I decided to make my first stop in Brisbane. Although my bus pass start from Byron Bay, but I've already been to the Gold Coast I didn't wanna waste any more time. So after 4.5hr with a 3hr layover in Sydney I've arrived in Brisbane. I've already been in Brisbane once before for a quick stop, so I remembered to take the AirTrain right outside the airport entrance, which would take me straight to the Roma Street Train Station, and the hostel was only 10min walk away. Brisbane City YHA was located on a road of hostels. Some of them were quite cheap, but they were those you get what you paid for kinda hostels.
I booked 3 nights here, not really sure what I'll do. After settling in, I made my usual round of exploring the hostel. Besides the usual facilities it's also got a reading room, a big balcony area, a nice rooftop swimming pool that lights up at night, and a bar just next door. I also made note of the free city tour they have on Wednesdays, and the XXXX brewery tour which I'm considering of going
. I went to the next door bar, Drifters, and had BBQ grilled chicken on tortilla for dinner, with a nice cold VB. They got Coles just around the corner, so I went to do some grocery shopping. Later that night I went up to the balcony and the night view was beautiful. You overlook the whole CBD and South Bank, with the Wheel of Brisbane in the distance. I had a quick chat with an Aussie lady who was in town for business, and she told me it's a nice walk to the South Bank via William Jolly Bridge, but just don't go alone at night because apparently there's a rapist at large.... Also there's free ferry you can take along the Brisbane River.
Next day I decided to explore the South Bank myself. I asked the front desk and the guy told me about the gallery and the museum, as well as the manmade pool. I also asked him about getting onto the Wheel of Brisbane and he said it wasn't worth the price. I first came to the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). I was an art student but I haven't been to art galleries in ages so it was refreshing. There was one piece where you can send postcards, so I wrote one home. In the end I left a piece of me there, my favourite red sunnies!! I walked passed the State Library of Queensland, they had these grassy footpaths and I felt like I was back in uni. Next stop was the Queensland Museum where I saw specimen of spiders in Australia. I walked further down towards the Wheel of Brisbane
. It was a nice hot day so there were lots people at the manmade pool. I find it odd that there's a manmade pool right by the water, there were probably something deadly in the water. Just a block away was a strip of restaurants and some shops, lots people were having a drink on the patios. At the Info Centre I saw a postcard that the Queensland Symphony Orchestra had a performance on Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular back in early February in Brisbane!!
I kept walking along the water and came to the Queensland Maritime Museum, but I didn't go in. Instead, I hopped on the CityHopper ferry to see where it'll take me. There are 2 ferries that run along the Brisbane River, CityCat and CityHopper. CityHopper is the free one, runs every 30min and shorter distance compared to CityCat. CityCat has more terminals and runs every 15min. I got off at Eagle Street Pier, which's right by the CBD, there were lots cocktail restaurants and bar, looked really fancy. I've wanted to take a walk around but it was getting late so I didn't wanna stray far. I got back in time for the next ferry back to South Bank. When I got back I decided to stop by Drifters for a beer to quench my thirst. They had Gold and VB both on special for the same price. The bartender asked me which I'd like, I said VB, and he said Good choice. Of course go for the stronger beer if they're the same price! Besides I never liked XXXX Gold that much anyway.
Next morning I signed myself up for the free city tour. There were quite a few of us, we did a round of short intros, then our tour guide, also a backpacker took us to my first farmers market at the CBD. He let us wander around for an hr, I just got myself some lemonade. Then we took the CityHopper and got off at South Bank, walked through the parklands with the manmade pool, hopped on the ferry again and got off at Eagle Street Pier and went on a walk along the water
. At that point he was just kinda whatever and said he could take us to Chinatown if we want. So we walked through the city streets. At one point he said to make note of the street because we'd have to find our way back ourselves later on. It was probably another 10~15min walk before we finally got to Chinatown. It had very nice oriental entrances, but the actual "town" itself was tiny compared to Vancouver. I found an Asian grocery store and bought some groceries for dinner.
I took my time making my way back to the hostel through the CBD. Passed by Anzac Square and once I got to Roma Street Station I was sure I was on the right track. Before I go back to the hostel I decided to check out Victoria Barracks, where Coles is, because the couple times I went the shops were closed and I just wanted to see what they've got there. There was a cinema, some food joints with sitting area out in the middle of the pathway. I can see a lot of business people might come here for quick lunches.
It was my last night here so I decided to go for the brewery tour that includes a BBQ. It was about a 15min walk from the hostel. The front desk told me it was a pretty straight forward walk just past the park. On my way there I saw a couple walking in front of me and I recognized them from the city tour, I assumed they were going to the brewery as well
. They took a different path so I lost track of them. After the park I saw the XXXX brewery with the big blowup XXXX Gold Beer sitting atop of the gated entrance but I wasn't sure if I was at the right entrance because that looked like employees only. Luckily I came upon a couple who had souvenir bags from XXXX so I asked them for direction and they told me the guest entrance was just right around the corner. I went in but the lobby looked closed. So I followed the stairs up to the souvenir shop and apparently that's where you meet up for the tour. The couple ahead of me was already there, later on a few more people joined us for the tour.
While we wait for the tour guide I had a chat with the couple and found out that they were Swedish, and they spoke fluent English, with British accent! They got us to wear reflective vests and safety goggles and listened to a safety protocol announcement before the tour. It started off with a brief history of beer, how it was invented by the monks. Then in a theatre a history of XXXX. Unfortunately it was the last tour of the day so the factory was closed and we couldn't watch the machines work, however we were still able to see how the beers were packed. No pictures were allowed throughout the tour, except a photo with the mascot, Mr. Fourex. At the end of the tour was a BBQ dinner but basically it was just a little buffet style dinner, the food was alright
. But we got 4 drinks included that we could pick from the bar. There were 4 drafts to choose from: Summer, XXXX Bitter, XXXX Gold, and another one I forget what, but my favourite was the Bitter because I like darker beers, the Summer and the Gold were just too light for me.
We were all slightly tipsy after the four beers and we had great chats. After we got back to the hostel we went to the Drifters and shared 3 more pitchers and we talked about everything from social media groups to shows we watch and it was great fun! They knew I was leaving the next day, so we said we'd meet up for lunch before I leave, also a friend of theirs is coming to town. I thought they were a couple but later realized they weren't after a conversation I had with the girl where she told me that she had made out with just about a guy from each state.
My bus wasn't until 2PM, so we had breaky together and waited at the hostel till their Aussie mate came who had a hipster moustache. Then we headed to Hog's Breath across the street and the service was terrible there. We waited forever to get our water, then forever to get our order taken. I only ordered deep fried mushies (mushrooms) appy but in the end I had to ask them to make it take away because it was taking forever, and the restaurant wasn't even busy.
In the end I was running a bit late because I needed to check in early for the bus. My next stop is Mooloolaba, and I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, so when I was checking in with the bus driver I said "Mooloo-lahba" and he said it's "Muh-loo-luhba"...... Anyway, since I've bought the Premier bus pass I've just picked out stops on my way to Cairns, not really sure what I'll do when I get there, but I'm sure I'll figure out! Right now I'm just going with the flow.
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