Jet Planes, Koala’s, and City Views
Trip Start
Jun 03, 2010
1
8
Trip End
Jun 13, 2010
Where I stayed
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Saturday, June 5, 2010
A couple of people worried about the how long it would take us to fly down to Australia, but two meals, a nap and a couple of movies later we found ourselves landing in the Queensland Capital to be greeted by a spectacular winter's morning. Blue sky, sunshine and 75 degree weather. A stunning welcome!
Our JPT Tours driver Patrick met us as we passed through immigration, and he looked almost more excited to see us than we were to be here, definitely a bloke who found it hard to keep a smile off his face! The first order of the day was a light breakfast, so we headed directly to one of Brisbane’s historic homes on the river to soak up some sunshine – Newstead house was the former home of an early Brisbane Governor, now open to the public it served the perfect backdrop for our welcome to Brisbane and its magnificent river.
In recognition of the traditional owners of the land we had just arrived in, a local dance group from the Yuggera tribe greeted us to perform a 'welcome to country’ dance including a traditional digeree doo demonstration. These guys form part of the Mirrabooka dance group who give performances and cultural demonstrations for visitors to the Brisbane region.
To complete our journey into the city, we then hit the river! Boarding a citycat ferry is a spectacular way to see the outlying suburbs turn into Brisbane’s downtown, in fact the citycats are how many Brisbanites commute to work.
Meeting us at the southbank parklands, Patrick our driver then took us on the short drive to Australia’s largest and oldest Koala sanctuary, Lone Pine. Located right on the Brisbane river a short drive or ferry ride from downtown, Lone Pine gave the group our first chance to get personal with the wildlife! Holding a Koala, feeding a kangaroo and a spectacular birds of prey demonstration. A couple of ladies had to be restrained from walking away with their cute new friend….
After a spectacular lunch at the Summit Restaurant on Mt Coot-tha overlooking the city we checked into The Sebel & Citigate hotel in the heart of Brisbane’s downtown to refresh before Dinner.
As a special start to this visit to south east Queensland, Tourism Qld and Brisbane Marketing had organized a very special VIP after hours event at Australia’s newest premier art gallery – the gallery of modern art, or ‘GoMA’. The gallery’s current exhibition was a collection of the pieces by the sculptor Ron Mueck, an amazing set of human forms captured in stunning detail at both small and sometimes confrontingly large scales. After our tour of the exhibition we enjoyed a stunning dinner overlooking the city lights…the perfect welcome to Brisbane and the Great Sunshine Way!
