Day 3: Thursday February 22.2024

Brisbane: The River City

The day started early, as we still seem to be adjusting to the time difference. However, it is wonderful to wake up and realize it is already 26 C. 

We started our day at a small bakery called Lune. Located on a side street in the central business district, the bakery specializes in croissants. As you enter, you are greeted with the wonderful smell of baked goods and lined up on the counter are the eight different croissants that are on offer for thew day. We opted for a ham and gruyere croissant and an almond croissant with almond paste on top. The croissants were warm, flaky and full of flavour. We ate ours at a small counter, and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a tasty way to start our day.





One of my goals in Brisbane during these two days was to find a Barmah hat, known as the original bush hat. This is an Australian leather hat that can be folded and placed in a bag. One of the difficulties of  travelling with a hat, is that they are hard to stow away on planes. This brilliant hat would solve that problem for me. We visited the Brisbane Hatters shop to see what we could find. The store is jammed pack with all types of hats, and the service was wonderful. There are a few types of Barmah hats to choose, from crocodile to kangaroo. I went with a dark brown kangaroo leather hat. The leather is soft and supple and fits very well. Indeed , this was one of my best shopping experiences ever.



Brisbane is located on the Brisbane River. The river snakes its way thru the city on its way to the ocean. One of the major attractions of the city is the river walk, which is a series of boardwalks that run along the river's edge for a few kilometres. We decided to do our walk in the morning, as the temperature was expected to get well past 30C in the afternoon. You can access the walk from many places. The boardwalk is divided into walking and biking lanes, which makes it a pleasant experience for both. The walk is a wonderful way to view the skyline and the downtown of Brisbane. You also cross under the iconic Story Bridge that connects the two sides of Brisbane. The path in many areas is lined with parks where you could picnic, play or just enjoy the beautiful flowers and vegetation. In addition, there are numerous cafes, pubs, and restaurants along the route. It was a beautiful walk, and a great way to spend a few hours.







When we reached the end of the walk , we decide to return to downtown via one of the city's motor taxis or ferries. These link the areas of the city via the river. We took the water taxi back to Howard Wharves to eat lunch at a local brewery, Felons. The brewery is housed in a converted warehouse and is completely open air. We decided to try Kingfish Ceviche and Crispy Moreton Bug Pizza. Moreton hugs, also known as slipper lobster, is a small crayfish like creature from the sandy bottoms of the ocean  off this area of Australia. The meat tastes more like shrimp than lobster to me. It is however quite tasty and was an excellent topping for pizza. Kingfish is a popular seafood offering here in Queensland. It was served ceviche style and was very flavourful. Being at brewery, we sampled their own lager and raspberry hard seltzer. It was a delicious lunch and the view along the river just adds to the experience.







As we only have two short days here in Brisbane, it was great to see the city via the river walk. Brisbane has some very unique buildings, and from the amount of construction, it seems to be a growing metropolis. The streets are clean, and in the downtown areas there are many pedestrian only shopping areas. This seems to increase foot traffic and it's delightful not having to worry about traffic, or having to remember that traffic goes in the opposite direction in Australia.

After a quiet afternoon, we ventured out in the evening for a small bite to eat. We both commented on how the heat seems to affect your appetite. We decided to try one of Australia's best know burger joints, Betty's Burgers. The food was good, and reminded me of Five Guys back home. And as a bonus, Betty has her own beer ! After a short walk to see the city at night, we decided to call it a day, as we have an early flight to our next stop, Tasmania.


















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