View from the Back
Ramblings of a retiree in France
Postcard from Brisbane I
We spent two weeks in Brisbane giving us plenty of opportunity to experience everything the town and surrounding areas have to offer. I have to thank those of you who live in or have recently visited the area for your kind suggestions, they were much appreciated.
We arrived at our hotel in historic Spring Hill on Wednesday afternoon and quickly settled into our spacious studio room, complete with kitchenette. I like having the ability to eat-in for a few meals, particularly breakfast. That said, we ate lunch in the excellent on-site restaurant before checking out the hotel’s pool and gym.
As I plan our holidays, I tend to let my beloved choose how we spend our days. As I’d swerved a visit to the Gold Coast, he decided to head back to the coast on Thursday and Friday (Sandgate and Redlands) just to check out my decision. We found some fabulous beaches and picturesque bayside villages where we easily lowered the average age in each of the towns we visited. These are clearly very popular with the retirement community. I can understand why.
Having spent Thursday and Friday touring beaches, I suggested we spend the weekend in Brisbane as the fabulous weather would encourage people to visit the coast, leaving the city quieter. The queues of traffic leaving Brisbane on Friday evening appeared to back up my hypothesis.
Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast at Eagle Street Pier overlooking Brisbane’s sub-tropical Brisbane river before taking a round river trip. I love seeing cities from their riverbanks, it gives them such a different perspective. It also helped identify further areas for us to visit.
We ate lunch at a plentiful seafood buffet in a riverside hotel where we feasted on oysters and a local speciality, Moreton Bay Bugs, which was a first for us. Thereafter, we enjoyed a stroll around the city’s beautiful Botantical Gardens, just one of many parks around the city.
Sunday we strolled into town after an early breakfast to find a coolish wind had subdued the sun’s heat. We popped into the magnificent City Hall to check out the interior and its exhibit, Brisbane Art Design Festival which was very interactive. Having marvelled at the Hall’s architectural details we topped up our caffeine levels in Shingle Inn, a faithful restoration of Brisbane’s oldest cafe, on City Hall’s ground floor.
Sunday lunch was eaten in one of the city’s newer restaurants, Three Blue Ducks. I wanted to see whether the concept we’d so enjoyed outdoors in Byron Bay had translated to an urban environment. It does though the restaurant was tricky to find as it’s in the W Hotel, in North Quay. My beloved plumped for the Sunday roast while I had a nutritious salad. This left us with a little room for dessert. I don’t usually indulge but the vegan dessert sounded delicious while my better half had the popular apple dessert. What is it about men and apples?
Replete we continued our stroll around town before heading back to our hotel and its gym. After a good night’s sleep, on Monday we decided to walk over to Paddington, a nearby suburb of Brisbane built atop one of its many steep ridges with plenty of interesting shops and beautifully restored historic houses. I just love those wrap around porches and gingerbread trims.
There are bars and restaurants housed in former workers’ cottages and plenty of antique shops and art galleries to wander around. We also found a fabulous place for breakast to which we’d return a couple more times during our stay.
The views of Brisbane are stunning from Paddington and yes, those streets are really that steep! On the way back to our hotel we passed the Suncorp Stadium, home of the rugby league side The Brisbane Broncos. Caxton Street and Petrie Terrace looked as if they’d be particularly lively once the sun went down.
We followed this with a walk around nearby Roma Park where my beloved almost trod on this little fellow (approx. 1m/3 ft) sunning himself on the pavement.
During our strolls, we’d noticed many advertisements for #EKKA and despite never before having visited an agricultural exhibition, decided this was how we’d spend our Tuesday. After all, you can’t go to Brisbane and not visit the EKKA!
Hi!! I have nominated you for “The Liebster Award”. Check it out…
https://smileysubi.wordpress.com/2019/08/27/the-liebster-award/
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great pictures.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a great tour you are on! Great photos!
(I also like apples, in any form of appearance 🙂 )
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like and I share, dear. Wonderful.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Awesome post, Sheree.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks Jim
LikeLiked by 1 person
Super dooper pics😊 The sky is at its bestest blue😄 I love that!! Reminds me so much of the time I had visited Australia sometime ago.
LikeLiked by 2 people
What blue skies! Brisbane is on my bucket list.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Grew up in and around Brisbane. Looks nice and this time of year it’s a great place to visit (waaay to hot in the summer). Could never move back there to suburbia though.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have yet to visit Tasmania and would never visit Queensland in its summertime.
LikeLike
You should definitely give Tasmania a visit! It’s great in the summer as it’s not as hot as the mainland (mostly). So much to see and do on such a small island. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Great photos! It’s interesting seeing things from another person’s perspective. Nice inclusion of our bronzed rugby league hero Wally Lewis 🙂 and a good shot of the eastern water dragon, they have acute eyesight and usually run away.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Was that what it was? He was just lapping up the sun and begging for his photo to be taken.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful pictures!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
An enticing postcard
LikeLiked by 2 people
I loved the beautiful tour you gave of Brisbane Sheree! So nice to have a look at something from a more real perspective than a travel brochure. Well done, I am enjoying your whole vacation!😁🌞🌳
LikeLiked by 2 people
There’s much more to come!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds good, looking forward to it!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Sheree! Such gorgeousness! I love how you abundantly share your joys with the rest of the world! Looking forward to even more wonders to behold together! 💚 🗺 🌍😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s plenty more to come.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay!!! ❤️💕❤️💕❤️💕
LikeLiked by 2 people
nice to see a city I lived in for ages described by a visitor … you sure packed a lot in!
I always insisted my guests stay in Spring Hill to, worked there for years 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s another two postcards to come from Brisbane.
LikeLiked by 1 person
look forward to them!
LikeLiked by 1 person