Brisbane - Redux

The sun was shining again when we left Surfers Paradise, so at last we got to see the town somewhere near its full glory.  As we no longer had anything to rush to on the Brisbane side, we took a leisurely drive back to the city, avoiding getting on the main highway until we absolutely had to.

We arrived back at our apartment in Brisbane for the night, the same one that we had left a few nights ago.  Someone had been busy whilst we were gone, as we were now benefiting from a brand new flat screen TV, rather than the archaic CRT that we had available before.

The streets of Brisbane were eerily quiet as we walked through the city; the Aussies seem to take their bank holidays seriously, especially Austraila Day, a many shops and even entire malls were closed for the day.

We had some lunch in the Botanic Gardens, something that was somewhat risky, as on the sight of food, we were immediately surrounded by various birds that were eyeing us up for any tidbits we may let fall.

After finishing lunch, watched by many avian eyes, we meandered over to the South Bank, where the day's festivities would have been taking place, had the poor weather over the past few days not forced their cancellation.

As we arrived, we found that most of Brisbane had decided to come down to the South Bank anyway.  City Beach and its surrounding bars were throbbing with activity and we spent a few very enjoyable hours sat in a bar, enjoying the fine weather and watching the world go by.

Before long our thoughts turned to food again, spurred on by some fine seafood dishes that were being served up at the South Bank pub we were drinking in.  We decided that we would push the boat out and go for a fine seafood restaurant that we had spied at Eagle Street Pier during our last visit.

The restaurant had stunning views of the bridge and financial district of Brisbane, and the food was just as stunning.  We both had a main course of Moreton Bay Bugs, which are strange prehistoric-looking sea creatures that have meat not unlike lobster, but yet unique unto itself.  We also treated ourselves to a fine bottle of New Zealand Marlborough Souvingnon Blanc to go with it.

Nicely stuffed and with pockets lighter, we walked back to our apartment to have a bit more wine that we had bought from the off-license, which we enjoyed on our apartment balcony.

It will be another 10am departure tomorrow, whereupon we will set off in the Northern leg of our road trip, first stop our old haunt of Hervey Bay.

TTFN