Back to Brisbane

After contemplating our future for a while it quickly became apparent that we did need to have some kind of a roof over our head. We didn't want to settle in one place. Another boat would have been ideal, but, nothing was catching our fancy. We decided we needed a campervan that we could live on and tour in while we waited for 'the one' to arrive on the boat market. Rentals were out of the question as it would be way too expensive for the long-term. We started searching to buy a campervan. Everything reasonably priced had 3-400,000 km on it! We looked at a few locally and frankly, they were awful. Newer ones were priced sky-high and often had features that wouldn't work for us (like our pet peeve, beds built side-to-side instead of fore/aft and therefore are too short for taller people like us). So, there was nothing for it, a van conversion seemed the only way to go. We found a reasonably priced, ex-delivery van for sale and had to return to Brisbane to get it. We had some hotel points accumulated (I've written about our Starwood Amex card before, it's great) and Brisbane had a Four Points Sheraton, so, we were able to spend three luxurious nights there while getting the van.

Brisbane is the capital of the state of Queensland and is the third most populous city in Australia. It's a river city, situated on the Brisbane River and is a long 15 km from where the river enters the ocean at Moreton Bay. Maybe you've heard of the 'Sunshine Coast' which is just north of Brisbane and the 'Gold Coast' which is just south of Brisbane. Both are very popular tourist areas. By contrast, Brisbane has just a few low-key tourist attractions and functions more as a business and government centre. The city itself is one of the oldest cities in Australia and is known for its distinctive Queenslander architecture which is charming and very unique. The vibe in the city, however, is young, new, modern and bustling.

Unfortunately, it is built on a flood plain, as evident in this picture and regularly experiences flooding, most recently in 2011.

We were able to beat the heat of the day by going on a delightful river trip. Small river ferries regularly ply the waters (love the kangaroo painted on these).

There are some tranquil sections of riverfront.

Then, there are sections like this, that looked like an ant-hill built for people!

 In a nod to London, there is also a South Bank, replete with ferris wheel.

Many lovely garden areas helped to keep the heat at bay. This one had many herbs you were encouraged to pick and taste.

The man-made beach, swimming area and wading fountains are very popular. Built above the river bank, they are right in the centre of town.

Stumbling across these Australian water dragons in the bushes was an 'interesting' experience.