Brisbane

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We're finally down under and still not to our touring start point of Auckland.. But we had booked a tour here today in Brisbane knowing we could not get into a hotel until afternoon. Plus we wanted to start adjusting to the time change.  After the AirTrain, we walked the half block down Ann Street from Central Station to the Ultiqa Rothbury. We picked it because of its location (btw there was a Sofitel attached to Central Station). What we didn't know was that it is an apartment hotel. We were just surprised. It was in a beautiful old building and we obviously had a lot of space. They stored our luggage as we were too early and they put the luggage in the apartment while we were out. They gave us good instructions for how to walk to the Southbank Cultural Center pontoon dock for meeting our boat to begin our tour. We had about 45 minutes to walk 18 minutes worth. It was so humid and hot that it took us about 30 minutes to get there. We were about a dozen people down the line waiting for the boat. After the boat arrived a big tour group arrived and they all skipped the 30 person or so by this time line and took all the good covered seats on the boat. We were able to get up top outdoor seats with a view but they were in the sun. It was over an hour boat ride and we were already overheated from the walk. We enjoyed a breeze and the views and commentary but are still pretty steamed about the 2nd class treatment of the people who paid full fare and arrived early to line up for good seats and then got shunted aside and treated to the leftovers. We booked through Viator and I believe the provider is Mirimar. Shame on whoever was responsible. We should have been given an opt out if they wanted to basically charter the boat for the day to the big tour group. Other than that it was an excellent day. I did apply sunscreen on the boat but I think I was so sweaty by then that I don't think I got good enough coverage and I got burned. Clay didn't use any sunscreen and is fine.

We enjoyed the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary very much even though it was hotter than hell! We got to hold and pet koalas. Koalas are heftier and heavier than they appear and they have sharper, larger claws than expected. The koala I held was named Sargent. The koala we petted was Strudel! We fed kangaroos, wallabies and emus. On the trip back down river, Capt. Matt said anyone who wanted to drive the boat could come to the wheelhouse. Bob and I took a turn. It was tricky because as Capt. Matt pointed out on his map I had drawn the twisty part of the river! Another interesting thing Capt. Matt told us was that the river water was brackish and not suitable for swimming due to bull sharks. The other thing was that it was so muddy due to the current changing direction 4 times a day and the tidal bore reversing the river's current twice a day. He said curiously that the water gets clearer the closer you get to the sea.

We got back in the middle of the afternoon and Clay bought a sim card for Australia at a Vodaphone shop on Queen Street Pedestrian Mall. Our Rothbury apartment was ready when we got back there. We bypassed the steep hill by entering the underground entry for Central Station a block from Queen St. It was a little longer walk but not as steep!

We had dinner reservations at 6pm at Jamie's Italian. We had already scouted it on our back to the hotel. It was a disappointment. It was excessively noisy with bad music. I had an excellent and inexpensive glass of white wine and Clay got to sample 2 beers before making a choice of cold draft beer that he enjoyed.. I ordered a pasta dish and I expected a bowl of steaming pasta. It was somewhat warm with 2 or 3 hot spots. I can't explain that. It was supposed to be a sausage and fennel based sauce but all I tasted was carrots which it was full of. Clay said he could taste fennel but agreed it was not served hot and the sausage was not at all flavorful. He enjoyed his salad and we both enjoyed the arancini Clay ordered to start.

We had been accosted by a panhandler on our morning walk and the experience was more aggressive than expected.  On the way home in the dark, a different panhandler crossed the street to get in Clay's face. Clay politely declined to give him money twice at which point the old guy who was up in his face spat out "Ya dog!". Fortunately, then he was done and walked off. I had kept walking when he intercepted Clay and Clay caught up with me and said in an amazed voice, "He called me a dog." I repeated it the way I had heard it and we both nearly cried laughing.. We were still almost in tears when we got back to the Rothbury. Ya dog.

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