This day started terribly. First here is our room.
We put a wash on as we were running low of clean, lightweight, clothes. Then we saw a few of the historic buildings and had breakfast before the fun and games began.
For the last few days our Peugeot hire car had started giving us warnings that it needed a service in 1800km, 1600km etc.. Well, that would mean somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne it would need a service and if nothing was done we would drive about 1000km+ with a car that should have been serviced. After confusing phone calls with the hire company, we were directed to another local Budget car hire branch who told us we needed to exchange cars. They gave us a Honda CRV but first we had to take the Peugeot off to a petrol station and fill it up - of course there was not one in town so that was 30mins sorting that out.
Back at the hire place we picked up the Honda but it had no boot shelf cover so all our valuables would be on display around the country - basically inviting people to be opportunistic and smash and grab. We said that was not acceptable to us and finally they sorted us out with a 3rd car - a Hyundai Tucson. This, we thought, was identical to our Kona back home but the next level up and of course an Automatic. However, there is 1 massive difference - the indicator sticks are switched over in Australia for some reason so every time we went to turn left or right we turned on the windscreen wipers by mistake. This will take some getting used to.
Anyway, after 2-3 wasted hours, our new car was installed in the hotel car park and we were back in the room trying to destress before trying to discover Brisbane.
Mark’s way of destressing is eating crisps so that helped him a lot. Pam’s is to drink tea and biscuits.
OK, let’s explore Brisbane (also apparently referred to as Brizzie, Brizbo or Briz-Vegas). In London we have pigeons everywhere whilst in Brisbane it appears to these birds (Ibis).
We wandered around the central area - our hotel is located right in the heart of town - and it is a very vibrant city.
We also skirted around, and partially inside, the botanical gardens as we headed to catch the free ferries to explore the Brisbane River. Our initial departure point was at the Queensland University wharf (not part of the free ferry service but they gave us a free lift anyway). Part of the university is in the grounds of the botanical gardens - I hope the students appreciate how lucky they are.
After getting our bearing up and down the river we disembarked on the South Bank. This area is the complete opposite to the vibrant Central area. Here they have brought the beach and gardens to the city along with their theatres etc. There was a Main Street of shops that was very busy with restaurants and souvenir shops which Pam spent money buying T shirts in.
We ate and drank and Pam found a little iguana friend nearby. She also found a few insects that bit her but didn’t notice those till later - need to apply more of that repellent.
We swam and relaxed in the pool that was not sandy. It is such a fantastic way to cool off and Brisbane locals are very lucky to have this place.
We then changed and began walking to the hotel. On the way we passed a Nepalese temple and rainforest garden with more Lace Monitor iguanas and Mark went on the Ferris Wheel. Pam does not do heights.
We also found the Brisbane Sign before walking over the light up bridge to our hotel.
After returning to our room to shower and change for dinner, we caught the North Quay ferry to Howard Smith Wharfs. At night this place is spectacular and our pictures do not do it justice.
There are lots of bars and restaurants here including one where the patrons use beanbags instead of chairs.
We ate at a Greek restaurant called Greca. We had taramasalata with pittas followed by amazing moussaka and oven baked lamb that melted in your mouth. We had the small portions and it was still far too much to eat in 23c at 9pm - we were given a doggy bag.
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