I woke up this morning bright, early and with a willingness to venture a bit further than I had in recent days, now that I had clean and flea free clothes once more.
With the trusty map that the hostel handed out, suitably ripped and oregami folded to rid myself of the hassle of the useless adverts that surrounded it on all sides, I was ready and able to see what lay beyond the CBD ( central business district ). It took me almost the whole of my time here before I realised that QLD was the local abbreviation for Queensland, and so once I saw that on adverts and fliers I realised that it was not much of a help in finding anything so began to ignore it.
My friend A' who I met up with in Sydney had told me that I really had to check out the south bank in the main city centre, and so with her recommendation I went walkabout in search of what was so amazing there and if in the process I could find a place to serve me a decent breakfast then so much the better.
Taking the direct route was much quicker than I thought it would be and even before I reached the bridge that led over to the south bank I noticed that Brisbane has its own Eye, much like the London Eye, and it too is on the river bank offering a very great view of the entire area, especially the south banks museum and art gallery.
There are so many strange and weird sculptures and statues all over the centre of Brisbane that you could probably dedicate an entire book to showing them all and detailing their history, but not having that much time to devote on the subject let me just say that you should always keep your camera handy and fully charges as if you keep your eyes open and look around you they are round every corner and in every nook and crany.
As I saw in Sydney, the whole of Australia appears to be gearing up for Australia day on 26th January, and here in Brisbanes south bank they are already pretty much ready and have their banners flying, sign boards up and pre-celebration mood is everywhere.
Although you cant actually see them from the CBD, there is actually a special man made beach and twin outdoor swimming pool areas on the south bank, mostly hidden from view by palm trees and with enough overlooking cafes, restaurants and seats to accommodate a few hundred with ease.
The whole area also was well set out with the street stalls and markets not even a stones throw away from the beaches, and the walkways have been perfectly frames with huge open air arches lined and strung with sweet smelling purple and lilac flowers that are all blossoming in perfect time for the celebrations.
Just outside of these flowered archways I found a little restaurant that served a tasty ( if a little bit expensive ) classic fried breakfast and washed it all down with a fresh orange juice and water, mainly because I was so thirsty I didnt want to dehydrate but I wanted to taste the orange juice!
After breakfast I went down and did a little bit of sunbathing on the grass overlooking the mini beach, but I had not really come prepared and had nothing to change into or adequate suncream protection to do it properly, so after a few minutes of enjoying the glorious sunny rays of Brisbanes 32 degrees, I headed off back into the shade and found the worlds largest cinema screen.
As it happened there was a new Mickey Rourke film out that started in just a few minutes, and still being morning I decided that it wouldnt hurt to escape the hottest part of the day by watching it, and was glad that I did, although I wont give away anything about the time, just go see it if you like either him or wrestling. The actual wrestling action is limited to the films background and is somehow manages to come across as both very real and equally well stages at the same time, you really have to see it to understand why, and the only reason in my view why it had a more mature rating is that it had a few spots of nudity here or there including seing Mickeys bum ( unless perhaps it was a stunt bum of course ).
Leaving the cinema ( which was only AUD $6.50 during the day, thus becoming the first properly priced thing I found in Australia ) I headed back to the CBD where my mini tour booklet told me that there was a great Irish Bar where things were always happening day or night.
On the way back I passed the Maritime museum that looked pretty neat, if a little small, and then headed through the Botanical gardens which seemed to be more a open air park than anything else, but then I admit to not walking over all of it so perhaps I just was in the wrong zone. It was great to relax and sit on a park bench without the sounds of the city getting to me, and I wasnt the only one as I could see couples stroll arm in arm through along the paths, and even an old man playing chess with himself on a nearby table.
I swung through the park and reached the Irish bar, had the steak and chips which was great if a tiny bit underdone for my liking, and then decided that it was dead except for a couple of guys talking about how the local mechanics don't know shit about classic bikes and why is it that Italians prefer to sell you the lates model while the Brits like to properly restore them.
Next on the agenda was a casual stroll right across to the Sit Down Comedy Club, where my booklet promised me a great bellyache of laughter, and as I hadn't been to a proper comedy night in ages it might be good to see what the local circuit for Brisbane was like. When I got there, after passing the other backpackers district and the local sports stadium I found that the ticket office was not at the venue, but was 800 meters along the road.
I have always had my douts about Aussie humour, but their latest effort was far from funny to me. It was advertised as "just 800 meters along the road" but that must have been as the crow flew and what was worse is tha tit meant going up and down some very steep hills, which in this heat was enough to make me puff and pant a bit, especially after the hour walk just to get there. Once I got there I couldnt see any bulding that looked like a box office, but I saw a car with advertising for the venue so I called it up only to find that my brouchure had the wrong dates and it wasn't open on Wednesday's. Comedy ... it was bloody hysterical, I don't think.
Wandering back to the bar I found that they were advertising Pig Racing for charity, though how they plan to get the little squeelers running I have no idea, but it the heat was enough for me to stop and grab a coke and rest my feet for a few minutes.
I noticed that there were some nice looking empty pool tables in the place, so I asked how much they were and was told AUD $4 each, which for a game of pool is criminal. However they final joke was on them, as there was something wrong with the table I chose and it refused to take any coins and yet let me play an endless amount of games for free. The cue's were not the best but I played a good few games and it was only my great desire for a freezing cold shower to cool me off that made me leave it and head on back to my hostel.
I passed a strip joint on the way back, and my thoughts went back to the film I saw this morning and I was half tempted on going in, but it was too early and I had already spent enough for one day, so instead I gave it just a nodding smile, came back to my hostel room and had the shower that had my name all over it. The hostel I am staying in did not offer freely any towels, as as I think i left my own microfibre towel back in South America I just used an old tshirt to wipe me down, listened to some good old 80's music ( again another thing that the film made me want to do ) and then went to bed.
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