Yuggera/Jagera and Turrbal Country
26th to 28th of October
According to the Australian Government census as of June 2020 3.8 million people live in this small area of Queensland, accounting for over half of the whole state's population. In this article I'll be discussing my time spent in the 3rd biggest city in Australia and the first on my trip through the Antipodes - Brisbane.
After taking the air train into town and checking into a hostel, I took a long walk around the city center. Residents of Queensland were voting on the 2024 Queensland state electio. As I walked part Brisbane City Hall a few different party promoters asked me for a chat, keen to persuade me to vote for their party before I enter the building and vote. Both people I spoke to enjoyed my "I'd love to vote for your party, only issue is I'm British".
The City Hall is a beautiful brick structure with a 92 meter high clock tower and greek pillar entrance. This made it the tallest structure in the city from construction to the 1960s. As I entered a big sign greeted me with "poll booths" and an arrow to go left. A couple of volunteers double checked with me as I turned right that I didn't in fact need to vote and was instead looking for the Museum of Brisbane. Fortunately it was still open. When entering the museum the first thing you are greeted with is a sign advertising the clock tower free bell tour. I got lucky that one was just about to start when I arrived and a spot for it was free.
The lift ride up uses the original lift from when the building was erected. The exterior has been completely preserved, with only the internals getting a modern remake. Apparently the original fair for a ride to the top was 6 pence per adult and 3 per child. Being now free makes this one of those rare tourist attractions that have gotten cheaper. Once at the top we had 10 minutes to look around the 76 meter high viewing platform.
Below is a photo of the clock tower bells, which ring every 15 minutes. Five bells make up the brass orchestra; four that play the chime every 15 minutes and 1 huge striking bell (shown on the right side) that marks the hour. At 4.3 tonnes the striking bell is heavier than all the other bells combined (weighing only 3 tonnes). Westminster and Cambridge are the names of the chimes they play.
When it was built this clock was the largest and most modern public clock in Australia. The clock face is almost five metres in diameter, with 3 meter long minute hands. Over 1,000 screws hold it's white opal structure together. And like big ben, people did use to abseil dangerously down to clean it's face.
For further information visit the brisbane government page.
After finishing my time in the clock tower I wondered around the exhibits in the museum. Part of the space is split off into an art gallery. Below is a piece by Monica Rohan which I particularly liked. The bright coloured and detailed flora are really well painted and I enjoy the addition of 1 subject to each piece. The face is obscured in both by the shrubbery or hair and the way their positioned off the ground adds to how thick and intense the plant life is. They're both really nice paintings in my opinion, personally preferring the left one.
If you'd like to see more of Monica's art here is her instagram account.
Nearby to the city hall is Brisbane Arcade, an old eccentric walkthrough between main roads filled with independent shops. After I failed to find a fountain pen I really liked in Japan the pen shop (named "The Pen Shoppe") in here took a good 20 minutes of my day. The product range was really good with consistently high quality stationary and as such I sadly could not find a fountain pen within my price range.
I rarely mention on this travel blog any of the coffee I order (coffee review article coming soon) but Hideaway specialty coffee deserve to be mentioned. After finding them through an impulsive Google Maps search for "coffee near me", I learnt that they were famous for their coffee art. As I ordered I asked if this is true and if they could give me a depiction of any animal of their choosing. The bear my barista painted for me did not disappoint; it's the best coffee art I've ever seen!
I grabbed a bit of food and sat by the river looking over the Victoria Bridge. With it lit up in the full spectrum of colours it made for a good view while I ate a simple sandwich and apple tea. Often it's not the key attractions or highlights that make memorable moments. In my experience the mundane views of key well designed infrastructure that can be the most picturesque.
Now the day we are discussing is the 26th of October, the final Saturday before Halloween. For lots of people who celebrate Halloween the Saturday before is the big night out and Brisbane had a lot on for those looking to do something in the evening. After eating I wandered down into South Bank Parklands; a small riverside park with lots of pathways, facilities and even it's own man-made beach. Plenty of halloween themed stuff was going on here, including this spooky land train.
There was plenty going on and a lot of people about. A complete mixture of groups of friends drinking together and parents with kids were roaming the streets, mostly in costume. Behind the park one of the roads had been closed and a large market set up. I managed to find a patch dealer who had all the country flags of the world and ended up buying one for every country I'm visiting on this trip (plus a few more). 20 bucks happily spent.
Next we'll be exploring the Gold Coast, a neighboring area to Brisbane and right on the Queensland New South Wales border. Until then!
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