Day 1 & 2: February 19, 2024 - February 21, 2024
As we began our adventure , I ventured outside our home front door and took this picture to remind myself of what we were leaving behind.
Kingston was cold and snowy this morning. It was around -11 C and the sunshine was bright on the new snow fall we received over the weekend. And while it has not been a very cold or snowy winter, it will be a wonderful change to experience summer in February.
Our travels today included a train from Kingston to Toronto, a five hour flight from Toronto to Vancouver and finally a 13 + hr flight from Vancouver to Brisbane. In many ways , the trip is a marathon. In fact as I write this part of the entry, we are 90 minutes from landing in Brisbane. To be honest, at this point in the journey you want it all to just end. However it has been a good day of travel. Our flights have been on time, the service has been good, and the meals have been ok (which passes as a compliment for airplane food).
After a journey of over 16,000 km, we finally arrived at Brisbane airport at around 8 AM. Before we could deplane, there was an announcement that the cargo hold would be sprayed with disinfectant to kill any germs or bugs which may have made their way on the flight. A series of videos before you land from the Australian Government remind visitors that Australia has very strict rules concerning the importation of food stuffs and organic material. Having travelled here before, we were aware of the rules, and only brought chocolates as a gift.
After clearing Customs and Immigration, which was relatively easy, we caught a shuttle to our hotel in the central district of Brisbane. We are staying at the Royal Albert Hotel. It is a small boutique hotel. The room is actually a suite and has a separate sitting room, with a kitchen , fridge and microwave. While the furniture may seem dated, the hotel itself is clean, well appointed and the staff were very helpful upon our arrival. As we were well before the time to check in, we asked them to hold our bags, and I changed into shorts.
Both of us being tired, but also stiff from the flight, we decided to take a wander thru the part of Brisbane where we are located . My first impression was the wonderful heat. After coming from -11C in Kingston, we were greeted by 29 C at 11 AM. The heat felt wonderful! The business district is alive and full of people. We walked up our street and after 4 blocks we discovered the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Our "garden walk" was our major activity of the day. The gardens are in a word, gorgeous. The towers of the city overlook the gardens, and the grounds are immaculate and well kept. It was wonderful to see the colours and plants in bloom. You don't get that in February in Ontario. We walked for about an hour and wandered through the university campus that is adjacent to the gardens. This was a perfect way to stretch our legs, get a small sense of the city, and ease our way into this adventure. Here are a few shots from the
Royal botanical gardens of Brisbane.
After completing our walk we checked in and mostly rested for the afternoon. I have come to the conclusion that I don't do as well as I used to with minimal sleep.
For dinner, we visited the Port Office Hotel. In Australia, many bars ,taverns and restaurants are called hotels. We had a lovely dinner of mussels, caprese salad and bangers and mash. The service was wonderful, the food was tasty and it was a great way to cap off a couple of long days getting here.
It will be an early evening tonight, as we have 1 day left here in Brisbane before we are off to Tasmania.
