The Land Down Under: Brisbane

We arrived to Brisbane after taking a short flight on Virgin Australia where we were given free chips and salsa onboard! I guess it was worth waiting for, since we wanted to get chips and salsa in Taiwan at the local "Chili's" (yes, they have it there, as well as a TGI Fridays. All the food is imported from America and is just mundane looking as it is in the States!) but it was $9 so we opted to skip it. We were very pleased with our VA flight and took the quick and easy SkyTrain from the airport to meet our friend from college, David.

David and Zoe were so very kind to invite us to stay with them in their gorgeous apartment on the river in Brisbane. They live right in the middle of the central business district, so everything was in walking distance from their home. They even had a gym and spa in the building, so needless to say we were living large for a good few days. 

Our first morning in the city, I got up and explored with a little run along the river and when I came back to the apartment, this guy was sitting on the railing..A kookaburra! We have been so lucky to see so much wildlife while in Aus.. They tried to feed him some salami but I think he was more interested in getting a good view from the 14th floor to seek out some food below. He must have not been a big fan of cold cuts.

You wouldn't know it, but this path is right in the middle of the city. One thing I love about Australia is the big cities don't seem like cities when you get tucked away inside one of the parks or gardens. It's great! 

Walking paths all over the city, even tells you how many steps!

Story Bridge

While our hosts were at work, we walked around and checked out the city. It's totally walkable, and you can rent bikes should you want to explore further around town. While we were walking across the Friendship bridge, we stopped at a coffee stand and the kind guy who owned it, Brendon, told us about a free attraction in Queensland University of Tech. that was just a few steps away. Within one of the buildings is a floor to ceiling touchscreen wall that is a replica of the Great Barrier Reef with tons of interactive sea life. You can touch say, a sea turtle, and a little box will pop up and explain its characteristics, diet, habitat, etc. There was also smaller touchscreen walls where you could learn about inventors or interact with an animated robot. It was really neat (and free…and air conditioned)!  

We were lucky to visit our friends over the Easter weekend because they had a nice long weekend and didn't have to work and really showed us a good time! One day we took a little day trip to a nearby beach town where there was a festival going on and we could have some food truck delights. Another day we went to this really cool place called "Lone Pine" which was a quick 20 minute drive outside downtown but held some of the coolest animals from all over the country.

Lone Pine is a koala sanctuary but also has tons of other exhibits including wombats, crocodiles, dingoes, flying squirrels, kangaroos, wallabies, birds of prey, snakes, and farm  animals. My favorite was the koalas… There was an area where you could hold a koala and have your picture taken that started at $16, or you could wait around after the koala presentation and pet one for free! So obviously we went with the free option. There was also an area where you could walk around an in fenced  area that housed tons of kangaroos. There were even some with joeys in their pouches. It was such a cool experience to get so up close and personal to these animals!

Sleepy koala bear!

He wasn't impressed with me

Mama and Joey

Wombat!

On Saturday, we were off to the Gold Coast to see Dave's own racehorse, Boardwalk, compete in a race. I had been to one horserace before when we were in England a few years ago, but this time was different!

Dave is a part-owner of Boardwalk, but he still gets all the "perks" like being able to go into the "owner" section of the grandstand, which was pretty snazzy. We got to see Boardwalk walk out with his trainer and do a little warmup before the big event. The race was quick but fun to watch, even though Boardie didn't do so hot. We were even able to go see him in the stables after the race, which was really cool! These animals are so beautiful and strong.

We had such a great time in Brisbane, visiting the city and its nightlife (sometimes going a little too far and paying for it), meeting Zoe and Dave's friends and family, and enjoying the fantastic "autumn" weather. It was sunny and warm every day we were there, so Brisbane made a great impression on us. Our last destination in Australia was Sydney, where we would spend the last week before heading off for a brief detour to the US. You can read all about Sydney in the next post. Thanks to Zoe and "Dangerous Dave" for being awesome tour guides and incredible hosts! We had a blast!