We dropped off our camper van back in Brisbane (remembering to put our clock back this time), after having driven a total of about 3400km. Back on public transport we took the train into the city centre. Trains in Australia are cheap, fast, timely and easy. They put UK trains to shame.
We got a lift to the station with a guy from the hire company who described Brisbane as being basically a country town, but bigger. Although our guidebook says that nowadays Brisbane has an up and coming arts and cultural scene, we found it harder to love than Sydney or Melbourne.
We had torrential rain while we were here, but the region is suffering from drought and all the fountains in the city centre are turned off.
Brisbane has some lovely old buildings but they are scattered among and dwarfed by ugly towerblocks. More high rises are being constructed and cranes stick out all over the skyline.
One evening our hostel provided free transport up to Mount Coot-Tha lookout - a spot in the hills that gives wide sweeping views over the city. We had hoped to get up there around sunset so we could see the view in daylight, but it was dark by the time we arrived. The lights were pretty and twinkly though and we could see how far the suburbs spread from the relatively small centre.
A lot of backpackers at our hostel were working in Brisbane - trying to earn enough money to go somewhere nicer, maybe!
We took a trip along the river into the city centre which was a good way to see the sights. We spent the day searching out all the free things to do! The Queensland museum, an art gallery, the artificial beach, botanic gardens, speaker's corner etc.
The highlight of our time in Brisbane (apart from watching an episode from the latest series of Little Britain) was a Didgeridoo lesson. Our teacher kept insisting that playing the didge was a combination of 'excercise, relaxation and meditation'. No mention of making music. But we got nowhere hear making music, so maybe it was better to look at it in that way. Angie managed to get hers to sound slightly less like an trumpeting elephant by the end of the lesson. Darren's lips went all tingly so he couldn't play for sustained periods. It was great to listen to our teacher play though. He demonstrated circular breathing to us using a mouthful of water which he squirted out of his mounth in a constant controlled stream while he breathed. The range of different sounds that come from the didge are made using the voicebox and tongue over the basic sound which is created by the lips.
Self-catering in Austalia has been so easy for us. The vegetarian selection in supermarkets is so much wider than in the UK. The different types, flavours and brands of tofu alone take up a whole chiller cabinet. The only thing they don't have over here is Quorn, so Darren still finds reason to complain!
Marginally interesting fact #23 - you probably know that water goes down the plughole in the Southern Hemisphere the opposite direction to the Northern Hemisphere. However, the principle that affects water also makes all vines grow around tree trunks in the same direction in Australia.
And that's it. Hurray! A short entry at last.
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