Briggs’ in Brisbane

So despite me only piece of travel advise being “arrive in an evening so you can go straight to bed and beat the jet lag” the Briggs family got into Brisbane Airport at about 6am on Monday morning. I managed to meet them at the airport and had lots of hugs (and a few tears) and heading into the city. Luckily the hotel we were staying in understood our predicament of arriving well before normal check-in time and had a room ready for us so the travellers could shower and change before heading out for breakfast. The pressure was on as I had set a precedent for good coffee (easy to find in Melbourne, less so in Brisbane). Luckily Spring was fantastic for coffee AND food, plus did juices so was an all round winner. We did some wandering around the Botanic Gardens and the river and crossed over to Southbank to admire the views of the city and the fake beach, both were impressive to my little band of tourists. We lazed in the sun and settled on a quick boat tour on the river for our afternoon activity, plus it had a bar which is always appreciated. A few beer and a lot of information about the history of ‘Brissy’ later we dismounted and the jet lag was kicking in hard. We made our way back to the Hotel, aptly on Charlotte Street, grabbed some dinner and had to call it a day at about 4pm. I stayed up slightly later as I didn’t have 28 hours of plane travel as an excuse.

Second day in Brisbane and we decided to see some more of the city centre using the lonely planet walking guide generously provided in Mum’s guidebook. We walked up to King Georges square and popped our heads into City Hall only to discover it was free to go in and have a look around the museum. Being stingy Brits we couldn’t say no to a free museum, which happened to be very good. It featured some beautiful photographs of Brisbane when it was first developing into a city after being a penal settlement some interesting opinions on Brisbane. There was also a random but entertaining exhibition on hollywood costumes of the golden age of cinema. Not so interesting for the boys but me and Mum loved it. We moved on from our educational experience to the Anzac Square and the Cathedral, all very photogenic, especially in the glorious Australian Sun. We stopped by the river for a few drinks and I introduced the Poms to the bizarre and confusing world of Australian measurements of Beer. Schooners and Pots, I still don’t know how much is in either but the boys enjoyed it nonetheless. Slightly merry we managed to find a pub to eat in and decided to try relaxing in the afternoon in the pool and spa. Although sunbathing wasn’t ideal (the sun was behind a building, our timing was not spot on) we managed a few lengths and had a sweat in the sauna. Mum had a nice vietnamese bookmarked for our dinner so we made the 30 minute walk over to New Farm and China town. Although the decor and service left us lacking the food was fabulous, and unbelievably busy for a Tuesday evening, obviously a popular spot for the locals.