The Modern Nomads

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland and was our first stop when we arrived in Australia. While it is not the largest city in Australia, it is a city with a vibrant arts and culture scene. The city has lots of theaters and unique music venues, as well as art galleries galore. While Brisbane has really become a popular tourist destination in its own right, it also also serves as a transportation hub for the famous Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, which are both located nearby. It is easy to understand why Queensland is known as the Sunshine State!

I immediately fell in love with Brisbane. The city is clean, like really, really clean. It was pretty amazing, especially considering that I had a hard time even finding a trash can most of the time. We are not sure why, but whatever they are doing, othes should take note! Also, there is a coffee shop on every corner and the outdoor spaces are really spectacular. My favorite part is that the city is walkable. And if you aren’t keen on walking, they also have plenty of E-bikes available all over the city. Just download the app and pick up a bike and go!

And speaking of downloading apps – Wi-Fi was a very readily available or accessible from anywhere in the city. We had e-sims installed on our phones but there was guest Wi-Fi EVERYWHERE – the city even offered Wi-Fi in common areas.

We had two full weeks in Brisbane so we rented an apartment in the central business district (CBD) and it was the perfect location. Having an apartment is key when you are traveling for an extended period of time. Especially for those ammenitites you don’t necessarily think of like washer and dryer. Getting your clothes cleaned when away from home is going to be either expensive or inconvenient and in some cases it is both. The other advantage of an apartment is the space of course. Having a designated living, sleeping and eating area is not always important for short trips or vacations but when traveling full time it is a huge perk!

Koalas and Kangaroos

I didn’t want to waste anytime and the first place I had on our agenda was the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We took an Uber but wanted to mention that you could also take the Brisbane River Cruise direct from the city and it will drop you off right at the sanctuary! Below are a few highlights from our visit there but the most interesting part of seeing the koalas is that they are not in cages, they just sit in the trees that are located all over the park. There are other things to see at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary besides koalas, so you should plan on at least a few hours to explore the entire park!

And while these Koloas are a cute as bears, they are not bears, just koalas. We learned a lot about them and I have spend every moment since then trying to find one in the wild. So far I have had no luck but I am not giving up hope!

Museums and Artsy things

We did some artsy things and similar to New Zealand, I was pleasantly surprised to find that so many things are free to the public. This included the Brisbane Museum as well as the Gallery of Modern Art. We were in Brisbane for two weekends we were even able to enjoy a couple of community events like the arts festivals and the Gigs and Picnics (free music event) in the Botanical Gardens. Brisbane has contemporary art on exhibit all over the city as well as throughout the botanical garden. It makes walking the city such a great experience!

We love the outdoors and Brisbane did not disappoint. Every morning we were able to take a walk over to South Bank, stroll through the Botanical Garden. There is even a pool and beach area in South Bank called Streets Beach. The weather was absolutely perfect during our visit! We were there at the beginning of May, which is technically the beginning of Autumn, so we had plenty of sunny warm days and because it was not the peak season, we were able to enjoy the city without it being too crowded!

The Central Business District (aka CBD)

Since we were staying in the CBD you have pretty much everything at your fingertips: shopping, cinemas, grocery stores, restaurants, entertainment, even a gym.

Queen Street Mall – From casual everyday shopping to high end stores, you can find just about everything in this city! There are Arcades on every street in the CBD. I and if you are like me and not familiar with what an “Arcade” is let me help you out:

Shopping Arcade: Covered walkway, usually top-lit, either by means of a clerestorey or with a glazed roof, with shops on both or one side, called an arcade. 

http://www.encyclopedia.com

This was a new one for me, maybe because I am from Alabama and the only arcades we had were full of games. So if you see “Arcade” on the front of a building, just know it is full of shops not games!

South Bank – South Bank was probably one of my favorite areas in Brisbane. This is where you will find museums, theaters, great live music in areas like River Quay, and during nice weather you can even take a dip in the Streets Beach! Some of our favorite restaurants were here as well!

Howard Smith Wharves – We didn’t walk over to Hayward Smith Wharves until our second week in Brisbane and I wished we would have visited this area sooner! It is located just under the Story Bridge and has some really cool restaraunts and bars and is a great place to spend the afternoon or evening. You are able to walk to it from the CBD or South Bank but the River city boats run non stop as well if you want to take a quick trip over there. It is very lively and lots of fun!

The Story Bridge – Bridges connect any and everything around this lovely city. You have beautiful views of iconic bridges such as the story bridge all over the city. You can even do a bridge walk to to the top for a Birds Eye view of the city. We didn’t climb to the top but we did walk across the Story bridge to get to Kangaroo Point. We headed over there for an evening at the Brisbane Jazz Club!

We did rent a car for a couple days so we could spend some time on the Sunshine Coast. We took a day trip to Mooloolaba, located on the Sunshine Coast just north of Brisbane, which is a great little beach town!

Nom Nom Nom

We had several meals in our apartment, we did explore the Brisbane foodie scene and here are a few of the notable places we found:

Restaurants (in no specific order):

• Jumbo – THAI CUISINE – This place was GREAT
• Sushi Edo – Sushi on demand – ala cart – food was fabulous!
• Stanton – we had the pizza – nice location and you can sit on the balcony which overlooks the Queen Street Mall walkway
• Wu Kong – Asian Fusion
• La Boca – Argentinian
• Greka – Greek
• Ahmet’s Turkish Restaurant
• Corbin and Cloak – little Italian spot with great pizzas

I won’t add all the videos to this post but if you follow my social media you have probably seen video reviews of many of the places listed above! If you haven’t seen them, feel free to check out the social links on the home page.

Fun Spots

• James Squire Bar – South Bank – we stopped in for a beer and they had live music
• Felon Brewery – Howard Smith Wharves – Brewery is located all along the pier – lots of outdoor seating and great views of the story bridge
• The Plough Inn – South Bank – they have live music most evenings
• Ole – South Bank – great spot for Spanish Tapas
• Babylon – located along the bank of Eagle Street – great views of Story Bridge – we stopped by for a cocktail and just some appetizers
• The Chocolate Factory for desert – you can never go wrong with a little sweet treat after dinner – they are located in South Bank and we were repeat customers!

Best Coffee Spots:

• Jimmy’s on the Mall – located in the Queen Street Mall walking area – great coffees and great place to people watch – it is covered as well so even if the weather is not great this is a perfect location for a coffee and or quick bite to eat. This was our GO TO spot!
• Tom Masters – Several locations and another great spot for a quick coffee – they have a decent menu if you want to eat as well.
• Milano – We give this one the award for the best Flat White we had during our stay in Brisbane!

Coffee

Let’s talk about the coffee situation. First of all, coffee is not the same as in the US. I will probably need to write an entire post about the lessons we have learned about coffee while traveling. But for now, the story when we got to Brisbane is that we went on a mission to find a coffee maker. Even a coffee press. Not an easy thing to do in the CBD. (At least not easy to find a cheap French press and don’t even attempt to buy a regular drip coffee maker – that is NOT a thing here). I assume people make coffee at home and I can only guess with an espresso machine or they are using instant coffee. We didn’t have an espresso machine in our apartment and not a fan of instant coffee. Maybe that explains why there are so many coffee shops throughout the city. But after about a week, when we had a car we found a Target, we were able to find an inexpensive French Press to use for the remainder of our time here. YEA!!!

A little Brisbane Trivia: Did you know?

The Olympics are planned to be in Brisbane in 2032 and they are already making upgrades to accommodate the event! While the city is already very walkable, they are adding even more pedestrian bridges connecting different areas of Brisbane.

Anzac Day Celebration

We arrived on a Sunday and it was just in time for Anzac Day. This is similar to Veterens day in the US. So we were in the perfect location to enjoy the day full of festivities with the highlight being the Anzac Day parade. And this is were we met our new friend Owen! We had such a great time and learned so much about the history of the Australian military!

Real life goes on even when traveling!

One thing that most don’t think about is keeping up with your preventative healthcare while traveling. We chose Brisbane before we left the states to take care of things like routine checkups and those fun dentist appointments. We made these appointments before we left the states so that we could have any referrals (if needed) and make sure we wouldn’t have any issues. The experience was seamless. And kudos to the Dentistry on George! It was probably the most comprehensive appointment and cleaning I have had in more years than I can remember. And that says a lot since they knew we would not be repeat patients. I was genuinely impressed with their service!

Brisbane has been a lot of fun and we will definitely miss the city life but we are moving south to check out the more laid back lifestyle in Byron Bay!