Brisbane and Surfers Paradise!

On Tuesday, April 17, Christine and I flew from Cairns to Brisbane. Brisbane was a fantabulous surprise! I totally loved this city! Even though it's not all that popular as a tourist destination, it's got a great vibe with tons to offer visitors and residents alike!


Here I am on the riverfront walkway in Kangaroo Point (where our hotel was), with a view over the Brisbane River towards Brisbane's Central Business District ("CBD").


Another view of the Brisbane skyline from Kangaroo Point.


Christine at Jo Jo's, a great 2nd-floor terrace restaurant overlooking the pedestrian zone in the CBD.


Me in Brisbane's Chinatown (on a rather quiet night, obviously)

Cocktails at the Bowery Bar. These babies took the resident mixologist about 10 minutes to make, but they were well worth the wait!

The lengths we will go to to update our blogs!!! Christine on the counter in the only corner of our motel room where we could pick up a stray wireless signal.

Me and Christine on the clifftop walkway in Kangaroo Point the next morning, with a view of the Brisbane skyline behind us. We were strolling along the riverside to the train station to try to make a trip down to Surfers Paradise.

Having successfully navigated Brisbane's rail system, we succeeded in arriving at Surfers Paradise, a famous beach town two hours south of Brisbane. (That's two hours of travel time for us, since we were using a series of trains and buses and pavement pounding to get there -- if we had a car, I think we would have been there in under half an hour...)

Lunching al fresco in Surfers Paradise.

Indulging in our daily ice cream quota. I think I've averaged at least one sundae per day since we arrived in Australia. I'll be regretting this severely as I try to squeeze into my AussieBums on Bondi Beach. :-(

Here I am enjoying my ice cream sundae on the beach itself. Surfers Paradise was judged Queensland's Cleanest Beach in 2006 by the "Keep Australia Beautiful Council." You don't get a better endorsement than that!

How silly do I look on the Surfers Paradise throne???

Back in Brisbane that night at Press Club, a really fun nightspot featuring live bands and wildly entertaining spasmodic body convulsions on the part of other patrons, intruducing instantly classic dance moves such as the "My Hands Are Cuffed Together Behind My Back, But I'm Happy About It," and the "Don't Mind Me While I Stomp Out All These Invisible Cockroaches Under My Feet." We could barely tear ourselves away when it was time to go home!

Next up, more Brisbane!