Footsteps in Australia #5

9th Day ~ Best of Brisbane

Few days earlier, we have booked a tour with the Australian Day Tour to go around Brisbane. We came across the package when i was surfing the net @ Lee Yan's place the night before we drove to The Great Ocean Road. I wanted to look for a place where i can cuddle a koala and feed the kangaroos. There was a list of zoos and wildlife parks listed in Google, this particular package was featured in one of the sites. And the rest as they said, was history!

The driver and tour guide of the day, Neville is really magnificient. He can multitask from driving the bus and at the same time explaning to us the history of each building and places that we passed by. If we were in Malaysia or China, there will be one dedicated driver and another person will act as the tour guide.

We were first brought to The Cliffs Boardwalk to enjoy the view of the Brisbane city. Along the way, we visited the town area, passing by the Botanical Garden, Power House, and so on. I really cant remember all the places that was introduced to us. And that is why i respect Neville even more cos he can actually remember all the histories and stories without blinking his eyes! *salute*

The whole bunch of us were then served morning tea before heading for a river cruise. It was really an eye opening as we heard about the history of the Brisbane River which causes a big flood some few decades ago. This explained why the houses located at the riverside was built with high pillar and a jetty (with boat) in front of each of them.


I saw this weird boat, with chimney while cruising at the Brisbane River.

We dropped off at South Bank for an hour of free and easy activities. There wasnt any problem for us cos we were given a precinct map each and it was so clear that we couldnt possibly get lost anywhere!

There is this amphitheatre called Suncorp Piazza where they have this BIG BIG screen at the centre. Movies will be screened for the public audience, free of charge. Everyone is allowed to just sit down at the empty spaces and watch it. That is really so cool, how come we dont have anything similar in Malaysia?


They are showing Fantastic Four, nice movie.

Some of the places in South Bank that we managed to squeeze into our itinerary were the Nepalese Pagoda, Rainforest Green, Arbour, Little Stanley Street, Stanley Street Plaza and the best of all, the Streets Beach.

Australia’s only beach in the middle of the city, Streets Beach is one of South Bank’s most popular attractions. A unique, man-made swimming beach, Streets Beach overlooks the brilliant Brisbane River and Central Business District. Conceived as a major piece of landscape, Streets Beach has a crystal clear lagoon with enough water to fill five Olympic swimming pools. You’ll always find sparkling clean, white sand beaches, palm trees, rocky creeks and shady shallows surrounded by sub-tropical trees and exotic plantings.


Look at the bikini girls...

Ok, close your mouth and wipe your saliva! O_o

Next, we proceed to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which is the world's first and largest koala sanctuary, with over 130 koalas. Besides koalas, Lone Pine has a large variety of Aussie animal such as wombats, birds, reptiles, dingoes and more. You can also hand feed over 130 kangaroos and wallabies in their free range enclosure.


This sign is cute!

I took a photo cuddling a koala with Lee Yan, which is my whole idea of coming here in the first place. Click here to view it.


See how lazy the koala is!! Sleep also cannot sleep properly...


The kangaroo also become lazy.

Did u guys know that while the koalas are treated as a protected animal, kangaroos are considered as pest in Australia. The population is just too much and they are claimed to be destroying their farms. How interesting as we have always thought kangaroos are very special since they are not available in our country. *hmm*

Finally, the tour ended with the Mt Coot-tha Lookout that overlook the meandering path of the Brisbane River, starting in the mountain ranges north-west of Brisbane, flowing past the city centre to the river mouth on Moreton Bay.

Brisbane is a very very laid back city. Basically, there is no life after 6pm. All the shops are closed at 5pm, and u can hardly see anyone on the street at night except for those night clubs and pubs. We wanted to walk around after the tour, but we were left with disappointment.


I had Australia's most popular beer, XXXX Gold while Lee Yan had Jim Beam Cola to celebrate our successful trip.

Neways, we managed to go to Brisbane's Chinatown, which is a 5 minutes walk from our apartment and had our dinner there. There is this Chinese guy in Gold Coast told me that among all the Chinatowns in Australia, Brisbane's is the worst. Well, he got a point there. It was like a dead place... unlike Melbourne's where u can see a lot of Asians hanging out even though it's past 10pm.

Interesting eh? :)


10th day ~ Last day in Australia

We explored the Brisbane city ourselves, starting from the Eagle Street Pier & Riverside, which features some of the city's finest restaurants.


Eagle Street Pier, with the Story Bridge as the background.

There are a lot of churches in Brisbane, i dont know why. And since that day was the Easter Day, most of the churches were having gatherings and prayers. Lee Yan and I joined in the fun too, and had our shares of Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs chocolate. *yummy*

Besides churches, there are also a lot of bridges in Brisbane, Goodwill Bridge, Victoria Bridge, Story Bridge and William Jolly Bridge. If you are brave and adventurous enough, you can take on the Story Bridge Climb Adventure challenge. From the summit of the bridge climbers will enjoy uninterrupted 360° views of Brisbane, its river and surrounding hills and mountains. *cold sweat*

For your information, i didnt go for the climb. It is not that i am afraid of heights or whatever, i only got to know about this adventure on the last day of my trip. We have to book 48 hours in advance. This is how the Australian works, everything must book in advance at least a day earlier, including getting a coach to fetch u somewhere.

Sunday was really a bad choice of day for tourists like us, cos it was Easter and most of the shopping complexes and restaurants are closed for business. Darn... U know how family oriented the Australian are, they dont work on holidays, unlike the Asian. But that is the only day i get to do soem free and easy activities before coming back home. *sob*sob*


Pig 'n' Whistle, a Traditional English Pub. Cute logo they have there..

The Queen Street Mall is Queensland's premier shopping destination. But we have no fate to shop there.


Queen Street Mall is rather quiet on Easter Day..

"If you're lucky it'll rain... because Brisbane's Queen Street Mall has shopping well and truly stitched up".

That was an advert printed on the map of the Brisbane's town. U just cant resist paying a visit, am i right?


The peaceful pier.


Shrine of Remembrance and the 'Eternal Flame' at Anzac Square — Ann Street façade

The day was not long before it was the time for me to leave to the Brisbane's international airport and head back to Malaysia. I have really enjoyed the whole trip, and all the money spent was worth it. If there was an opportunity, i would really love to come to Australia again, and of cos to a different place. Sydney or Adelaide maybe?