The day after Easter Sunday, it was goodbye to the family in Sydney and on to Brisbane in Queensland, Australia's Sunshine State. Who thought that nickname first? Was it the Americans or the Australians.
At any rate, we landed in Brisbane in the middle of a rainstorm. At the airport car rental, we picked up our Toyota Aurion car rental which is a model only made in Australia. It is basically the same as a Camry with a V6 engine and a few little extra bells and whistles. Nice to try something different for a change though.
Upon arrival at our apartment hotel, the Medina, in downtown Brisbane (in a pouring rain storm), we found the apartment to be quite small and lacking compared to what we had just left in Sydney. Although we could have survived there easily, we thought we would take a shot at finding something else since we are in Brisbane for two weeks. After some Internet research, and an inspection of a property the next morning, we decided to move to the Quest Apartments in Spring Hill, Brisbane. This location is much more central and the apartment is a huge two bedroom, immaculate and extremely well fitted. Quest is the largest hotel apartment chain in Australia and since we'd already had good luck with our Quest Apartment in Auckland, we thought we'd try them again.
The weather improved in Brisbane dramatically the day after our arrival and we've been enjoying sunny Queensland with temperatures averaging between 28 and 30 degrees. We've now had a good chance to explore Brisbane and have also taken a trip to the world-famous Australian Zoo in Beerwah, about one hour north of the city. This, of course is the zoo brought to fame by Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter and his wife, Terri. As you know, Steve was tragically killed by a Sting Ray in a movie filming a couple of years ago. As it is now the school holidays in Australia, Terri and her two kids, Bindi and Robert were all involved in the Crocodile Show at the Australia Zoo on the day we visited. Quite a spectacle really. The stadium where the show takes place is called The Crocoseum. Who would have thought?
As we explore Brisbane, we'll also be looking forward to hearing the Queensland Symphony on April 24 at the Performing Arts Centre. They, along with the Brisbane Chorale and Adelaide Symphony Chorale will perform Verdi's Requiem which involves over 300 performers. Stay tuned for more from Brisbane.
1. Brisbane Skyline from the South Bank2. Trevor on the Brisbane South Bank
3. Brisbane taken from McAfee Lookout in Brisbane Forest Park
4. Lorraine in the South Bank Precinct
5. Lorraine in our Toyota Aurion in Bellbird Grove, Brisbane Forest Park
6. Steve Irwin Memorial, Australian Zoo, Beerwah, Queensland
7. Trevor with Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter
8. Terri Irwin hosts the "Croc" show at the Australia Zoo
9. Terri Irwin taming a crocodile
10. Bindi Irwin, the Jungle Girl with the Crocmen
11. Lorraine at the Australian Zoo
12. Koala poser at the Australian Zoo
13. Tasmanian Devil Poser at the Australian Zoo
14. Kangaroo with Joey in pouch at the Australian Zoo
