Brisbane: lovely weather, lovely people

Brisbane.

The weather is fantastic, the people are great, and other than the car parks (also known as the motorways) the city is also great.

We headed out for a city tour on Thursday morning, doing a hop on hop off tour. The bus also included city cat tickets for the day which is the river　Ｃatamaran service to get people across the river. (not many bridges completed just yet, so the quaint city cats are the way to go if you're on foot).

We rode up to Mount Coot-Tha to get a great panorama of the city and surrounds. We had lunch, where I tried a local fish, but it was battered, so it just tasted like regular fish and chips. Damien got me to try an Aussie wine, a Shiraz, though I can't remember what brand. It was quite lovely, though he had to help me finish it off.

From there we descended into the city and caught a Cat which brought us to the South Bank. What a great place. It's a fabulous park in the middle of town with flowered walkways, play area for the kids, a man-made beach, a pool and the best kids wet play park I've ever seen. Jordan and Paris had a great time splashing about!

We then had to go home and get ready for The Great Outback Spectacular dinner-show. Now let me tell you, if you're in Brisbane, I'd have to say, that's a MUST DO.

The show reminds me of something that you'd probably see in Calgary. Everyone was wearing checkered shirts and they give you a cowboy hat (well local version) at the door with either a yellow or red band around it. That's to know which station you're rooting for. So you get in, they give you your hat then you proceed to get your picture taken with it. There is then a souvenir shop full of the typical stuff. Once you get around that it's like walking into a barn/tavern. There are photos of the outback all over the walls with bits and pieces of outback gear hanging. The lighting is from wagon wheel chandeliers, and there's someone on a raised stage singing outback songs along one side. Along the other side is a really long bar where there were already many people bellying up. Along the far wall were 4 stalls with some of the show horses in them. We weren't allowed to pet them, but we could stand in front and get our picture taken with them. So, once we were done with the pre-show, we were able to take our seats. There isn't a bad seat in the house. It looks like stadium seating, in the way that we're all facing the arena, but it's more like getting a movie theatre chair and sitting at a breakfast bar. Our salads were already there waiting for us.. SCRUMPTIOUS! I've been itching for greens since I left and this was just what the doctor ordered! once that was eaten, the show started. The show was about life out on a station in the outback. The horses were just great. The best equivalent I can give them would be to our RCMP musical ride. They were dancing and jumping and .. it was just a beautiful sight. Then after a bit, we were served our main course of steak, potatoes, green beans, carrots and I think it was either pumpkin or squash. Very tasty meal. While we ate, they sang Waltzing Matilda and recounted a poem. It was great. Dessert was pure sugar, I swear it was, and Jo, sitting beside me concurred, it was a thing called a pavlova I believe... a type of meringue with some kind of cream toping and fruit coulis over top. Being the kind guest, I managed to put it all in ;) Then for the grand finale where it was audience participation and alas, our side lost, and it was the other side's station that won for best station that night.
The next day was at the Australia Zoo, that's the zoo put together by the late, great, Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter.
I feel that it was extremely well done, we were able to get up close and personal with the animals. I got to pet a kangaroo, a koala, a wombat and feed an elephant... twice! They had a demonstration in a stadium called the crocoseum where we got to see some of the birds, snakes and of course, a crocodile. I think that of all the animals, I think I'd want to take a wombat home. they're about the size of a small pig, or raccoon, cute as anything and soft and more lively than the koalas. In any case, it's a great way to spend the day.

It was from the zoo that we went back home for a barbie (pronounced BAH-bee). Damien cooked up some roo saussage for me to try. They were tasty, seemed like any other saussage you'd eat. I have to admit though, it felt a bit odd eating roo after having gone to a zoo to pet them.

Great time, and now off to Cairns (pronounced CANS).