On to Brisbane

Brisbane is 1,500 km from Cairns and flying was the logical way to go. Virgin Australia did a fine job of getting us from A to B. There was also the drive option between the two cities. It is supposed to be an amazing drive, but time, as always, is an issue. Arriving in our second major city, we were impressed with the transportation from the airport to town.  

We were able to check into our downtown hotel due to Meg’s elite status with the Mariott chain. Uber worked well and once in our room, we headed out for lunch and our first tour. I had reserved a tour of the Brisbane City Hall clock tower. https://www.museumofbrisbane.com.au/whats-on/clock-tower-tours/  This free tour runs every 15-minutes and has a capacity of only seven. It takes you up the 95-year-old tower, in an old freight elevator. As we went up, we learned the history of the building and were treated to some amazing views.

Walking Tour 

Brisbane is a major city with tons of things to see and do. The problem, for us, was we were only spending one day there. To learn as much as possible, we opted for a walking tour. The city has ‘greeters’ who will take you on a free walking tour https://www.351k.bookeo.com/bookeo/b_brisbanegreeters_start.html?ctlsrc2=rWOPDlUpc%2B4ExZdzbqwRwfCKlc6JZ9zGaAIosdvaPbo%3D&src=02n that hits a number of highlights depending on the tour. Our guide was Tina, a long-time resident who was charming and knowledgeable.

Seeing arcades, Australian for covered street shopping centres, cozy streets and bustling squares, we took in as much as we could. Tina then took us to the top of the Star building where we had a splendid view of the city at sunset. As Tina told us about Brisbane’s Expo in 1988, she mentioned that she was excited to have had her picture taken with a real Mountie back in 1988. She was even more excited to learn that I had been a Mountie. To thank her for her time, I gave her an RCMP Challenge coin which made her day.

Brisbane’s Broad Transit System 

On our tour the previous day, we learned that taking transit in Brisbane cost $0.50 AUD. That’s all. If you transfer, within a specific time, it costs nothing more. It doesn’t matter how far you travel. Two stops or 40 kilometers. In addition to trains and buses, there is an extensive network of ferry boats. To get a view of the city from the water, we ventured onto a commuter ferry and spent close to two hours on the water, going almost to the ocean. In reality, we could have done with half that time, it did drag a bit in the end. 

On to the Gold Coast

We left Brisbane and picked up our rental car to drive to the Gold Coast. As it was a Saturday, the drive was slow. Once we arrived at our apartment, we were greeted by yet another warm welcome from the host, Gary, the complex manager. He also told us he could take us up Q1 tower, the largest building in the area. As we went up the elevator, which climbed 68 stories in 20 seconds, we were impressed by the speed and efficiency. Gary walked us around the observation deck, pointing out things that we may want to do over the next few days. Since the view was so good, we decided to linger a bit and enjoy an adult beverage.   

Skipping the Beach for the Woods

Our first full day in the Gold Coast was to be high UV and high temperature. We decided that baking on the sand was not the smartest thing to do so we headed for the hills. Gary had provided a number of places to go around the Tambourine Mountain area and we enjoyed exploring them. The Curtis Falls track, along with Witches Falls Circuit provided both wonderful walks as well as refreshing swimming holes. There were a number of people using the swimming areas and I managed to climb a set of rocks to jump into the pool. It was awesome. Being up the mountain, the temperatures were a bit cooler and the breeze helped.

In the evening, we wandered around the town and had a great dinner on the barbecue at our lodging. There is something about outdoor cooking that just relaxes us. Facing our next day, we decided to go back to Witches Falls as it was so nice. We were hoping it would not be as busy as it was Monday and we were rewarded. First of all, we were able to find parking at the falls, vs walking down 300 meters from the overpark as we did the day before. The fewer cars meant fewer people and it was great just lounging in the sun, cooling off in the water and repeating. 

On to Melbourne

We left the Gold Coast, its stunning beaches and warm temperatures and headed south for Melbourne. As Canadians, when we think of heading south, it often means the warmer weather of Mexico. As Australia is south of the equator, going south makes things cooler. 

Our flight to Melbourn was fine and, after arriving at our hotel, we went out to explore the city. It has a first-rate food scene and we were keen to try it out. Our first evening we tried a gourmet pizza place that made an amazing burrata salad. The cheese was fresh and so good.

Walking Tour and Boat Tour

On our second day, we took a walking tour but it somehow missed the mark and we bailed about half way through. We created our own tour from an app we use called GPSMYCITY. If you have never tried this app when travelling, I would recommend you take a look at it before your next trip. Then, later that afternoon, we took a boat ride up and down the river with some friends. 

About ten years ago, we took a river cruise in Cambodia and Vietnam along the Mekong River. On that cruise, we met a couple from Melbourne who were about our age. Meg and Bing have kept in touch since then and we had planned to meet up with them. Bing suggested the boat tour and it seemed like a great idea. Meeting up with them, just prior to the boat ride, we carried on talking as if the river cruise of ten years ago had ended yesterday. 

Melbourne from the river is beautiful and when we return, we will look to stay outside of the downtown or CBD. As the boat ride ended, we said farewell to Tim and Bing, until the weekend, and started wandering down the walkway. We were not on our own for too long as ten-minutes later we bumped into our friends Sue and Jerry. Imagine people from home, 10,000km away, in the same town of 5,000,000 people, on the same street. Swapping notes on what to see, we said ciao to them until tomorrow.

Wine Tour – Yarra Valley

Before we left Canada, we arranged a wine tour of the Yarra Valley. Some of our options included spending a few nights in the area so we could visit a number of wineries or day tours. In the end, a day tour made the most sense and fortunately for us, we could meet up with Sue and Jerry to do the tour. On our small tour of only 11 people, we toured three wineries, met the owners of each, sampled chocolates at a factory and had a great lunch. Not worrying about my wine consumption was relaxing and I took full advantage of sampling many varieties. 

Having toured wineries in Canada, the US, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and now Australia, I can honestly say there are not many wineries that I have not liked. All of the wineries we visited were delightful. The wines were of good quality, of course the best are usually not sampled due to costs. At the end of our tour, we had the good fortune to be allowed to sample the estate’s premium wine. Wow. What a difference between a $20 bottle vs a $65 bottle. We almost had to revive our friend Jerry as he said he thought he had died and gone to heaven!

The Street Food Scene – Hardware Lane

When we returned to Melbourne, we headed out to sample some street food. Hardware Street, a foodie’s paradise, answered the call. The decision was where to eat. For such a haute cuisine area, the prices were very reasonable and we enjoyed our time there.

Thanks for reading, 

Travel while you can. Your money will return. Your time won’t.

Cam and Meg