We had arranged a trip to Brisbane to coincide with the end of Winter. A chance to escape the cold and wet. However, our late August trip had to be postponed due to illness. No matter our rescheduled trip in late October achieved the same result. We still flew out of Adelaide in dreary wet cold weather. So much for Spring!
Airport security remains a shambles but my years of flying while working gave me lifetime membership of one of the higher frequent flyer higher categories, allowing us priority access and jumping the queue. Those long over and back day trips to Perth had there advantages.
We arrived late morning in Brisbane. As we didn’t know where the airport express train would stop in relation to our accommodation, we caught a cab. It was more expensive but convenient. Our accommodation was private overlooking the botanic gardens.
Other than a day with my favourite person’s sister and her son’s family we had no plans for our week in Brisbane. We’d made some bookings at a few restaurants and downloaded some “things to do” via https://www.visitbrisbane.com.au/ . It gave us an outline for a week that fitted within our Slow Travel mantra.
We hadn’t lined up dinner for night one, although I’d given some thought to The Prawnster. The reviews were so polarised that I wasn’t sure, but after the Ok from my favourite person, we gave it a go.
As the picture shows it’s a boat and as the website says it does seafood and nothing else, except for wine and beer! If you want chips, a salad or dessert the advice on the website is to bring them. It was fabulous! Very casual, with the waiter in shorts and a tee shirt, happy to serve a drink when needed and ready to plonk the food in front of you. We had a mountain of prawns and bugs which came with a couple of disposable wood forks, tartare sauce, a finger bowl, serviettes and a bucket for the shells. We loved it, but as one of the reviews said make sure you’ve read the FAQs before you go so you know what you’ll get.
My favourite person’s sister lives on a small island in Morton Bay. She’s lived there for a decade or so, having followed her son there. He still lives there but on a different island. Getting there wasn’t straightforward. It was either a 2-hour train to the ferry or renting a car and driving to the ferry. We chose the latter. The islands were once quiet, but these days there is a steady stream of new builds and an increasing population of weekenders which my sister-in-law says is changing the complexion of the islands. Its the sad reality of a changing world.
Our next day involved visiting Fortitude Valley, a once seedy and infamous area of inner city Brisbane. When our son lived in Brisbane in 2008, it was transitioning from its seedy past, and these days it’s very trendy. Lots of fashion, bars and restaurants. James Street is the heart of the area. We did our bit for the local economy before looking for a shady cool spot for an early afternoon glass of wine. Purely by chance, we went to Cru Bar which was recently awarded Best Wine List in Australia.
Our day finished with a pre-dinner drink at an outdoor bar and dinner in the Woolloongabba precinct. Sasso Italiana came recommended by a friend, and it didn’t disappoint. Great modern Italian food and a good wine list. We avoided the pasta as we’d booked into Ripiena for pasta the next night. Ripiena is a small restaurant in Fortitude Valley. It is the retail outlet for a family run pasta business – its a must. The pasta was so good I nearly ordered a second dish!
Our slow travel motto is one museum a day so over the next two days we visited the McArthur War Museum and the Brisbane Art Galleries (the modern gallery and main galleries are adjacent).
The McArthur War Museum is located in the historic McArthur Chambers in the Brisbane CBD. It tells the story of the Second World War from the perspective of Queenslanders as well as the war in the South West Pacific. It’s the site of McArthur’s office. We thought we’d spend an hour there, but two and half hours later we were done. Our visit was enhanced by a volunteer that brought the exhibits to life. This is a hidden gem.
On our way back to our accommodation we stopped for a white wine before getting out of the afternoon heat. In the later afternoon, we visited the Botanic Gardens and Old Government House. On a hot afternoon, the gardens were delightful. Old Governement House is situated on the grounds of QUT, making it an oasis amongst the Uni vibe. Unfortunately, the QUT Art Gallery that had been recommended to us was closed as it was between exhibitions – next time!
The art galleries are in South Brisbane a 15 minute or so walk from where we were staying. It provided an opportunity to take in the city from the river. So much development and redevelopment going on. It’s certainly a fast-growing modern city.
Both Art Galleries are excellent and well worth a couple of hours on a hot day. I visit our local gallery often and noticed the contrast to ours which is in a more traditional space. Brisbane’s two main galleries are modern galleries with lots of windows and light which adds to the feeling of space. The collections felt more limited in both quantity and variety but definitely not of quality.
We finished our visit with a pizza at Julius in Fish Lane. The pizza came highly recommended by our hosts, as well as by a guest who was in the line waiting to enter. We quickly came to appreciate that when you are not located in a major wine region, the choice of wines is more varied. A feature of our dining in Italian-style restaurants was the range of Italian wines they had. Rather than as we find in South Australia where we are blessed with fabulous wines which our restaurants and bars rightfully give pride of place Brisbane restaurants were more open to international wines.
Our last day in Brisbane was lazy. We had lunch at one of the newer Brisbane restaurants, Rothwells Bar and Grill. A more traditional restaurant that didn’t disappoint. We finished lunch with an extensive discussion with the cocktail waiter who is surely destined to be a sommelier. He had such a passion for the wines and took us on a tour of the newly opened private dining room which doubles as a wine room. Their extensive wine list is there for all to see bottle by bottle and in order. Very impressive.
We hadn’t been to Brisbane for such a long time. I’m sure it won’t be such a long time until our next visit.
Sounds like a great trip. Glad you enjoyed it 😊
It’s a great city.