Brisbane Day 3 – Exploring the Gold Coast
Met up with the guys after breakfast. I love that both our hotels offer breakfast buffets as part of their package. I’ve even been able to get some Vegemite for my toast. :DD
I have been remiss in talking about Brisbane. It’s the third largest city in Australia and sits on the Brisbane River at the mouth of the Moreton Bay. It started life as a penal colony back in 1824, although there were aboriginal tribes here long before that. The weather because of where it’s situated is mild (sub -tropical) with warm wet summers and dry moderately warm winters.
The City, or at least the part we are in, seems very young, probably due to all the young people working here. Architecture is a combination of old and modern, often side-by-side. The city is easy to get around in, although driving can be a bit tricky due to a lot of one way streets (it’s like San Francisco). Tons of restaurants, shopping, museums, you can easily spend a month here and not repeat yourself. I can see why people fall in love with this city. For a tourist, it’s Paradise and the residents look pretty darn happy, too.
Yesterday we drove down the coast (The Gold Coast) to the various sights and beaches down there. With J driving, TBG can enjoy the sights and not stress. He’s familiar with the roads and the vehicle, so he’s not too taxed either. We drove down as far as Burleigh Head and had lunch at a fun place called Elks. The beach stretched out in front of us for miles in each direction and while there were plenty of people there, it was not crowded. Then we drove up the coast highway for a bit to Mudgeerabah and then to Broadbeach. There was some building that is used in a show (The Bachelors?) here and The Boys were obsessed with it, so we visited that as well. While we drove, J gave us a lesson in Australian politics and the current climate.
Afterwards, we headed back, changed and swam for a couple of hours (which was really relaxing in the pool with a drink – it had a swim up bar) next door at the Westin. After a shower and changing, we wandered a couple of blocks over to Gilhooley’s Irish Pub and had some pub food (I had some great bangers and mash, TBG had a steak, J had sifh and chips and The Boy had a roasted chicken sandwich). They headed back to their hotel and we headed back to ours, feeling well satisfied with our day.
I have been remiss in talking about Brisbane. It’s the third largest city in Australia and sits on the Brisbane River at the mouth of the Moreton Bay. It started life as a penal colony back in 1824, although there were aboriginal tribes here long before that. The weather because of where it’s situated is mild (sub -tropical) with warm wet summers and dry moderately warm winters.
The City, or at least the part we are in, seems very young, probably due to all the young people working here. Architecture is a combination of old and modern, often side-by-side. The city is easy to get around in, although driving can be a bit tricky due to a lot of one way streets (it’s like San Francisco). Tons of restaurants, shopping, museums, you can easily spend a month here and not repeat yourself. I can see why people fall in love with this city. For a tourist, it’s Paradise and the residents look pretty darn happy, too.
Yesterday we drove down the coast (The Gold Coast) to the various sights and beaches down there. With J driving, TBG can enjoy the sights and not stress. He’s familiar with the roads and the vehicle, so he’s not too taxed either. We drove down as far as Burleigh Head and had lunch at a fun place called Elks. The beach stretched out in front of us for miles in each direction and while there were plenty of people there, it was not crowded. Then we drove up the coast highway for a bit to Mudgeerabah and then to Broadbeach. There was some building that is used in a show (The Bachelors?) here and The Boys were obsessed with it, so we visited that as well. While we drove, J gave us a lesson in Australian politics and the current climate.
Afterwards, we headed back, changed and swam for a couple of hours (which was really relaxing in the pool with a drink – it had a swim up bar) next door at the Westin. After a shower and changing, we wandered a couple of blocks over to Gilhooley’s Irish Pub and had some pub food (I had some great bangers and mash, TBG had a steak, J had sifh and chips and The Boy had a roasted chicken sandwich). They headed back to their hotel and we headed back to ours, feeling well satisfied with our day.