Brisbane

I caught the air train into the central train station and checked into Annie’s Bed and Breakfast about 5 minutes walk away. It was another dated hostel but with comfortable rooms and an excellent free breakfast.

It was great to have warm weather again. Brisbane claims to be the sunniest city in Australia with an average of 8 hours sunshine per day across the whole year.

It is a modern city with many restored buildings, such as the Post Office, Train Station and Treasury (now a Casino).

Unfortunately, not all have survived. The Regent Theatre opened in 1929.

Regent

Despite several attempts to save it in the 1970s and 2000’s, the auditorium was demolished and replaced with office space. The entrance hall was kept and now houses a Tourist Information Centre.

The CBD (Central Business District) sits on the north side of the Brisbane River. The south side of the river was the site of Expo 88, part of Brisbane’s bicentennial celebrations. Today it has been redeveloped as an arts and recreational area. The view south over Victoria Bridge has some similarities with the view south over Waterloo Bridge in London.

The South Bank also has its own beach.

Brisbane has two Botanical Gardens. The first, in the CBD, has a combination of formal gardens and mangroves. It is popular with city workers.

The other is based at the base of Mount Coot Tha which also has a popular lookout at the top with great views of the City.

The other Botanical Gardens has more formal areas and wildlife (this is a bush turkey)

It also has some of the original art commissioned for Expo 88.

My favourite part was the Japanese Garden (also relocated from Expo 88).

When the Brisbane City Hall opened in 1930, it was the tallest building in the city and the tower became a popular visitor attraction. It still offers tours of the tower today, using the original 1930’s elevator. The tours only last 15 minutes as you need to leave before the bells ring for the quarter hour – they are very loud.