Brisbane

Today, July 3rd, was the conclusion of our cruise. We’d got ourselves mostly packed up the night before, while listening to the soundtrack from Gardians of the Galaxy. 

In the morning we ate a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court buffet, and waited for a short bit in the Wheelhouse Bar, before carrying our luggage out. Customs was quick, and we easily got an Über in to Brisbane. 

After the modest amount of space available on a  cruise ship, our accommodations at the Hilton seemed excessively spacious. We were up on the twentieth floor of the hotel. I had a giggle over the plentiful (and a bit odd) assortment of options in the minibar. Pringles and Wild Turkey, anyone? 😂

We relaxed in our room and watched the next episode of Ms. Marvel, which we have been thoroughly enjoying. Then we FaceTimed with Desmond who told us about the latest book he had finished reading and showed us some new Minecraft Legos G.B. had gotten him. 

We rode down the glass elevator (taking a little video to share with Desmond, who I don’t think has ridden in one before) and then went to another set of lifts to exit to the street. Come to find out, the elevators open right out into the pedestrian zone full of shops and restaurants. We took a look at a board game shop, and then made our way across the river in search of lunch. 

As we went along, we noted that use of electric scooters here is much more common than we have seen in any other city. But, due to the pandemic, we haven’t traveled that much of late, so maybe it has become more common elsewhere as well. 

We found the beach in the middle of the city that my cousin Keaton had recommended we visit, just for novelty sake. 

Overlooking the little beach and lagoon was a restaurant called SouthBank Beer Garden. We seated ourselves at a little bar, scanned the QR code for the menu, and ordered on the website. Having still a general notion that I wanted to eat “shrimp from the barbie” I ordered the Grilled Tiger Prawns. Bryan got the Sunday special that included an assortment of tasty smoked meats and BBQ sauce. He also got a ginger beer. 

Bryan’s food arrived first and we began to enjoy the very tasty meats. Next came my dish full of a generous amount of large shrimp. 

Now, I don’t really eat seafood. I like little shrimp on my salad or in a gumbo (or of course they are delicious breaded and fried) but this was my first encounter with bigger, undisguised shrimp. I was not expecting heads and *shudder* legs on my plate. I began to cut the most animal like bits off and try to find the meat I wanted. I managed a bite. And then another. A revolting crunch turned my stomach and told me something had gone very wrong. At this point I am giggling quietly and asking Bryan to please Google how it is I am supposed to eat these things. 

He helpfully obliged and found not only written instructions but a step by step video which he covertly angled at me so I could follow along with my third prawn. I managed better from there on out, but still had the odd sensation of doing an alien autopsy rather than enjoying a meal. I pictured other people having a similarly traumatic meat eating experience and deciding to be vegan. 😂

We continued our walk through Brisbane. I enjoyed the flowers on the long trellis over the walking path. 

It was a very nice place for a walk. 

Having braved the prawns and lived to tell about it, I decided I was entitled to some vegan soft serve. 

We circled back to a place we had noticed earlier and got me a dish with what they called chocolate fudge on top. 

It was tart, but tasty. The chocolate (which was essentially magic shell) was the best part. 

We continued to walk and take it all in. 

When talking about what we might like to do for dinner, Bryan put in Chipotle and his phone helpfully informed us that the nearest one was more than ten thousand miles away. In Paris. “That one’s not even very good” he remarked. 

We walked a long way along the river. At one point I was startled by a reptilian head near the ground in front of me. It turned out to not be one of the venemous snakes we have heard so much about, but instead an iguana catching some rays of sun. 

I was catching some rays of sun as well. We had not brought along sunglasses or hats today, as it had been cloudy when we left the hotel. 

We contemplated renting scooters, bikes, or taking a water taxi, but ended up sticking with walking. Our phone suggested to cross the river we could just go up the stairs near the river and walk across the Story Bridge. This turned out not to be the case. There were no stairs. 

We went back to the station for the water taxi, and found that that particular dock was closed. 

Nothing for it, we began to walk parallel to the bridge, opposite the way we wanted to go, to find the pedestrian path. I joked with Bryan that we were now, inadvertently, taking the Kagaroo Point Heritage Walk. 

Success! We eventually did make it to the stairs, and started across. 

We enjoyed the view from the bridge as we walked across. 

Unable to take a direct route back to the hotel, we walked along the water. Our feet, at this point, were sore. 

We looked back at the Story Bridge we had come across. 

We had walked more than eight miles by the time we made it back to our hotel. We lay down and rested our feet for a bit. Before too long (as the sun sets shortly after 5PM) it was time to venture back out to eat dinner. 

Before dinner, however, we decided to pick up some expansions for a game named Root. These expansions are not yet available in the states, so it was fun to buy something to bring back “from the future.”

We had assured our Über driver this morning we had no intention of shopping. However, about this time Bryan said, “You should get yourself a little puffy black jacket” and so I did. 

Now outfitted like half of the other people walking around, and feeling cozy warm, I was ready to go find dinner. 

One of our table mates on the cruise had recommended eating under the Story Bridge. So we walked back down to that area, to look at some menus. Only, there weren’t any menus by the hostesses. So, we kept walking. 

Then we began waking through Felons Brewery and it just kept going and going. There were two Felons restaurants side by side, with hundreds of tables and bars. There were also bean bag chairs on the lawn. People all seemed to be enjoying themselves, meeting up, and getting a drink. We scanned the QR code, settled in, and placed an order. 

The burgers were good and reminded me of Dea’s back home. 

The bridge was lit up, and it was a really nice place to sit and enjoy a meal. We found ourselves wishing that McMenamim’s had a sprawling, immense venue like this that you could sit yourself at and order without waiting for a waitress. It was highly effecient and very laid back. 

While I had been feeling blue getting off the ship as it signaled the beginning of the end of our trip, I really enjoyed our day in Brisbane. 

By the time we made it back to our hotel for the night, we had walked 12+ miles around town. Not quite as far as a “Rome day” (which is the measure of long walking days for us) but close!