I had a five day weekend so I figured I would go up to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. I arrived in Brisbane on a Friday morning. The first thing I did was make my way to downtown Brisbane. The city is a real modern and beautiful city that is separated by a river running through the middle of it that has historically been known to flood. The train from the airport dropped me off at Roma St. Station. From there, it is less than a 10-minute walk to the downtown area. In downtown (CBD) there is a big street mall called Queen St. I went there, shopping for a little until I crossed the river to Southbank. Luckily, all the bridges in Brissy are pedestrian accessible.
Southbank is a very nice area with plenty of things to do for tourists. The whole area is also exceptionally clean with beautiful gardens and places to lounge everywhere. You really get the impression that they invested heavily in the area. The two most notable features of Southbank are definitely the wheel of Brisbane and Streets Beach. The beach is completely artificially made and is right along the river. Right next to it is also a small but enjoyable rainforest walk. I spent a few hours in this area before I check into my hostel at around 2. The hostel was across the river (north) on Upper Roma St. Only about 25 minutes walking distance from Southbank. The hostel was only about 15 minutes away from Roma St. Station, 10 minutes from the stadium, and right across the street was a shopping center called the Barracks, which in fact, was actually a prisoner and then a military barracks. I checked into my hostel and soon headed back to Southbank to see the Queensland Museum. It was a free museum and pretty interesting- about as good as you could expect a free museum to be. It took me about 2 hours to see everything.
A couple of years ago, my parents and I went on a cruise around the Mediterranean where we met this couple from Brisbane- David and Marine. Before I got to Brisbane, I reached out to David and let him know that I would be staying in the city and asked if he wanted to meet up. He agreed and bought us tickets to a playoff soccer game for that night. I met up with him and we went to a bar to catch up before the game. There, we also met up with his brother. Both of them were middle aged men that worked in enforcement agencies for the government. We talked for a little bit and then took a short walk to the stadium, which was pretty nice. By the time the game started we were all a little bit drunk. There have been some points in Australia that have been so surreal that it almost feels like I’m in adream. Being drunk at a soccer game while hanging out with two middle aged men in Brisbane Australia was definitely one of those instances. It was pretty fun though. And of course, there was some good banter. It was also a playoff elimination game so the stakes were high for the Brisbane Lions. They ended up winning in penalty kicks. Needless to say, the crowd went wild. After the game, us three parted ways. I ended the night by going to Maccas to get something to eat, and then had to walk back to the hostel in the rain. Later that night when everyone was sleeping, the fire alarm went off, but it was shortly remedied and everyone that was asleep went back to bed.
The next day I got up and made my way to Southbank to see Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (aka GOMA). This is Brisbane’s most
Around 4, I left the hostel to make my way to Kangaroo Point. It’s a neighborhood right by the river that
David so generously offered to drive me down to the Gold Coast, which is only an hour south of Brisbane. Gold Coast is probably the closest relation to beach towns like Ocean City MD or Atlantic City that Australia has. It is a town that survives solely off of tourism and has beach-type boardwalk shops everywhere. Right outside the area is a handful of amusement parks. However, it is a tourist area for a reason. When I arrived at Surfer’s Paradise (the main town on the Gold Coast) it was high 70s and beautiful out. After checking into my hostel, I went to explore the shops (where I finally got a bathing suit that fits) and hung out on the beach. The water was very nice too, just a tad cold but very bearable. I spent most of the day on the beach. In the afternoon, I rented a surf board at Ripcurl for $20 for 24 hours. It was a complete steal. I tried surfing again, and it went as well as you would expect. I got annihilated out there. The waves were relatively big for beginners and I still suck. I also surfed without a shirt, which is a mistake because the board really can cut up your chest. Luckily, I didn’t have to worry about people or sharks. All the beaches in Queensland are netted so sharks can’t get in, and people have to swim between designated flags. So besides two other beginner surfers, I had the beach to myself. I did that for a few hours and was then too beat up to continue. That night, there was a market right along the main beach as well as a free film festival. After checking out those things for a couple hours, I went back to the hostel and hung out there until I called it a night.
The next day I got up relatively early to fo surfing. The waves weren’t that much better than the day before. I waited a little to see if they would improve a bit after an hour with no change, I said fuck it and gave it a whack. I did a little better, but I was still sore and cut up from the previous day. Even with wearing a shirt, my chest and stomach still stung. I persisted for about an hour and a half before giving up. I was originally going to rent the board for another day but I said fuck it. I went back to the hostel, which was only a two-minute walk from the beach, showered, and went to return the board. Afterward, I went to the bottle-o and bought a
The next day was my final day at Surfer’s Paradise. It was also ANZAC Day. During the first World War, Australian forces faced a devastating blow at the Battle of Gallipoli. Still under command of the British, thousands of young Australians who were conscripted into the army died in this defeat. For a young country with a small population, this was devastating to Australia. In the span of a few days, Australia lost almost an entire generation of young men. So every year on April 25th, they remember those fallen through ANZAC Day. Whearas in the States we have Memorial Day and celebrate with barbeques, pools, and three day weekends, ANZAC Day is much more somber. Surfer’s Paradise had a parade down it’s boardwalk at 12 that day so I hung around there and checked out shops I had visited multiple times until it started. The parade was off to a good start. They had some veterans and a few bands. Then after 5 minutes, it finished. I shouldn’t have been surprised in hindsight, but it was a little disappointing. My bus for Brisbane left around 230 so until then I relaxed at the beach. The bus ride was only an hour back and I had a little time to kill so I went to the Botanical Gardens. The whole area is just a beautiful park with giant flower beds everywhere. I nestled up on a patch of grass between flower beds. After sometime, I had to go catch my flight.
Looking back, Brisbane was a real pleasant city and I really enjoyed it. But all you need is two days to see it; after that, you run out of things to do. I can probably go without seeing the Gold Coast again. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, the weather and beaches were amazing, but it was just too touristy and commercialized for me. And like Sydney, this place and trip probably would have been more enjoyable if someone went with me. I’m still glad I went, I don’t want to be held back from seeing as much of Australia as I can because other people have time or money constraints. There are just some trips that would be more fun with someone, and this trip is one of them.