Brisbane

So I love Brisbane... beats Sydney for sure.. I'd say it is up there in my top 10 places... yup..

So, yesterday I did the hop-on hop-off bus tour for 3 hours and wow, really this is a beautiful place. Settled in the early 1820's as a penal colony, it has grown into the 3rd largest city in Australia.. It is incredibly spread out, but accessible through the train and bus system. Mount Coot-Tha has a spectacular view of the city. There are river ways that run through it that sparkle in the sun.

They have a cemetery here that is huge and of course dates back to the 1800's. The interesting thing about it was that people were buried divided by race, religion, and class as well as their status at the time they dies.. segregation even in death.. AND further, if you were Asian and had a plot that someone else wanted, you were dug up and moved and the new people got your space!! Crazy!

There is a Casino here. Held were the Treasury office used to be in a huge stone building.. no I did not go in.... money is way too precious!

This is a great area for doing almost any kind of activity you want. Today I checked out three different museums (including and Andy Warhol exhibit- he is weird) and the South bank parklands. After they hosted Expo '88 they converted the ground and now it is a bustling place of little markets and on weekends music, buskers, and tents of sellers of all kinds of goods.. It was an enjoyable way to spend the day..

As part of the bus tour I got to ride on the Brisbane River on the CityCats ferry. That was a nice way to end the day...

Jodie and John were great hosts, giving me a bed and meals... and I got to do my stinky laundry! Yippee!! We shall meet again along the line somewhere!

Tomorrow is an early morning, so I am off to get supper and breakfast for tomorrow.. I am off to Noosa, home of Steve Irwin.. I'll be checking out his zoo in a couple of days.

I will upload some more pictures, if the damn computer will let me, at the next stop..

later,
s.