24 Hours in Brisbane.

Sheep shearing, sunshine, Sheilas, XXXX, koalas, the river, sharks, Steve Irwin, and floods. Not the most flattering list of descriptors for a city you've ever seen, but that was sum total of expectations I had for Brisbane.


Still I would have been perfectly happy with some or most of the above forming the crux of my to-do list, as I headed out here this morning, especially since I only had about six hours to cram it all in. Sunday was free time, Monday was work, so something was already going to have to give. That would be Steve Irwin, obviously, then sharks, again a rather simple choice and thankfully the floods - which had only 6 months ago ravaged the low lying city, but long since gone.

Alas my plans were somewhat thrown into disarray once I arrived, when I realised that 'Brizzie' had quite a bit more to offer. There was a bohemian night life in Brunswick street, a delightful historic quarter, riverside walks and beaches, the Brisbane Festival was in town, the Bronco's were playing and a splendid Arts precinct was fully open.

Bugger. Strewth. Drama.

I haven't been to a single art gallery or museum since we landed in Australia 18 months ago, so I thought I really should make the effort. For a city more renowned for the art of rugby league rather than the classics, the list of galleries was impressive, with the Museum of Modern Art particularly standing out. Plus it was located on the southbank of the river, about 5 minutes from my hotel.
But 10km out of the city at Lone Park Koala Sanctuary, it said on the leaflet 'you get the chance to cuddle a Koala' - I was zooming off in a taxi almost before I'd finished reading the sentence. Culture could wait, cuddly cute marsupials couldn't - this is Australia after all, what did you expect?

The sanctuary was by far the best Koala experience I had to date, with over 130 of the species in the park, varying from elderly statesmen in the retirement home, to newborns riding their mum's backs, all within an arms length. The highlight was the chance to hold and cuddle one, whilst having your picture taken, all in all pretty unforgettable. The $16 you pay should keep their eucalyptus pension funds going even through the GFC, so well worth it. I managed to cross off a sheep shearing experience too (that's shearing and not sharing) with an excellent demonstration by some redneck farmers, with glorious spring sunshine throughout. Hand feeding kangaroos could have been another highlight, until I turned up for the Lorikeet feeding session. Rainbow lorikeets, one of the most colourful of the parrot species, are common in Australia, and you see them in most parks and bushland. Therefore this probably seemed an odd and mundane experience for the sanctuary to run.

As it turned out wild lorikeets were the star attraction. Hundreds descended for their daily feed placed on handheld plinths - imagine a brickie's mortar board. As soon as you hold one out, you are engulfed by them right in front of your eyes; and in my case on my head and shoulders too. Brilliant.

Around 4.30 I took a public bus back into the city and weighed up my evening options. First on my agenda was dinner. A pleasing half hour's stroll through the historic quarter and beyond landed me in Fortitude Valley, the city's edgier night scene. For some reason, this centred on Brunswick street, which is also the name of Melbourne's boho chic scene - but at least this made it easy to remember. I ate at the Tibetan Kitchen which was delicious, funky and cheap, and made sure I had a XXXX to wash it down - when in Rome, and all that.

I then had another brush with lady fortune, this time on the river, rather than the afore mentioned Valley. I decided to catch the City Cat ferry back to the hotel. After 5 minutes we were intercepted by a police jet ski, flashing blue lights and all, in true Miami Vice style, who instructed the skipper to stop. I presumed he was going to board which made me realise I hadn't bought a ticket yet. Panicking a little, I was relieved when the skipper announced we had to wait at the dock until the 8pm laser show finished. Luck was definitely on my side. The city had somehow managed to coordinate a fountain and light show across a kilometre of riverside, using lasers from all the city scrapers, projecting onto buildings, the water and the sky. I had tapped into the Arts scene after all, and had the best seat in the house, front of ship, right on the water.

So 6 hours or so of daylight, and some terrific memories, Brisbane definitely impressed. I'll be back, but next time with Alison!