5 days in Brisbane! — Mika's Photos

5 excellent days in Brissie - another great sunny city in our favorite country.
Note: this gallery comprises 2 albums. Once you reach the end of the first album (you'll know because it will loop), please press 'escape' and choose the second album to continue browsing!

We're off to Brisbane! First things first: a solid 7-hour sleep.

The humble Brisbane International Airport!

Our home for the next 5 days / 4 nights.

The Queen Street Mall - the heart of Brsbane's CBD.

When in Rome...

Passers-by stop to listen to the live band - part of an Arts series sponsored by the City Council.

Beautiful blue sky over Brisbane Square.

Giant balls.

View downstream from the Victoria Bridge.

Hello, Brisbane!

The Wheel of Brisbane, on the other side of the river.

My first Long Black of the year. Served by the Coffee Club - the same one at the base of Ekamai!

Brisbane City Hall - home now to the Museum of Brisbane and the famous clock tower.

You take a classic, hand-operated lift to the top of the Clock Tower.

Inside the lift.

Great views from the top of the 90-meter clock tower.

Clear view of the Albert Street Uniting Church - standing strong since 1888.

The Brisbane skyline.

On the way back down, stopping for a peek at the clock itself.

Crossing the river on the Kurilpa Bridge - which opened in 2009.

Hey, who's that?

Selfie from the award-winning pedestrian bridge.

One of the many boats that plies the Brisbane River, as part of the public transit network.

Bridge + skyline.

The resident elephants outside the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA).

Brisbane is amazing: it has well-kept walkways / cycleways lining the river on both sides, throughout the entire city.

Can you guess where we are?

Finally, some lunch: falafel from a Chinese vendor.

These gulls had their eye on the prize!

The beach in the Southbank Parklands was closed for renovation -- but it would have been a chilly swim anyway.

No people on the beach? A perfect time for all the local ibises to come enjoy the sand.

On the River Quay Green, looking back at the CBD. A great picnic spot!

We happened upon a man being thrown off a bridge. (It was for a fund-raiser.)

A peek into the Queensland Maritime Museum.

Did this boat ever really float?

A brightly-painted underpass.

A cute little second-hand bookstore in the West End part of town.

Lots of great street art in this neighborhood.

Yeah. Why not?

This house is being elevated! We saw many such renovation projects throughout the city.

This mural was painted by an artist referred to as the 'Banksy of Brisbane'.

This lab would like some dinner, too.

Rush hour, departing Brisbane. (It looks late - but it's only ~5pm. The sun sets early in winter!)

The Wheel of Brisbane all lit up.

Beautiful city line. The lights on the Victoria Bridge change colors.

A reminder of where we are. Just in case.

Another live band on Queen Street Mall - this time, entertaining the evening commuters.

Formerly the offices of the Telegraph!

A casual burger dinner... although you'll start to notice a trend.

Off to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. We pass some old architecture on the way to the pier.

This is the boat we won't be taking. Dinner cruises only.

Our guy! Looks like he loves it here!

Eagle Street Pier - known for its restaurants!

Shall we take a sail boat over to the market?

Here comes one of the commuter ferries.

Pristine skies over the CBD this morning!

Enjoying his rooftop views. (This particular ferry service is free!)

Passing under Story Bridge - the longest cantilever bridge in Australia. Open since 1940.

Continuing along the river. You can see the Brisbane River Walk, which here is over the water.

Great view from these condos!

Ah yes. I knew I left my yacht somewhere around here.

We disembark at the last stop on the ferry's route, and enjoy a nice walk through a riverside park.

This Dalmatian is enjoying his Saturday morning swim.

And this bird proves that the dog fountains are useful for other species, too!

Sleepy Saturday for this big boy.

We've reached our destination: the Brisbane Powerhouse! Formerly a power station; now, an arts and cultural hub.

The Powerhouse hosts a farmers' market every Saturday morning.

This month, it's also hosting the city's Pride festivities.

A well-worded notice.

A really bustling event!

All the goodies you'd imagine at a first-world famer's market!

You don't see these in Bracebridge or Bangkok!

Fresh and green.

This guy found the good stuff!

Notice outside the dog run.

A really spacious dog run - for both dogs and their people.

Continuing along the Riverwalk.

Lots of kiddos out, learning how to bike.

Many of Brisbane's original industrial buildings have been beautifully repurposed for homes. This building used to be one of the first sugar mills.

And this one a wool store.

Don't accidentally trip and fall onto this tree!

The ground floor of this building is now an "antiques" shop. Hard to tell if it was antiques, or a massive garage sale.

The typing test stands up to pressure on this side of the equator, too.

Doggies welcome here!

High Church event venue - which was hosting a brunch this morning.

Brisbane is surprisingly hilly. Here, a great view down on the Riverwalk.

A colorful foreground to Story Bridge.

Another clear shot of Story Bridge.

And the CBD.

Crossing under the bridge for the second time today -- this time by foot.

Stopping for a scenic lunch. (I could eat these fresh Australian lunches all day long!)

Continuing along the Riverwalk.

Uh oh! Looks like the rain's catching up with us!

A modern home that we dashed by on our way to dry ground.

Good thing we brought these brollies from Bangkok!

Rain is a great excuse for a trip to the museum and art gallery.

Inside the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), a very reasonably-sized space.

Great view of the river below.

There was an exhibit of art from across APAC - including Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.

Untitled, by Anish Kapoor.

Rain is letting up, and nighttime is falling. It must be 5pm!

Mesmerizing auto traffic lining the river.

Dinner time! Guess what? More veggie burgers!

Cathedral of St Stephen. We'll come back in the daytime.

Hmm. Decisions, decisions..!

It's Sunday morning, and we're off for points south in our Hyundai i30!

~90 minutes and ~100km later, we reach Springbrook National Park!

This area was formed from a volcanic eruption about 23 million years ago.

Many different climates and elevations. And classic tall Australian trees!

Our fist walk is through a cool rainforest area.

Colors stand out in here!

Rays of light find their way through the trees.

A layer of dew on everything.

Antarctic Beech Trees that are ~2000 years old.

Need a reference to understand how large some of these plants are!

This is officially named the Best of All Lookout.

From this view, you look across New South Wales, toward the volcano that created Springbrook.

We were very much in the clouds. But they were fast-moving, so the view kept changing.

Surprisingly chilly!

Another view, from a different vantage point.

More NSW terrain.

One of the many cliff-side waterfalls throughout the park.

We're off on the Twin Falls circuit: a 4km loop that passes behind 2 waterfalls and through 5 types of forest.

Peeling trees!

The walk passed through many large rocks and caves. Hope that boulder's well wedged-in!

A sense of scale.

Sneaking through the crack.

This tree looks small - but it's the size of a very large umbrella.

Here we are at the first waterfall.

Looking up.

Very clear pool of water underneath the falls.

Behind the falls!

A rainbow at the base of the falls.

Managed to get the entire falls in one shot.

We spotted an old man's face in the side of this rock.

Behind waterfall #2.

Clear, fresh water!

It was a bit slippery back here!

Making our way back up: here's the same waterfall, from the top this time.

Enjoying the well-guarded views.

Trees straight out of a painting.

Very graphic warning sign!

Purling Brook Falls - yet another waterfall!

And the trail down below.

Our last stop at Springbrook for the afternoon: Natural Bridge (to be seen shortly). And the straightest trees in Queensland.

More tall, old trees!

Over time, this waterfall has created a hole in the basalt rock below.

This resulted in the eponymous Natural Bridge!

The waterfall, from inside the cave below (i.e. under the natural bridge!)

Our last stop for the night is Coolangatta, a chill town at the southern tip of Gold Coast. Its lighthouse was being renovated.

Coolangatta's beaches are another favorite of the local surfers.

Wipe-out!

It was very windy! Can you tell?

Moon is out! Must be 5pm!

Looking north toward Gold Coast. Beautiful night sky!

Coolangatta and Tweed Heads in NSW are Twin Towns. Here, we easily travel between both states!

Coming back into Queensland after a brief trip to NSW.

Back to Brisbane, for dinner at a Vegan Market.

Taking a break from hamburgers for the night - and enjoying a chili dog intsead.

The next morning, we're back on the road, and heading back to Gold Coast!

About to embark on my first (and last!?) whale watching excursion.

The calm before the storm.

That's a deceptive rainbow over northern Gold Coast!

Yes, this boat is wisely staying put in the harbor today.

Pelicans! The birds with the most personality!!

This school of dolphins came to check us out.

They were intrigued by our boat.

Showing off.

The school was apparently 50 or 60 dolphins large.

Many of them swam in pairs.

Looking back at the shore (nice skyline), longingly.

Finally, coming back into the port.

Should we warn this fishing boat?

Back on solid land (although it doesn't yet feel like it!)

Yes, well. They did warn us!

The famous Gold Coast Headless Pigeon.

Not many surfers here today!

Rough surf indeed.

You can see the rain storm off on the horizon.

No wonder it was so choppy on the water!

Deceptively calm-looking.

The only people out on the beach were these metal detectors.

Spotted: cone tree! And you know who likes to munch in them?

These beautiful lorikeets!

Nom-nom-nom.

A late lunch at a beach-side cafe. Delish!

More storm in the foreground, and Gold Coast (Australia's 6th largest city!) in the background.

The surfers were a little more enthusiastic about the waves at this end of town.

Nice moves.

Calling it a day.

What a great backdrop.

Mr. Mohawk - aptly dressed for the surfer vibe of this town.

This guy is a crested pigeon - but much more funky than the North American pigeons we're used to!

Before returning the car, a quick stop at Mt. Coot-tha, a lookout affording great views of Brisbane.

Venturing to Chinatown for dinner.

A clean, modern Chinatown!

Dinner at a Japanese ramen & gyoza place - where someone came dressed for the occasion.

A massive bowl of vegan ramen.

Walking home along the river. The Story Bridge is nicely lit at night (in a cycle of 3 or 4 color patterns).

Monday night CBD.

...second album continues below...

It's our last day in Brisbane! Checking out Central Station, so we know where to go tonight!

Anzac Square - with giant bulbous trees.

Anzac Memorial.

A closer view of Anzac Memorial.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - started in 1927, to protect them when the species was being culled for the fur trade.

This is Rodney. Rodney is an old man (12 years old) - but one of the most active guys we saw all day.

Rodney was awake and hungry - and off to find his eucalyptus leaves.

Where? Over there?

Nom nom nom.

The rest of the koalas were nice and sleepy.

They sleep (so peacefully) for 18-20 hours/day, since they get so little energy from the leaves.

They're not drunk, and they're not bears -- two common misunderstandings.

Just waking up.

Sleeping as cute as can be.

We're told they have extra thick bum skin - but I still can't understand how this is comfortable.

They also had a sheep dog show. These were the stars: a border collie, and an Australian Kelpie.

The dogs did their jobs well - but the sheep didn't seem thrilled at all.

Demonstrating how the dogs can herd the sheep into small spaces.

"Another day, another demonstration."

This Kelpie puppy has mastered standing on the sheep - but not yet all the other tricks.

Posing with the fluffy sheep.

This Tawny Frogmouth also calls the Koala Sanctuary home.

This Kookaburra also lives there.

I saw my first platypus! They're smaller than I'd imagined.

This guy is not an exhibit - he just lives on the property.

First time seeing a Tassie Devil awake. I guess he wanted some sunlight!

This Dingo was just waking up, too.

This Emu was checking out the wombat to see what he's up to.

Ms. Wombat's just going for a stroll.

Excuse me, ma'am. Is this the time to be sunning yourself like that?

She enjoys it.

Last stop: the home of the kangaroos and wallabies.

"Yes, hello?"

The smart ones are resting in the shade.

Hanging with his new best friends.

Nice red coat on this guy.

Yes? You're interrupting our chat.

A chillaxin' 'roo bids us farewell.

Back in the city, we visit the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens.

It looks nice and sunny...

... but it was actually raining!

What were these giant fruits / flowers?

A bamboo forest.

A giant tree. (Spot the person?)

The Botanic Gardens (like much of Brisbane) is on the river, and affords great views of the bridge.

More boats, and the cliffs on Kangaroo Point.

A quick pop into the Cathedral of Saint Stephen.

Brilliant reflection of clouds over the shiny CBD.

We're off to cross the Story Bridge, before the sun sets one last time!

Risking my iPhone for his videos!

Beautiful CBD once more.

Clouds and funky architecture.

The flood line from the Great 2011 flood (and the 1974 flood for comparison).

The sun is setting.

More sunset.

Two Mr. Muscles, stretching together.

Kangaroo Point Cliff's Park...

... is a popular place for rock climbers to come!

Practicing sans rope!

Two love-birds and the setting sun.

Back to that lovely picnic spot that we found on Day 1.

For good measure: one last burger meal in Brisbane!

The city bids us a bright farewell.

On the train to the airport. Doesn't seem to be a popular route at this hour!

As always, enjoying his kiwi beer in the Air NZ lounge. Farewell, Australia!