I’d apologize for being a little lazy in my posting – but then again, I’m the one on vacation, so no apologies! We had an amazing relaxing time on Gili Meno, and then I thought I’d update after I had the conveniences of a wifi connection in Brisbane for 5 days. But after waking on Gili Meno at 5am, and arriving in Brisbane at 1am, followed by anther day of broken sleep, and me getting a head cold/flu (fortunately Sara escaped that), we’re now on the road between Brisbane and Sydney and you’re finally getting an update 🙂
First of all, it was almost culture/price shock arriving in Brisbane. It’s what we’re used to from the United States, but after a few weeks in Malaysia and Indonesia, $10 for a meal seems like a fortune. That could buy me 2-5 meals! Nonetheless, after mentally adjusting for the prices, Brisbane was a really cool place. Everyone was friendly – like asking if we needed help while staring at Google maps (even for just a few moments), or making sure we knew how to use the city’s rental bikes (a great system), or changing our car reservation when we realized we didn’t need it until the day we left the city. Just genuinely good people.
But also super relaxed. We stayed in the Central Business District, but were nearby the botanic gardens, which is connected to a river walk – that you can wander for miles on both sides of the river. It’s certainly a city where people like to spend a lot of their time outside. Lots of people hanging around with the friends in the parks, concerts & picnics at the parks, local markets (crafts/farmers markets), climbing along the cliffs on one side of the river, and of course lots of people biking and running.
It probably helps that we had wonderful “spring” weather there – sunny mid 70s day, mid 50s night (it is subtropical in Brisbane), but we really enjoyed our time there. On several occasions Sara said “I could live here”.
Of course, we’ve moved on. We’ve had two days of driving and adventure along the coast down towards Sydney, and we arrive there tomorrow afternoon. Yesterday we did a 18km trek around Lamington National Park – with lots of waterfalls, and today did some more coastal exploration (Port Macquarie was nice). Onto pics (mostly catching up Indonesia)…
So then my favorite section…
- “No Junk Mail” – this is perhaps the most amazing thing in Australia. Wandering around Brisbane, this sign was placed on most mailboxes. I wish we could do this!
- Kangaroo’s – Haven’t seen any yet
- Koala’s – Haven’t seen any yet
- Wallaby – Yes, we had a glimpse of one.
- Brush tailed possum – Yes, we saw several!
- Laughing kookaburra – Haven’t seen, but heard. OMG – you have to click and hear these things. (not my video