Brisbane by train

We managed to escape for a few days to the big city of Brisbane. After our drive FROM there in January we decided to take the Tilt Train from Bundaberg to Brisbane.

This train is electric and takes about the same amount of time as driving but you can read (sleep) or watch a movie, or just relax. We only had about 2 hours in Brisbane the first time there, just enough time to have John show is credentials in a non-descript office building for medical licensing which was mandatory for starting his job in Bundaberg. When that chore was finished we headed for the Bruce Highway and a 4 hour (really 5 1/2) drive to our new place.
http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/

Fast forward 3 months, we're back to Brisbane but this time to sight see and experience Australia's 3rd largest city. We had plans to check into our hotel (The Urban)

early as we arrived at 10am. (You can do math but we had to leave Bundaberg at 5:15am to get to Brisbane by 10am.) We were just a short walk to the hotel which was recommended to me because of its' close proximity to the train station. They let us check in early so we could drop the luggage and get to the double decker bus for the tour around the city.

So we headed to the CBD (you see this everywhere) and it stands for City Business District and the information office for tourists. As we walked to the CBD we both looked at each other and said, "have we been here before, this street, this park, it looks familiar"? Well it was exactly where we had to go to get his licensing done, the very street, the park we had to walk through.....so bizarre as this is a large city. We got over the coincidence of it and got to the info center, purchased our tickets and away we went.

John found his 'Roos!

http://theaustralianexplorer.com.au

We managed to pick the HOTTEST March day on record to travel to Brisbane. It was well over 95 degrees with full sunshine as we climbed to the open air top of the bus. We brought hats and sunscreen, but when that bus stopped in traffic, it was beastly. I won't bore you with all the stops and sites they drove by, but we decided to get off at the South Bank

stop which is a place that everyone said we needed to explore. It was noon (somewhere) or later so lunch and a BEER

John's favorite beer 

sounded really good. This area has a man made beach right on the river, which was packed with people and kids trying to cool off. It also has many eateries, pubs and shops. We found a spot to eat, ordered that beer, and had a nice lunch.

South Bank Beach

Ferris Wheel at South Bank

After our lunch break we climbed back on the bus and chose the air conditioned lower level of the bus, it was just too hot and the traffic was stop and go. We got all through the tour and headed back to the hotel as we wanted to relax before dinner, which was to be with the former chairman of the Bundaberg Emergency Department. For those of you who didn't get an email update, the chair of the ED abruptly announced his leaving last Friday, and was gone. He had spoken to John privately last Friday about his leaving but he would love to get together while we were in Brisbane, anyway.  Greg (the former chairman) and his family lives in Brisbane, he commuting from Brisbane for the past 6 years. Making this a boring aside, the get together didn't happen, too many family obligations, so John and I were on our own for dinner.

We cleaned up, and hopped back on the double-decker (we used this as our taxi) to get back to Chinatown where we had a recommendation for dinner. It was a long ride as rush hour on a Friday afternoon commenced, and it was still hot. So much for cleaning up and feeling fresh.....this will come up again.  We ate Peking Duck at Enjoy Inn Restaurant, and decided at 8:30'ish it was time to head home. We realized that it was a short walk back to the hotel, 1.6 km, and the evening had brought cooler temperatures, so we walked back. Yes, we know we are not party animals, we could have been clubbing it into the wee hours of the morning but not really our style. Besides we had another whole day to figure out what to do.

Saturday brought cooler and cloudy weather. We really hadn't seen the news or weather but there were some breaks in the clouds, we weren't concerned about rain. We got back on the bus and off for a big brekky at South Bank. We were happy to find a little market with all kinds of booths where we could spend money, at least I was happy to find it. This area is where we pick up the CityCat water ferry which crisscrosses the river picking up travelers. We decided to ride it to the end and then back.

Catamarans is where the "CAT" comes from

We were happy to take the city in by the water, there was no narrative as this wasn't a tour, but because we had ridden the bus we knew what we were seeing.

This cruise ship was being loaded with supplies for the Island country of Vanuatu which had been devastated by Cyclone Pam 2 weeks ago

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What we weren't pay attention to was the sky, which was getting darker and darker as we headed back from where we started.

Story Bridge
John Banfield,  Engineer of this and Harbor Bridge in Sydney

Well, there was a women next to me who's mum had just texted her the current weather radar. She told us that this supercell of thunderstorms would just skirt Brisbane, we'd get just the edge of it. OK, we'll get off and just walk back to South Bank where we were sure we could get a cab if need be.

We were in the middle right of this image

Oh Holy Night, if this storm didn't hit and hit in a hurry. We got off the boat and within 30 seconds we were soaked with rain coming down sideways and wind at about 50mph. We stayed under the cover of the boat landing but then the lightning started so we thought getting up to cover would be better. The rain was coming down in sheets, we learned it was 80mm/hour (31/2 inches), and by the time we made it about 1/4 block to the closest building, we were soaked to the skin. If this was the edge of the storm the center of it would have been unbelievable! We stayed there talking to some other Americans that had just arrived from Rochester, NY, and they wondered if this weather was what to expect. We told them that this was the first rain we had seen in a month, they just lucked out!

We stayed there about 30 minutes, the rain appeared to be lessening, and the CityCat ferry was approaching which meant we could get back to the other side of the river where our hotel was. We jumped on and literally just crossed the river and got off. The rain started up again, but since we were soaked already, it really didn't matter. We found ourselves right near the Queensland Parliament Building (Brisbane is the capital of the state of Queensland) or compound, which would have been busy if it hadn't been a Saturday, but it was Saturday and not a car or cab in sight. So we started walking not entirely sure where we were going. I think we walked about 15 minutes and started seeing cabs, not for hire, but at least they we around. I'm just going to tell you that we ended up walking back to the hotel, it was about a 1 1/2 miles, and luckily it was warm enough to not be chilled to the bone. BUT-this is the first time since we arrived that I've felt cold. Truly, the weather has been so sultry, I call it "soft air", that feeling cold felt kind of good. 

We ended up cleaning up, canceling our reservation for dinner which was quite a distance away, and going with a restaurant within walking distance, which was Lebanese. Never had Lebanese food, so it would be an adventure in eating. We thought we knew where we were going, and John had gone down to the front desk to get cab ordered if needed, but it was not raining. Off we go walking, and within 3 minutes the rain came, again. Not amused or pleased, in fact you could say I was humorless at this point, and then we couldn't find the place. I had just had it being wet. We found the place, eventually, and ordered wine and beer. The food was OK, we ended up sitting next a gal who was from the US, a pediatrician, who was in Brisbane for a PALS course (Pediatric Advanced Life Support). She heard our accent and struck up a conversation about her journey here. She lives in Gladstone, about 100 miles from us, north. She is the only Pediatrician for miles, the only one at the hospital, and is on call 5 out of 7 nights a week. We feel very lucky that John's workload is nothing like that. She is hoping to get some help, but for the time being she is really overworked. 

So I end this hoping it wasn't boring, we didn't get to do half the things we had hoped in Brisbane because of the rain on Saturday, but we will go back and try again. The train was very easy, and driving it could work, too. We left on Sunday morning to come back to our unit on the beach, and we are happily home.

Ahh, Bargara