It has been a little over a week since we have been in Brisbane and it is absolutely lovely. Our last week before we left Seoul when I was chatting with friends and family we were making lots of jokes about how I was going to be when I could finally communicate with the locals again. We could imagine myself doing pretty much anything from standing on a corner with a sign that said either “friends wanted” or “free hugs.” To me being like Buddy the Elf in the movie Elf and that the first time someone talked to me I’d be like “Hi my name is Alison, do you want to be my best friend, here’s my Instagram handle and my number and…call me!” Without coming up for air. The best was when my sister was like “by the time you leave Australia your picture is going to be up in every bar with a note that says “If you see this American do NOT give her your number!”” 🤣🤣🤣
Needless to say that is pretty much how it has been. 😘
Everyone is so nice and being able to connect with the locals again has been a dream. Even in just a short chat, people have written down recommendations of things for us to see and do. It has been wonderful. We really went wild on our first trip to the grocery store. It was so fun to be able to buy all these things that we haven’t been able to get in a while and to know what they are and how to prepare them without using Google lens. I wouldn’t change the previous 10 weeks, other than maybe being better at the languages, and for those of you who know how social I am, it feels good to be back to feeling more like myself. I feel like if I were a cartoon I went from being a tiny grey raincloud to being the sunshine. Part of that might have to also do with how lovely the weather has been here too. Aside from a couple days, it has been mid to upper 80s, in that “made up” Fahrenheit, sunny and warm.
Brisbane is a beautiful city with lots of parks, museums and libraries. There is so much to see and do. One of my favorite things has been riding the ferry on the “The Brown Snake” river that runs through the city. I’m convinced that if we lived here I would want a job on the ferry. ”The Brisbane River has Indigenous names like Maiwar (Turrbal/Yuggera) and Meanjin, with Maiwar referring to the river and Meanjin to the specific land area around the city.” They do a great job here of acknowledging the Indigenous Peoples whose land we are on. When we visited the Brisbane Art Gallery and were introduced to a couple of the pieces of Aboriginal art by one of the docents that was the first thing that she acknowledged.
We’ve also really enjoyed bars and breweries being open before 5pm so that Dave and I can go to some together while he’s awake. Drinking something other than light lager has been a real treat even though it is quite a bit more expensive. We’ve also noticed how many different kinds of birds there are here. It is almost like we’re back in Paraguay. We didn’t see as many birds where we were in Japan and South Korea. Other than gigantic crows that sound like the Count on Sesame Street. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. The sunrise is around 4:45am and you can hear the birds happily singing outside of our window. There is one that sounds like a human whistling. When I looked it up Google thought it might be the Pied Butcherbird but I haven’t been able to get a picture of it yet.
The only thing that might be giving birds a run for their money, multitude wise, is, of all things, helmets. They are all over the place! I feel like it is Brisbane’s way of casually telling its citizens to stay safe. Brisbane seems to be a very active city and we’ve seen many cyclists with zip ties popping out of their helmets. When I Googled it it said that it is to keep the swooping magpies from dive-bombing their heads while trying to protect their young. My goodness I love learning new things!
One other wonderful thing about being here is that we know someone! Dave’s cousin’s step-daughter lives here and last week we were able to meet up with her and her eight month old son who is an absolute sweetheart. We had met her once before but it has been over 15 years and it was so special to be able to reconnect. Her brother lives in Melbourne so we hope to be able to meet up with him as well while we’re there.
We had hoped to visit the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise beach this past weekend but there were train closures so we’re going to try again this week. Our time here has been flying! We’re only in Brisbane for two weeks so that means we leave for Sydney on Saturday already. We’re so incredibly thankful that we’ll be able to spend two months total in Australia. To see and experience different cities. To have this extended period of time to really immerse ourselves in a place that we’ve been dreaming of visiting for years is such a gift and we plan on taking advantage of every minute. I hope everyone enjoys their holidays whatever you celebrate! We’ll definitely miss being with ours. Sending you love wherever you are!
❤️Alison
Our last week in Seoul we visited the Korean War Memorial and Museum.This statue is a symbol of the Korean War and the hopes for peaceful reunification of North and South Korea. The Korean War Memorial Museum. Around the outside of the museum they have Naval ships and Airforce planes that you can see. This one you could go inside of. The Wall of Remembrance. About 700,000 South Korean and 900,000 North Korean civilians perished as a result of the war.This is a replica of the Kobuksan or Turtle Ship. It was the worlds first iron-armored warship. It is located inside the Korean War Memorial Museum. This is a traditional Korean drum called a pungmul or buk. I was excited to find my first bloody mary since Hawaii at The Royal Food and Drink. It was delicious. Complete with a view!We also discovered a delicious bibimbap restaurant in our neighborhood called Bebab Bibimbap Korean Restaurant. It was so delicious we went back for our Thanksgiving meal. This the the beef short rib. We made it to Bukhansan National Park and took a hike. This is actually a view of the mountain range I took from the car on the way there. It was a beautiful place. Our hike had some pretty incredible views. Our last day we visited the outside of the World Cup StadiumAnd then I walked to Mangwan Riverside Terrace.And took in the view of the skyline along the Han River. I’m glad we went to Seoul and I would definitely go back. Before we came to Australia we were very surprised to have several people tell us that they would never visit here because there are too many things that can kill you! This sign was posted where we were waiting for our taxi to bring us to our Air BnB after arriving in Brisbane. This is a mural outside of one of our local beer bars called the Scratch. Our first day, after the nine hour flight from Seoul, we arrived at about 7am. Our gracious Air BnB host let us check in early so we could shower and take a nap. The rest of the day we just explored around our neighborhood. Australian White Ibis. Australian Magpie. My lovely reading spot at our Air BnB. Our first full day, after eleven hours of sleep-I guess I was tired, we decided to venture out and try and watch the Timberwolves play basketball on TV at the Star Casino. But first fuel in the form of this incredibly delicious mushroom roasti at The Regatta Hotel. Insert drool face here!On our way to our first ferry ride. The Poinciana trees, which are native to Madagascar, are beautiful this time of year. The beginning of a great love story! The views of Brisbane’s skyline from the river are spectacular!There are so many cool bridges and of course the quintessential ferris wheel. They weren’t able to get the game to play so we improvised. It must’ve been good luck because they won!After the game we went up to the Sky Deck on the 23rd floor and took in the views from above. They were pretty incredible. Brisbane is beautiful.The State Library of Queensland was a fun place to visit. They have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, plenty of places to read and a great view of the river. Australian Brushturkey. Glasshouse Theater at the Queensland Performing Arts Center. The Southbank Parklands is one of the many parks and walking areas along the river. Star Casino at golden hour. One beautiful sunset captured from the ferry. Most of the ferries are called “City Cat.” There are smaller ferries called “Kitty Cat.” And there is one special ferry that has the famous Australian cartoon dog Bluey on it and that ferry is called “City Dog.” It is a special day when that is the ferry you catch. 🙂It’s pretty cute. Further down the river from our stop you can get a good view of the CBD (Central Business District) and the Kangaroo Point Bridge. Not too far past that is the Story Bridge. “Built during the great depression it is the largest steel cantilever bridge designed, fabricated, and constructed in Australia by Australians.”Cool murals along the back of Felons Brewery.The view from the deck at Felons underneath Story Bridge. There are several different loops along the river that you can walk and cycle on. It is another great way to take in the views. You can understand why Brisbane is such an active city. We loved visiting the City Botanical Gardens. We saw several new birds and wildlife. This is a Buff-banded Rail. The Australian White Ibis are everywhere. I love their beaks. Eastern Water Dragon. Dusky Moorhen. Kinda blurry.Another Eastern Water Dragon. It is a beautiful garden right in the city, which you know I’m a huge fan of. Bush Stone-curlew. Also known as the Bush Thick-knee which you can see why. This one got up when we walked past. My guess is it was protecting the other one that was probably sitting on their nest. It was another great day. More Australian Magpie.We visited the Queensland Art Gallery which had a huge exhibit of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander art. This piece is entitled “Guan Wei Echo 2005”. It is by Sydney-based artist Guan Wei. In it “he draws on his Chinese heritage to illustrate the complexities of conquest, colonization and cultural confrontation.”“Dingo 2002” by Craig Koomeeta who is part of the Wik-Alkan people.“Tribal Brothers 1982” by artist Thanakupi from the Thaynakwith people. “Each panel portrays a different creation story of the Thungganh tribal brothers.”Madeleine Kelly “Choreography of war reportage 2002”Lin Onus from the Yorta Yorta people. ” Morumbeeja Pitoa (Floods and Moonlight) This piece is one of the two the docent told us about. The layers and the reflection of the trees in the water and almost under the water and the way the moon shines through the clouds are all truly spectacular. We went to New Farm Park on Saturday after we weren’t able to go to the Gold Coast and found a fun farmers market and Performing Arts Space. An art installation at Kangaroo Point Cliffs. This is a sculpture entitled “The World Turns” by New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai. It is outside of the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). “What’s Love 2021” by Hossein Valamanesh. This is the word love in Farsi written in gold leaf. Inside of GOMA. “Bloodlines 1993” by Gordon Bennett. Archie Moore “Kith and Kin”. The black shadow on the floor is actually a reflective pool which serves as a memorial for First Nations individuals who have died in police custody in Australia. We learned that Indigenous Australians are some of the most incarcerated people globally. “Kith and Kin”. In this installation the artist draws with chalk his holographic map that traces his family history more than 65,000 years. It was a pretty powerful installation. Views from inside GOMA.Creating with Lego. “Contraptions” by Indigenous Australian artist Lin Onus. In this work “the artist uses irony, wit, and whimsy to explore the collision of contrasting cultural values.” Coincidentally this is the same artist that did the “Floods and Moonlight” piece we saw at the Art Gallery. Just a few of the helmets around town. Dave has entitled this piece “Hooray for hanging helmets helping heads stay healthy.” The teacher in me thinks, “looks like lice.” 🤣My friendly writing companion. 🙂
