Brisbane
We arrived in Brisbane around 4pm - so we did have a little time to get around and arrange some things. First of all we managed to get a quick look at the internet - no freighter tickets yet... - and caught the latest Harry Potter movie offering (OOTP). Also we got to have a quick scout around the city centre in Brisbane - rather similar to any other "CBD" (Central Business District) in the country: concrete and glass high-rises, Subway restaurants, shopping malls etc. We caught a bus out to our hostel and settled down for the night.
In the morning we rose bright and early to catch a train out to Australia Zoo. We got to the station in plenty of time, which was just as well as there was chaos on the platform. It seems that they have recently closed a couple of platforms at a few stations in Brisbane and noone knows where any trains are arriving and at which platform they are likely to arrive. We asked three different employees and got 3 different answers before we found someone who knew what they were talking about. We also managed to find a few more people headed our way so at least we were all equally bemused. Finally the train was located (it had been delayed by 20 minutes which caused some of the confusion) and we lept aboard before they could lose it again.
Australia Zoo was quite an experience. Steve Irwin's image was omnipresent and I found myself wondering what it was like before Steve was killed (4/7/06 by a bull ray on the Great Barrier Reef). Regardless it was a good zoo with many healthy looking animals (including a baby koala!) but the one problem was that some of the animals seemed far too tame. One of my favourite stops at any zoo is the tiger enclosure and I always love watching tigers behaving as naturally as possible (usually asleep). In this enclosure, however, the keepers were standing next to the lounging tiger and were able to stroke the tiger like a tame cat. On our way out we saw two of the keepers walking a cheetah on a lead as if it were a pet dog. I'm sure that these animals are being well taken care of, but it seems rather indulgent that these seemingly wild animals are effectively just tame pets of the zoo.
Anyway, we got the train back to Brisbane and walked back to the hostel. The funny thing is that the area in which our hostel is located is outside the main CBD area (south of the river mate). Walking through the main street of this little suburb it seemed really nice and pleasant, lined with cafes, ethnic food places and fruit and veg shops. There was also a quaint little statue of a lizard which was rather reminicent of Barcelona with its Gaudi sculptures. I appreciated Brisbane a little more after that and wished that we had more than a day and a half. We had barely stepped outside the train station.
Well, next stop Port Macquarie. Brisbane was the last new place we were planning to visit in Australia. When we reach Port Macquarie we'll have completed our circuit of the continent and we will be going over previously covered ground. Our date with New Zealand is drawing ever closer...
In the morning we rose bright and early to catch a train out to Australia Zoo. We got to the station in plenty of time, which was just as well as there was chaos on the platform. It seems that they have recently closed a couple of platforms at a few stations in Brisbane and noone knows where any trains are arriving and at which platform they are likely to arrive. We asked three different employees and got 3 different answers before we found someone who knew what they were talking about. We also managed to find a few more people headed our way so at least we were all equally bemused. Finally the train was located (it had been delayed by 20 minutes which caused some of the confusion) and we lept aboard before they could lose it again.
Australia Zoo was quite an experience. Steve Irwin's image was omnipresent and I found myself wondering what it was like before Steve was killed (4/7/06 by a bull ray on the Great Barrier Reef). Regardless it was a good zoo with many healthy looking animals (including a baby koala!) but the one problem was that some of the animals seemed far too tame. One of my favourite stops at any zoo is the tiger enclosure and I always love watching tigers behaving as naturally as possible (usually asleep). In this enclosure, however, the keepers were standing next to the lounging tiger and were able to stroke the tiger like a tame cat. On our way out we saw two of the keepers walking a cheetah on a lead as if it were a pet dog. I'm sure that these animals are being well taken care of, but it seems rather indulgent that these seemingly wild animals are effectively just tame pets of the zoo.
Anyway, we got the train back to Brisbane and walked back to the hostel. The funny thing is that the area in which our hostel is located is outside the main CBD area (south of the river mate). Walking through the main street of this little suburb it seemed really nice and pleasant, lined with cafes, ethnic food places and fruit and veg shops. There was also a quaint little statue of a lizard which was rather reminicent of Barcelona with its Gaudi sculptures. I appreciated Brisbane a little more after that and wished that we had more than a day and a half. We had barely stepped outside the train station.
Well, next stop Port Macquarie. Brisbane was the last new place we were planning to visit in Australia. When we reach Port Macquarie we'll have completed our circuit of the continent and we will be going over previously covered ground. Our date with New Zealand is drawing ever closer...
posted by Iff at
7:19 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home