Saturday, May 3, 2025

Down from the heights and into the bustle of the big city.

After another good breakfast, I got away early to try and beat the weekend crowds. The drive was not very long, even allowing for a stop for coffee in the outskirts of Brisbane. Getting to the hotel was another matter. After going round the block twice, I parked up to walk to the hotel and find out how to drive there. After parking, I then had to spend another ten minutes downloading the app to allow me to pay for parking! It turned out that I should have turned into what looked like a pedestrian street.

I picked a bad weekend to come to Brisbane. Not only is it a long weekend in Queensland (Labour Day) but it is also Magic Round – 8 rugby league matches in a single venue. I found out that the idea originated in England – as one British coach is quoted as saying, “if the Aussies are nicking it then it must be good”. Oddly enough, the holiday is spelt "Labour" but the party is spelt "Labor". (Did I mention that they have an election tomorrow?)

After checking in, I went for a walk and had two interesting conversations. The first was with a Muslim, which helped me start to understand the differences between Islam and Christianity. The second was with a native Australian (and he told me that was a respectful term for him) and his wife. He was playing the didgeridoo but had plenty of time to talk between performances. We decided that my spirit animal is the sulphur-crested cockatoo, since they are always following me around!

When I came out, it was bucketing down. I went back to the hotel but felt restless, so I walked down to the riverside and went a couple of stops downriver on the ferry – then back again. I like the naming of the ferries – the main one is the CityCat, while the smaller one is the KittyCat. Also, some CityCats have been painted as the CityDog (after the Australian kids series Bluey)!