Brisbane

We had two days on our own in Brisbane and used the time to just kick back and explore the city. Our first night we went to a local pub by the water that had 500 tables! In most of the restaurants here you either order on line by scanning a QR code or order at the bar. We went to the bar! The shepherds pie was as cold as the beer so we exchanged it for a chicken burger.

The next day we set out to explore and walked to the waterfront. We went to a wonderful museum and enjoyed the exhibitions and learning more about the history of Australia. Their dinosaur collection is much different from those in the US. The species are quite different: mostly plant eaters and a lot smaller. Entrance is free also. We also learned that they call this big beak bird a “bin bird” because they feed in the garbage bins!

After lunch we went to the Queensland Performing Arts Center and saw the musical, “Tina, the story of Tina Turner. The performers were great and really rocked the audience at the end of the show. You could feel the floor vibrating as the patrons bounced to the music and we were in the second balcony.It’s a very sad and depressing show as it portrays her sad and depressing life.

The next day we went back to the waterfront and enjoyed walking along the Brisbane River. It was so cool to see so many people enjoying the big screen television in the park airing the Olympics complete with chairs and mats to sit on as well. We took the free ferry up and down the river and enjoyed all the sights and beautiful buildings. When we were done we walked through the park. We enjoyed strolling along and stopped for our first ice cream of the trip.

All three nights we went down to the river front for drinks and dinner with a view. It was so wonderful and the waterfront looked amazing at night. They actually change the color of the lights on the bridge every day. Like our waitress we thought purple was best color since the color seemed to reflect on the water the most.

We still have two days in Brisbane with our Guadalcanal tour group from the WWII Museum in New Orleans. We’re looking forward to the next leg of our trip as well as more time in beautiful Brisbane!