Of Views, Cities, Koalas, and Kangaroos (finally!) - Brisbane

I live in a mansion on a hill (temporarily). And the view is as follows:

I KNOW RIGHT???

I wish I'd taken a picture of the hostel I was in previously, you know, as a comparison. That would have been interesting. Anyway, this is not a hostel, it is in fact the house of a family friend who I am staying with while I'm in Brisbane. I am certainly trying to make use of all the Aussie connections on my travels. It's been really great seeing people again who I haven't seen in years!

I was supposed to leave the Gold Coast on Tuesday, but I had had enough of the rain. It was going to rain until I left, so I figured I would try and beat the rain to Brisbane and hope that it was sunnier there. The coach only takes 1.5 hours and I was picked up by my parents' friend who took me to her fantastic house. Immediately my soul lifted. Seriously, I had a great view and someone to talk to, and that really makes all the difference. And it wasn't raining.

The next day we went to Mount Coot-tha which had great views of the city. If you are every visiting Brisbane then it's definitely worth a look, and it's free!



After that we went to Indooroopilly (I just say Indro) shopping centre for lunch and a look around. Put me in any mall with a food court and I'm happy. And then went back to the house for dinner and watched a really huge moon rise up from behind the mountains in the distance.

The next day we went into the city itself. I'd made a map with lots of interesting buildings on it (yes, I'm actually quite a fan of building architecture, and I always aim to see the main buildings in cities). Brisbane is definitely a nice city. It's not as big as Sydney but seems a great city to live and work in. From a tourist point of view, again, if you're not interested in art galleries and museums then it's just a matter of wandering round looking at the buildings, eating and shopping. But that's the same with all cities, and I do quite like to spend my time that way.



This building had a bite taken out of it. Bet the architect was annoyed.

Beautiful rainbows in St John's Cathedral.



If you go into any of the churches or cathedrals like St John's or St. Stephens, there is always someone there who is happy to give you a leaflet and talk about the history of the building. Factoid: St John's Cathedral began construction in 1906 and was completed in 2009. An almost never ending project, it seems.

I'd like to work in the one on the right, and live in the one in the middle.

Finally, finally people, I have cuddled a koala. And fed a kangaroo. Lone Pine Sanctuary in Brisbane is an absolute must. They have exotic birds, platypus area, wombats (I wrote wombles first, I'd love a womble sanctuary!), snakes, koalas, lizards, kangaroos etc etc. I have so many pictures of koalas. And kangaroos. I will only post a couple here, promise. I finally really feel like I'm in Australia. I got my cuddle, had a staring contest with the most deadliest land snake in the world and had a conversation with a cockatoo. I can deal with this kind of nature all right.

Probably not the same koala....



Say hello to my little friend.

We used to be the same height

I am very popular with kangaroos.

I love how they sleep. Hilarious. Jee Eun could do this!

After I had my fill of koalas (next birthday present please?) we went and had a look around South bank, which is across the Brisbane River from the city. On a sunny hot day it would be excellent because they have created a man made beach with a pool as the 'sea'. It's also where the Wheel of Brisbane is, which is a London Eye on a much smaller scale. These things have to be done though, and thankfully it's a lot cheaper than the London Eye, only $15. It takes 10 minutes which is just a nice amount of time, compared to the Eye which takes FOREVER ZZzzzzzzzzz. Southbank has a row of cafes for the peckish, and praise the lord a Max Brenner! I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, I probably have, but just in case, Max Brenner is a chocolate cafe, and sells the most amazing desserts. So of course we had to have one.

Stay tuned for my continuing adventures in Brisbane!
Although there are no more koalas :-(

TTFN!