Brisbane is affectionately known as Brisvegas or
Brisneyland by disparaging Melbourners and Sydneysiders, so our expectations were low on arrival. In fact we found it thoroughly delightful, albeit on a smaller scale than its southern cousins – we managed to see all of the major sights within a 24 hour period.
We arrived to find the city bathed in sunshine, and it was a relief, for me at least, to be back in shorts and T-shirts, after nearly three weeks of colder weather. We thought we were doing well to be out and about by 9.30, only to find once again the city centre was packed with families having breakfast and lots of people participating in another 'festival of running' – the marathon was already 3 hours through, and the 10k was about to kick off. Australians are most definitely early risers!
We spent most of the day doing a walking tour of the centre. Brisbane is full of familiar-looking Victorian buildings, as in Melbourne and Sydney, but here most of them have been refurbed for more modern pursuits – the grandest of the buildings, the former Treasury, is ironically now the city's premier casino, and the old Land Administration Building has been transformed into the finest hotel in the area.
Brisbane also has its fair share of art galleries and museums, mostly grouped along the Southbank (sound familiar?) If Melbourne's Southbank is how London would like to be, Brisbane's is how Melbourne would like to be. Along with the cultural pursuits there are a host of nice restaurants, an urban beach and a beautiful flower arbor. But the highlight here was the Whale Walk, a connecting covered walkway between some of the museums, which featured giant whales suspended from the ceiling, and piped whale calls reverberating around the space. I guess you had to be there, but James and I had a lot of fun practising our whale calls (his is better than mine). We also really liked the QUT (Queensland University of Technology) Gallery, which was small but perfectly formed, boasting a display on the Japanese influence on western art.
Wanting to escape the biggest backpacker hostel ever (60+ rooms) we decided to go to the cinema to see Inception. I am sure most of you have seen it by now – we both really enjoyed it, even if it was a little bit too clever for its own good. However, I was properly freaked out on the walk back, convinced there was a couple following us all the way (a good half hour walk through deserted suburban streets with no street lights). Turns out they were staying at the same hostel as we were......or were they?!
We spent a very pleasant day and night in Arrowtown, a small village which looks like something out of the Wild West. Little wonder when you know it was originally settled as a gold-mining town in the 1860s, following the discovery of gold in the Arrow River (after they'd been initially drawn to the Shotover). As James mentioned, a lot of the prospectors came from Australia, but there was also a sizable contingent of Chinese men in search of their fortune. We visited the Chinese settlement, a little row of houses just outside of town, which has been partly reconstructed by the local tourist association. It's a pretty depressing place – the Chinese were hugely ostracised by the European community and 1 in 7 died as a result of their poor living conditions. That said, their resilience in the face of such hostile circumstances is pretty staggering: the last Chinese man living in the settlement survived until 1925.
I'd heard a lot about Arrowtown from James, largely in relation to the amazing time he had there with Eddie at the cinema. To be fair, it was pretty darn good: a boutique arthouse cinema with only two screens, offering comfortable sofa chairs, bottles of wine and cheese platters during the intermission. All very civilised. We watched Harry Brown. Great film, but much darker and more harrowing than I was expecting. As a result (and probably also as a consequence of the half bottle of red wine I'd drunk during the film), I was feeling so maudlin on the journey home that I had to watch the first half of 3 Men and a Little Lady to cheer myself up before going to bed.
From Arrowtown we journeyed on to Wanaka, the jumping off point for the Cardrona and Treble Cone ski resorts. With my thumb and the weather both working against us, there was no more snowboarding in store, which left us at something of a loose end. Just as well really, as our wine consumption at the cinema had left us both with slightly fuzzy heads and an inclination for a 'sofa day.' This we indulged with hot chocolates at a local cafe, and a gentle walk around Lake Wanaka, along with four episodes of Lost whilst sipping tea in the van. I really wanted to go to Puzzlingworld, a local attraction boasting 3D puzzles and a 'visual maze.' But James said no. So I have no idea whether it was any good. I imagine it was probably pretty awesome.
