A Day in Brisbane

 

The Central Railroad Station originally built in
1899 but has had a lot of renovations, or rather
removals as much of the front entrance has been
removed to widen the street.  

Anzac Square is right in front with the Shrine of
Remembrance. 

We were able to check into our hotel, the Marriot South Bank at Noon after our two hour train trip down from Mooloolaba. That trip ended at the Central Station downtown so we had a chance to see a little of this area on our way over to the other side of the river. But the rest of the day was spent on that very river using the public ferries. The Labor Government bequeathed cheap fares on public transportation - and I mean CHEAP. Our train fare was 50 cents as were all the ferries! 

We loved these birds - the Australian
white ibis. They hung around our cafe
and descended on a table as soon as
it was vacated.

The view of downtown from our cafe on the South Bank

These covered walks in the Gardens were so
lovely. 

Our hotel was only a long steep block from the Maritime Museum ferry landing. But this is a limited location. Most of the ferries are City Cats - plying their routes far up and down the river. But our location was just a cross river ferry, called a City Kitten. Once on the other side, we could catch a Cat! Our first destination was the South Bank stop for a lunch in the Gardens at a cafe. 

Scott at a City Cat ferry landing

Then we jumped on a ferry going down river and stayed on till the end. The river is lined with high rises and wharfs with restaurants and bars in the downtown area but then turns into residences, both individual homes and condos, many with docks after a short time. Two very elaborate pedestrian bridges cross the river in the city and there are a number of parks and walking paths extending for miles. 

The city cats were motor catamarans
with inside and outside sitting.

And we got off and walked along those paths enjoying the views and people watching. The weather as you can see was overcast, but no rain and a pleasant temperature - about 72. So good walking weather. But I was glad to stay in that night at our hotel for dinner! We had an easy morning as our flight to Uluru wasn't until 10:40 AM. So we had a chance to have breakfast at the hotel before catching an Uber.

You can get a good look at one of the two 
shirts we bought for Scott in Fiji - he gets a 
lot of compliments on both of them. 

It was a very nice flight to Uluru with exit row seats. And when we exited the plane it was a brilliant sunny day - nice as it was a fairly long walk to the airport! Haven't done that for awhile. The Ayers Rock Resort is pretty much it here with 5 different hotels gathered together not far from the Rock itself. We chose the Lost Camel. Everyone boarded shuttle buses and we were dropped off at our hotel. But more on our fabulous stay there in my next post!

That is a walk way along the river and it stretches
for miles. 

We did a lot of walking in Brisbane which helped me get ready for the long distances we had in Uluru the following week.