After our time on the road it was good to stay in one place for a little while and sleep in a proper bed!
When we arrived in Brisbane on Thursday, it was really drizzly, but we were optimistic it would pick up...it never did. It rained constantly until Sunday morning when we left! It was still warm and the hostel was really nice, so we just used the down time to chill out.
We did, however, have one key task during out time in the city – to buy a new camera. Unfortunately, during the excitement of arriving at the hostel, Emily dropped our camera into a gushing puddle. We left it to dry out for a few days, but alas it was goner (this explains the gap in our album during our time in Brisbane).
When we arrived in Brisbane on Thursday, it was really drizzly, but we were optimistic it would pick up...it never did. It rained constantly until Sunday morning when we left! It was still warm and the hostel was really nice, so we just used the down time to chill out.
We did, however, have one key task during out time in the city – to buy a new camera. Unfortunately, during the excitement of arriving at the hostel, Emily dropped our camera into a gushing puddle. We left it to dry out for a few days, but alas it was goner (this explains the gap in our album during our time in Brisbane).
The area we stayed in, Caxton, seemed to have quite a history to it. It housed some of Brisbane's oldest hotels and now seemed to be the place to be for independent pubs and restaurants and apparently the main hang out during rugby league games. The Caxton area really felt like San Francisco with the long hilly roads and colonial buildings. We felt quite at home in the neighbourhood straight away.
On our first night in the city, we went to one of the local bars to watch a couple bands. We didn’t realise until we got there that the gigs were actually in aid of SLAM (Supporters of Live Australia’s Music). Back in 2010, on 23 February, a band took to the road on the back of an open lorry and toured round Melbourne in protest of the strict licensing laws in Victoria, which are apparently due to the thought that live music in pubs is linked to violence. It was a great gig and a really funky little Mexican pub.
The hostel itself was actually an old colonial house. We stayed at the back of the main house in the pool house, with 6 others. It’s probably one of the nicest hostels we’ve stayed in to date and by far, the most homely.
Brisbane seems like a nice little city, i’m not sure we’ve seen it at its best due to the rain, but on first impressions, it didn’t really feel like that there was much for tourists to do. It felt kind of similar to Aberdeen in that respect – nice little city to visit for shopping, pubs / restaurants and the botanic gardens, but not much else to see. Still, we really enjoyed the rest and the ability to shower daily!
Main highlights from Brisbane would be...
• Seeing the Iron Lady in a small boutique cinema close to our hostel – great film.
• Visiting the man made beach.
• Buying a new camera - which should hopefully take better night time shots.
• The Calypso Bar – just sitting with a couple of schooners and watching the live music.
On our first night in the city, we went to one of the local bars to watch a couple bands. We didn’t realise until we got there that the gigs were actually in aid of SLAM (Supporters of Live Australia’s Music). Back in 2010, on 23 February, a band took to the road on the back of an open lorry and toured round Melbourne in protest of the strict licensing laws in Victoria, which are apparently due to the thought that live music in pubs is linked to violence. It was a great gig and a really funky little Mexican pub.
The hostel itself was actually an old colonial house. We stayed at the back of the main house in the pool house, with 6 others. It’s probably one of the nicest hostels we’ve stayed in to date and by far, the most homely.
Brisbane seems like a nice little city, i’m not sure we’ve seen it at its best due to the rain, but on first impressions, it didn’t really feel like that there was much for tourists to do. It felt kind of similar to Aberdeen in that respect – nice little city to visit for shopping, pubs / restaurants and the botanic gardens, but not much else to see. Still, we really enjoyed the rest and the ability to shower daily!
Main highlights from Brisbane would be...
• Seeing the Iron Lady in a small boutique cinema close to our hostel – great film.
• Visiting the man made beach.
• Buying a new camera - which should hopefully take better night time shots.
• The Calypso Bar – just sitting with a couple of schooners and watching the live music.
