Hello Brisvegas!

On Tuesday, Sept. 6, we boarded an evening flight up to Brisbane to stay at Margie and Matthew’s apartment. Margie works for a company that has its head office in Brisbane so she travels up here at least once a month. Brisbane is located in the south of Queensland, right on the ocean. The name “Brisvegas” came about because it was the first city in Queensland to open a casino.

Our flight north was aboard Virgin airlines and because of all the flying Margie does, we were able to relax in the Virgin lounge before our flight!! It was very nice! Tough to go back to the poor man’s airport now 😁. Our flight left the Melbourne airport slightly early and landed in Brisbane just after 8pm. We had a short drive to the apartment and were all settled in by 9:30pm.

Brisbane is divided by the Brisbane River – it meanders its way through the whole city. One of the really neat transportation features is the city ferries. There is a ferry stop about 2 minutes from the apartment and it will take you all the way to the city centre (for less then $3). It’s about a 20 minutes ride with great views of the city.

Mark, Matthew and I spent our first day walking around the downtown area. The city is very pedestrian friendly with dedicated pedestrian bridges and many excellent walking paths. The area we walked in is called South Bank and it’s full of amazing old and new architecture. It has lots of shops and restaurants plus lots of park areas. It’s also home to the cultural side of Brisbane – the museum, art gallery and performing arts venue are all located close together. September is Brisbane Festival time – an international arts festival held each year in September, so South Bank was all decked out for the festival.

We had a nice sunny morning and were able to walk around in our shorts!!! By early afternoon, the rain had started so we made our way back to the apartment (with a few stops for food and drinks). Tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 8) we’ll explore more of the city and on the weekend, we’re heading west towards a town called Toowoomba.