Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

My first full day in Brisbane was a lot of fun. We took the bus to town and it went straight to the Cultural Center on the South Bank of the Brisbane River. The major museums are conveniently located in this Cultural Precinct and within walking distance of one another. The weather was a perfect spring day, brilliantly sunny and warm.

Brisbane River

We started at the Queensland Museum which had these Lego-type people attached to various parts of the walls and roof of the building.

Lego people

Inside we saw an exhibit on recent archeological finds relating to the Australian explorers Burke and Wills who died in the Outback in the 1800s while pioneering a route from the south to the north of the country.

On to the Queensland Art Gallery, where we saw an exhibit of works of Hans Heysen, the foremost Australian landscape painter. He loved painting the outback and the huge gum trees.

Not a Hans Heysen work

I really liked the “For Kids” labels on many of the artworks. They are placed below the main label, at the right height for kids to read, and they speak directly to the child about the work of art.

For Kids label at lower left

Across the plaza, we ate lunch at the cafe at the Queensland State Library building and explored their bookstore.

After lunch, we headed over to the Gallery of Modern Art and saw a retrospective of haute couture by Valentino. Dresses worn by the rich and famous were on display, including Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ wedding dress, Cate Blanchett’s and Julia Roberts’ Oscar dresses, and many more from 5 decades of fashion. It cost $20 to get in, but if you love clothes, it’s worth it.

We walked over the river on the Kurilpa Bridge The name is the Australian Aboriginal word for the South Brisbane and West End area.

We continued on the north side of the river to the central business district (CBD) and over to the Queen St. Mall, the main shopping area of town. In Australia a “mall” is usually a pedestrian shopping area rather than an indoor mall, but those also exist. The way to tell the difference is if there is “Street” in the name.

We caught a bus back out to Indooroopilly (“IN-dra-pill-ee”), the close-in suburb where I’m staying with DD and DSIL. We ended the day with a delicious Asian-inspired meal at Bali Grill in Rosalie.