Tuesday, March 22, 2011
March 22 - Off to the Gold Coast
Ellen and I took the air train, just like a metro, to the Gold Coast, the beaches south of Brisbane. We walked through Southport and had lunch, then walked along the shore towards Surfers' Paradise. The beaches are wide with fine sand. Lifeguards were on duty and swimmers could only swim between posted flags. We then hopped on a bus and went to Broadbeach. There will be a surfing competition over the weekend, so many preparations were being undertaken--scaffolding, bleachers, catering trucks, etc. Besides the beaches we thoroughly were imposed with the modern skyscrapers.
March 21 - Touring Brisbane
Did a city tour on the "Hop On, Hop Off" bus. We visited the Brisbane Botanic Gardens and the Cultural Center. Especially interesting was the Gallery of Modern Art which opened in 2006. Usually, the art is too challenging for me to interpret, but we had a docent for about 40 minutes who was quite knowledgeable. The art also wasn't just canvas, but sculptures, media, textiles, interactive art, and lighting. A gentleman I spoke with constructed his "monolith" of Legos in about 6-7 hours. From the photos, you can perhaps see how intricate some structures are.
The Cultural Center is situated close to the Brisbane River and there is much reconstruction going on in the area. The river itself has six bridges and ferries and City Cats operate all day until late at night. Many of the pontoon landings were damaged and the river is quite murky. It should take another three months for the river to become blue again.
The Cultural Center is situated close to the Brisbane River and there is much reconstruction going on in the area. The river itself has six bridges and ferries and City Cats operate all day until late at night. Many of the pontoon landings were damaged and the river is quite murky. It should take another three months for the river to become blue again.
March 20 - The Australia Zoo
Ellen's friends were very gracious and had us over for dinner on the 19th, the Saturday of our arrival. The next day they got us at 9:00am and we were off for some sightseeing. Too bad it was rainy and cloudy--we couldn't see a thing. The day got a bit better after lunch as we headed to The Australia Zoo. Although we got there at 3:00, we got to see the koalas, kangaroos, and wombats, who were all extremely active. The birds were so colorful and I'll have to find out their names at some point. The zoo is meticulously maintained and planned. Due to the near tropical climate, the vegetation is quite lush. All of us had a great first visit to this zoo. The day was topped off with all of us going out for a truly Aussie steak dinner!
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