Day 4: Alien Dawn

After the hustle and bustle, the colour, glamour and bonkersness which is the coming together and dispersal of folks travelling by air, it is so very quiet here at Christina's in Wynnum, apart that is from the alien dawn chorus which woke us this morning.  Lying here, idling, not yet wanting to get up and still dozy from travel, sticky with the heat already, I am eager to put faces to those calls outside the blinds - one or two recognisable but most not.  Certainly not blue tits and blackbirds!  Something sounds vaguely like a collared dove but most are from a nature documentary soundtrack.

Aunt Christina lives in Wynnum, a small township across the Brisbane River from the city.  We passed our arrival evening putting names to faces on the many family photos, talking of times past - Christina and Dennis's arrival as 'ten pound poms' in 1966, Christina's first impressions, the heat, the newness of it all, early jobs, retraining for a different world away from the weather of 'back home', her occasional accusations to Dennis, 'You brought me here!'

Theirs was one of the first properties built here and I was reminded of earlier stories of snakes and spiders.  Christina described how their family grew and dispersed further afield, Denise married Gary and moved five hours away to a mining town. Carol and her husband Scott live just ten minutes away from Christina in Manly and Paul is on the Gold Coast, wife Kate's cancer a worry to them all.  Time to get up and see Oz in the light!

We have spent the day exploring Brisbane.  It is a dynamic, vibrant place which appears prosperous.  We began the day by going up the clock tower in the original City Hall which is now dwarfed by skyscrapers, the young guide telling us that in its time it had the finest view of the city.  The view is still impressive but very much a modern city with many recognisable 'big names' having bases here.  Whilst waiting for the tour we wandered through the galleries and I particularly enjoyed the 'Cloudlands' exhibition in which the artist has combined two pictures into one, often turning the 'clouds' upside down to further effect.

Things we have noted:  very few dogs; very little smoking in the city; strict adherence to road crossings (apparently enforced); no chewing gum on the pavements; no ties to work

The heat is debilitating and we probably did too much for our first day.  The very helpful guide in the tourist information centre suggested a circular route to take in several key sights.  After the City Hall we walked through the main shopping area to the food market with comes once a week and reminded me of the farmer's market in Edinburgh.  There were lots of goodies, some exotic fruits, thankfully a stall with cooling mango drinks which we availed ourselves of before heading to board the free water ferry to travel downriver to Eagle Street in the heart of the business district.  The ferry made several stops en route so we were able to get good views of the city whilst enjoying the very welcome breeze.  Eagle Street is a good place to eat so we found a 'healthy burger' place and Tony went for a burger whilst I had a 'powerful salad with grilled chicken, avocado, beetroot, almonds, mint et al'.  Folks are very friendly and helpful and I enjoyed people watching as offices emptied for lunchtime.

From the 'Healthy Burger' we walked through to the Botanical Gardens which run alongside the river, thankful again for the breeze and the shade from the fabulous collection of trees, some of which I could identify as houseplants back home!  Joggers and cyclists passed us, obviously a popular place to exercise.  We shall have to name some of these distinctive trees when we have access to the internet.

We paused to read up about the mangrove trees which have benefited from silt water brought down by previous floods and have re-established alongside the river.  Everywhere there were the calls of birds.  Ibis are the equivalent of pigeons in the park, totally unfazed by people.

From the Botanical Gardens we crossed the river by the Goodwill Bridge, which is pedestrians and cyclists only, to the South Bank.  We were struck here by the structure which runs along through the park here, comprising of steel installations from which have been strung wires to support brilliant purple/pink bougainvillea providing beautiful colour but also welcome shade as you progress through the park.  Bathing and paddling pools have been created here, together with an artificial beach which many families were enjoying.  Cafes and bars were busy.  This part of the city is also home to large entertainment/concert venues and museums.  In amongst all these we spotted several more species of birds/waterfowl and lizards basking on the rocks.  Back across the river we were wilting from the heat now and picked up some veggies for tea from the food market before heading to the train station and back to Lindum.