Brisbane - Adventures in Eating

We once again accompanied Michelle and Tony, this time to the town of Gympie to enjoy lunch with Michelle’s mother Mary and stepfather Ed. Mary and Ed actually live further north in Hervey Bay but we met them halfway. On the way back we stopped at the Ginger Factory where one can find ginger candies, ginger sauce, ginger beer, ginger chocolate, ginger jam, ginger fudge, ginger salad dressing, ginger syrup, ginger ice cream, and an untold number of other ginger products that probably shouldn’t exist. In the evening we had dinner at the home of Lorraine’s friend Robin, who created three different quiches, all delicious, followed by a killer cheesecake. Russell, not recognizing any of the dishes as either meat or potatoes, neglected to partake and instead chose to drink his dinner.

Brisbane - "Australia" and Avians

We saw the much-anticipated, much-hyped movie “Australia.” How amazing we actually got to see it in the titled country. Deborah loved it. I thought it was only okay, really a bit corny.

We’ve been enjoying the local birds. The Rainbow Lorikeets are just remarkable with their bright colors. They are the sort of bird you expect to see in a cage in a zoo, not sitting in a tree outside your front door. But there a scores of them all around where we live. They eat the frilly flowers of what I believe is called the bottle brush tree. There are many other unusual birds flitting about and making their exotic calls, all lending an air of the subtropics to our surroundings.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Brisbane - Maleny and Montville

Russell’s sister (Lorraine’s sister-in-law) Michelle and her husband Tony took us north of Brisbane to the picturesque towns of Maleny and Montville. It’s an area of beautiful rolling green hills and views in all directions, filled with diary farms, wineries, and pockets of rain forest. We were so taken with the region that we felt compelled to stop at every real estate office to see what we could afford (not a lot). We had a fantastic lunch in Maleny. In Montville Deborah resisted the temptation to acquire ice cream and instead settled for cheesecake. We are grateful to Michelle and Tony for a great day.

View of the Glass House Mountains from near Maleny.

Rain forest walk near Maleny.

Michelle and Tony.







Blake and Deborah.

View near Montville.

Montville

Montville

Montville

Montville

Brisbane - City Center, Part 4

We spent another fine day in Brisbane city. We returned to the Museum of Modern Art for a more thorough look. It featured more realism than most modern art museum so that fit our taste nicely. The biggest display (literally) was an incredibly lifelike sculpture of a woman in bed. She was huge, probably 5x or 6x scale. Every detail was executed from the subtly mottled skin tone to the eyebrow hairs to the veins in her hands. Other highlights were a giant arch cleverly executed from nothing more than cardboard boxes of incremental sizes, some motor scooters in sinuous shapes that resembled antlered animals, and several amazing magic realist paintings (my genre). Of course, being a modern art museum it had its fair share of head scratchers as well, each of which beg the question, “what’s the point of that?”

The rest of the day we spent mostly in the vibrant West End neighborhood. Among the many ethnic restaurant choices we settled on a nice Vietnamese place for lunch. Upon leaving the eatery we made it about half a block before Deborah had her usual ice cream craving, requiring another food purchase. We did a fair job of walking off all those calories as we headed for a ferry terminal. Unfortunately, upon arrival we discovered the ferries were not running that day due to heavy rains in recent days which swelled the river with debris, not to mention turned it brown. As it was a hot day the long walk back to the train station was less than appealing so we hopped on a bus after a friendly chat with the driver, and made our way home.

The West End neighborhood in Brisbane.

Deborah forced to stand in front of yet another tree.

West End home near the ferry dock.

Modern Art Museum. Deborah is the one on the left.

Brisbane - Mt Tamborine

On Sunday Lorraine took us to Mt. Tamborine about an hour south of Brisbane. As we drove away from the city the landscape changed to rural and pastoral, and then we started ascending the mountain and the vegetation grew dense and lush. The collection of villages at the top was the epitome of “quaint,” with artisan shops, galleries, restaurants, wineries, and an obscene number of chocolate shops. And all surrounded by lush rain-forest-like greenery, including several bits of a national park. Deborah and I dreamed of one day opening up a Bed & Breakfast at this idyllic mountain top. Of course, as is the case everywhere, the best places are usually the least affordable.

See? Quaint.

The sign over the door says "Poet and Artist," a fine job description to be sure.

Deborah and Lorraine.


Blake and Deborah.

Blake and Lorraine.

Jeez, did we miss any possible combinations?

It's like freakin' musical chairs here.

Brisbane - Dinner in the City

On Friday we had dinner downtown with Lorraine, her son-in-law Danny, his wife Tashy, and little Matilda. We ate a lively Turkish restaurant with both inside and outside seating, a place with colorful fabrics and murals and even a belly dancer. The food was quite good. We took advantage of the warm evening and strolled through the surrounding South Bank area which was bustling with music, dancing, and an open-late outdoor market. It was a fine evening and a reminder how much great cities have to offer.

Danny and Tashy with remarkably well-behaved little Matilda

Blurry photo (no tripod) of city lights across the river.

The ferris wheel at night, as seen through the trees.

Brisbane - City Center, Part 3

We traveled downtown again, this time to see the Art Museum and to catch the new James Bond film. There are actually two art museums: The Queensland Art Gallery, which contains art created before 1979 and the Gallery of Modern Art which showcases art produced after that date. We did the old stuff this time and only had time for a brief strafing run through the modern art museum. We’ll do a more thorough viewing on our next trip.

Most of the museum was quite good with a mix of Australian art and world masters. Apart from one exhibit that featured the work of a contemporary Brisbane artist whose work reminded us of a kindergarten class project, we enjoyed the museum very much. We ate lunch at the gallery café and had some of the best calamari we’ve ever had.

James Bond did not disappoint. He mostly just chased people, beat them up, ran them off the road, shot them, and threw them off of buildings. And of course there were explosions. Good, wholesome entertainment.

The dogs keep an eye on us when we are upstairs.

Brisbane - Gold Coast

Lorraine took us to a beach on the Gold Coast (south of Brisbane) called Surfer’s Paradise. It’s very developed and looks a bit like Miami or Daytona Beach, but the beaches are just beautiful. We left just before a big storm moved in. In fact it turned out to be the biggest storm to hit the area in 20 years. Our place in Runcorn saw plenty of rain, thunder and lightning, but suffered no damage. Thankfully, even with the rain it is still warm out.

Lorraine and Deborah

Beautiful beach, but notice the storm clouds gathering in the distance.

Flags mark the patrolled areas safe for swimming.

Deborah's prescription sunglasses.

Look at that sand.

Brisbane - Rugby

I’ve decided I rather like rugby. I don’t pretend to understand all the rules but Lorraine’s husband Russell did at least educate me on the basics of the game the Aussies call “footy.” It’s similar to American Football (which has its origins in rugby) but there is no forward passing or blocking. There is instead a plethora of laterals and a bit of kicking. The players are amazing athletes as they are not specialized to one task - they play both offence and defense - and must be strong and fast and have great endurance. And they don’t wear pads! The matches are very fast paced consisting of two 40 minute halves, without the endless stopping of the clock between plays that we are used to. Apparently there are two different types: Rugby League and Rugby Union. I think I’ve been watching the former but I have no idea what the difference is. I’m sure I’ll figure it out before we leave Australia.

Brisbane - City Center, Part 2

Deborah and I made another trip into the city to visit a trendy urban neighborhood with the odd name of Fortitude Valley. Lots of interesting shops, coffee houses and eateries centered on a pedestrian mall. Nearby was the smallish Chinatown where we had lunch. A good deal of walking then brought us to the Newstead House, Brisbane’s oldest domestic dwelling and now a museum done up with Victorian furnishings. It sits on an expansive stretch of land along the Brisbane River. We jumped on the City Cat ferry to make our way back upriver in scenic fashion.

Nice Art Deco in the Fortitude Valley.

Chinatown

Newstead House

View of the river near Newstead House

City Cat ferry

One of the ferry terminals

Cruising back into the city center

Brisbane - City Center, Part One

We took the train into Brisbane city center for a full day of exploring. It’s really a nice city. They’ve clearly invested in their infrastructure with lots of parks and water features and good transportation connections. For only about US$5 each we bought day passes which covered the 30 minute train rides into and out of the city plus any rides we took that day on the buses or water taxi. The city straddles the Brisbane River so the water taxi, called the City Cat (it’s a catamaran), is a scenic and efficient way to get around.

For a city of close to 2 million people there was very little trash or graffiti in Brisbane and surprisingly few homeless people evident, at least by American standards. Our self-guided walking tour gave us a good introduction to the city and brought us first to city hall, through its museum and to the top of its bell tower for panoramic views. We also ventured through a beautiful botanical garden, a lively pedestrian mall, and the public spaces that line the river. There will be return trips.

View from the Bell Tower.

Display in the City Hall Museum, possibly inspired by Sarah Palin.

This tree just swallowed the previous gardner.

Having a beer on Queen Street Mall. Note that Deborah's is half empty while I'm just getting started.



Parlimentary House




Botanical gardens featuring an Australian White Ibis which, as exotic looking as they are, are actually as common here as seagulls are back home.

Botanical gardens. Not sure what these are but I love the colors.

Man-made creek which ties into a series of swimming pools that are part of the beautiful South Bank park area - all free and open to the public.

More South Bank. Sand bottomed swimming pool with views of the skyscrapers across the river.

Sculptural path leading along the river in South Bank.

Ferris wheel in South Bank.

Deborah on the ferris wheel (not too reluctantly).

View from the ferris wheel looking down the river.