A Few Days In Brisbane, Australia

Will be in Brisbane, Australia, for about 10 days, which is midway up the east coast of the country. The climate is similar to South Florida's and it's summer here in the Southern Hemisphere, which means sunny and WARM. Great for the beach, which is where we're headed this weekend.

This is the third time I've visited Brisbane, but the first time when the weather is so warm. In addition, there is no Daylight Savings Time in the state of Queensland, so at this time of year the sun rises at 4:45 am and sets at 6:30 pm. This has altered some of my sightseeing routines, and also has me going to sleep at 9:00 pm; and I don't think that's the jet lag.
I've tried to get out for my early walk before 6 am, because it gets hot so quickly.
Many of the summer flowers are out, and there are beautiful poinciana trees, frangipani trees, and others I don't recognize.

Poinciana

Frangipani flowers

Red Tree in Bloom

 There are people out jogging and even a few outdoor exercise classes in the parks. The coffee shops open around 7 am for the early risers.

I always like looking at the signs with unfamiliar phrases. Don't exactly know how a "quick beer" differs from other beers, but this is at the soccer stadium, so I imagine one wouldn't wait for a beer on tap to fill the glass at this counter.

I went into a coffee shop and ordered an "Iced Coffee." This is what I got:

A lovely coffee drink with ice cream, whipped cream and a cookie. Very refreshing.

I headed into the city via bus (I'm staying with Laurie in the close-in suburb of Paddington) with the idea to see 2 museums in the CBD: the General  Douglas MacArthur WWII Headquarters Museum for the first time. It's only open 3 days a week, so you have to plan ahead. I got to sit in General MacArthur's chair at his desk in the original office from which he ran the war in the South Pacific. The nice docent took my photo and explained how this was the hub of the entire operation.

There are good exhibits about how important Brisbane was to the support of the Allied troops-soldiers and sailor- during the war. I especially liked the information on how children's schooling was affected and how women helped by knitting clothes for soldiers.

Then I walked a few blocks to the Museum of Brisbane which has 2 small exhibit spaces and focuses on the social history of Brisbane. On view was the "Cabinet of Curiosities"-odd items from various collections around the city. From a taxidermy dog that was used as evidence in a murder case, to old movies of the dancer Anna Pavlova, it was fascinating to think about what we collect and why.

After my iced coffee and a chicken sandwich at Cocoawoo I headed to the Myer Centre, an urban mall with 5 floors of stores, including Target and Coles (grocery store), numerous food shops, and lots of other small shops. Some relief from the heat, but it was quite crowded. Did find some nice gifts in the Australiana shop. I took the city bus back home around 3:00, to beat the rush and to get out of the city in the heat of the day.

We ended the day with a lovely dinner in Paddington at Montrachet. Very nice service, excellent food with French flair. Pricey.

A very nice day out, with minimal overheating.