Scarborough Hotels
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Great time in Brisbane
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What a fun city. Caroline arrived on Thursday night and we set out to explore the various restaurants, clubs, and sights that Brisbane had to offer.
That night we went into Chinatown for dinner and from there to Fortitude Valley, which has some of what Lonely Planet says is the best clubs in Australia. Found a few and weren't too impressed, and didn't get a chance to find the ones they recommend.
Spent the weekend exploring the city more and getting our fill of Thai food, sushi, and Indian food. It had been way too long since I had food this good!
The riverfront is very well put together and developed, with nice cafe's at the bottom of tall hotels along one side, leading into the city's botanical gardens which follow the river around in a U shape. One of the main bridges is able to be climbed along the top- unfortunately it was booked up, but if I return to Brisbane I plan on doing it.
It is one of only 3 in the world and guess what the other two are also in Australia. On the other side strolled through the Queensland University of Technology- strange because the feel of the campus reminded me a bit of MIT- then right back into downtown where they have shops all over and a huge, popular pedestrian mall at the center. There were people all over and it was interesting to see the Christmas decorations and sales, since to me it doesn't feel at all like Christmas- it's much too warm and getting warmer. I realized that my flat sandals are a little too flat for my arch-impaired flat feet so I may be investing in some sandals with better support.
On Saturday visited the museum center which had art and the science center all within close walking distance. There was an impressive suspended wire sculpture which hopefully you can see in the picture... The science center had the smallest ship to sail single-handed around the world, and its obvious the guy was certifiably insane. Just the relatively calm seas we experienced would roll that thing around like a cork top.
On the last day I bought my backpack in preparation for the next portion of my trip- it's quite large and I'm sure I will be able to fill it, but will probably be shedding useless items shortly thereafter for weight.
Meanwhile the Silkie had left Bundaberg and had a nice sail down the inside straits. I was eager to join them and get a feel for the some of the coastline- turned out they had stopped in Scarborough, a town a bit out.
But the public transport went out that far... I bought a ticket for less than $5, boarded a train, about 45 minutes got off at the bus station. After 5 minutes the bus pulled up and another 45 minutes later I was a short walk from the Scarborough marina- it was a pleasant enough experience, even with my new backpack, so that I've decided not to buy a car and rent if need be for short periods. The US really needs a reliable, efficient public transport system in all major cities at the very least.
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