Medina Executuve Brisbane

We fly Virgin Premium Economy to Brisbane from Sydney. Great Service and we enjoyed the lounge. In Brisbane we had a fantastic appartment and a magical view of the Story Bridge at night. That day we walked around Brisbane CBD, Over to Southbank and then back through teh CBD. The afternoon took us to Fortitude Valley and we retired early in anticipation for our boarding the next day.

Perjantaina saavutiin Brisbaneen puolenpäivän aikoihin kuuden tunnin bussimatkan jälkeen. YHA-hostelli oli täynnä, joten varattiin hotelli netistä jo Harvey Bayssa. Valittiin hotelli halvimmasta päästä (n. 50 euroa/yö) ja yllätys oli melkoinen kun saavuttiin Medina hotelliin. Oltiin varattu ihan perus huone, mutta kyseessä olikin huoneisto omalla keittiöllä ja olohuoneella. Eipä ole valittamista. Ainoo huono puoli on se, että huoneesta ei malttais lähtee ulos lainkaan. Perjantai ilta istuttii...

Sunday morning and it was still raining in Sydney! We packed and checked out early keen to get to the airport and a little closer to the Brisbane sun. Before we actually got in the cab however I felt that I must photograph the car which sits on a roundabout in the middle of the Rocks area and which our taxi driver, on our way in to Sydney, told us was put there by the police as an awful warning to motorists who flout the law. Everyone seems to have private theory from, it's a work of art to a...

Monday morning in Brisbane and it was beautifully sunny and warm. Mike, who of course has stayed here before, had pointed out a good jogging route the night before, across the Storey Bridge along the high bank of the Brisbane River and then back along a floating boardwalk that runs for about 1.5 kms, straight back to the road beneath our apartments. It's a brilliant concept and joggers, walkers, commuters and cyclists share this route along the river, making going in to the city a very easy e...

What is going on? After two rainy days in NZ at the end of our tour and two more in Sydney, we have two short sunny days in Brisbane and then the rain sets in again! On returning from my jog this morning I saw a weather forecast in reception suggesting temperatures of 21 to 28 degrees and showers for today (Tuesday). I mentioned this to local weather experts Hazel and Mike who said, something along the lines of - don't worry it won't be much. As our plan was to visit the two Queensland art ga...

As we have Kate's car at our disposal, we decided to make use of it today (Wednesday) and head inland to have a look at the countryside west of Brisbane. The one-way system around the Medina apartments, which is situated right  at the entrance to the Storey Bridge, is a bit of a challenge, so we took some advice from the guys at reception and studied the map carefully before setting off with Mike driving and me navigating. Five minutes later we were heading back towards the Medina despite our...

As we were off to the Sunshine Coast on Thursday morning to visit the late Steve (Crikey) Irwin's Australian Zoo, we needed to make an early start. As I am usually first up, I promised to give Mike and Hazel a call at 8.00 as Kate and Bryce were picking us up at 9.00. I got up fairly early to write my blog and while doing so I watched the Foxtel news. At 8.00 I called Mike and Hazel and reminded Barb that we had to get going and finished off before jumping in the shower. At 8.50 it looked tha...

Barb and Hazel took off on their shopping marathon yesterday and as Mike and I had separate plans for the day, we agreed to go our own ways and meet up towards the end of the day. The ladies headed off for the Queen Street Mall, which is Brisbane's answer to Oxford Street and Mike started his day with a trip to a local motorcycle dealer while I decided to walk along the boardwalk into the city and have a look at some of the areas which I hadn't yet managed to see. I walked as far as the City ...

Our final day in Brisbane and Hazel joined me, for the second time, on my very slow 3.5k jog, across the Storey Bridge, down the river bank at road level and then back, on the Boardwalk, which actually floats on pontoons in the river, to the bottom of the apartment block. After breakfast we headed back across the bridge into Fortitude Valley, which despite its rather attractive name, is in fact a rather seedy area with pubs, clubs and restaurants, but on Saturday there is a street market runn...

Day 13 began with a wake up call from Dad, just as well as we had a 10am getaway and I cant recall too many early starts so far this year. So, up at 8am to pack up. We seem to have accumulated so much already, Sarah's bag of bags feeling even heavier, although still not full. The not full part being half the trouble, all theclothes falling to the bottom when its being pulled along. Anyway, we left the apartment, almost on time, and went for a stroll through Crown Casino and into the city for ...