train around 10 and left me to my own devices. The train is pretty fantastic - $5.10 for a day pass on the weekend. Half an hour later I was downtown. I didn't really have a set plan, so I walked one direction until coming across the Museum of Brisbane (MoB). There were lots of young-uns around for a Dora the Explorer xmas thing, but I sidestepped all of that for a Ekka exhibition. Kinda like the PNE but bigger and with a longer history. Pictures of bygone livestock exhibitions, knitting & carving prizes, stories, and candy. One section had a number of historical candy bags, including one overtly racist "nigger boy licorice" bag. The Ekka in general seemed similar to the PNE so it didn't really hold my interest for long.

Also in the MoB is a historic elevator up the clock tower for a view of Brisbane. It used to be the tallest building in Brisbane, but once skyscrapers came to be it was quickly dwarfed. As such, the view was not spectacular - basically looking across at other buildings.

Walking around the downtown area, I stumbled across a lineup for R Sushi (a takeaway sushi place). I figure if the locals like it, it must be cheap or good. As luck would have it, it was both! The salmon & avocado roll and sesami tuna roll were both super tasty. I also stumbled across a music band playing in the Queen St. mall. They were kind of like Stars, but more mellow, so I listen to them for a half hour. They drew quite a crowd. Amidst all of this, Batman drove through the mall in his Batmobile with Santa in the passenger seat. Yeah, I didn't understand either.

South (I think) of Queen St. Mall is the botanical gardens, so I decided to walk around a bit. More luck for me - I stumbled upon a volunteer starting a tour around the gardens, so I got to listen to the history (was a jail site for female convicts) and get a description of all the trees. Lots of fig trees. Apparently the gardens is prone to the occasional flood, and another big one is overdue.

Onwards across the walking bridge, I came across South Bank Parklands, which is a great place to sit and hang out. There are swimming areas, cafes, shops, museums, etc. I munched on a tasty ice cream in the muggy heat and perused the vendors selling their wares. I very nearly bought a panorama photo of Lake McKenzie (just north of here) because it brought back fantastic memories of our last trip here 10 years ago. Perfect sand. Clear clean water. Most amazing lake ever.

At the other end of South Bank is the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). The exhibit there on architecture was really interesting - lots of houses and apartments redesigned to take advantage of the surrounding environment with minimal impact. Also at GoMA was a bunch of visual art stuff that kept me occupied for a couple hours including an awesome "Worry doll" series that I must follow up on. It occupied me so much so, in fact, that I didn't have much time to enjoy my coffee before catching the train back to Ferny Grove. Just as I hopped on the train, the rains started, and got progressively heavier as the night wore on. J&V said it was nothing compared to some of the heavy rains they get though.