Rick's Next Adventure: Bougainvillea, Brushfires and Beaches

Well, this post will be two days in one. It isn't that I wasn't doing anything, but one of the days was a travel day and I always hope those are uneventful! My second day in Brisbane started with a walk by, and really short visit to St. John's Cathedral. This church wins for the tackiest thing I've ever seen in a church. There was a sign just past the entry that it was expected that each visitor would contribute a minimum of $5. Here's the kicker: When someone puts money in the machine for donations, giant red numbers show how much you contributed! I took one picture, and turned and left. Without paying. I don't even think it's all that. Just saying.

Off I went to jump on the Cityhopper again, I still find it hard to believe that Brisbane has a free ferry. My destination was South Bank, a very cool development on the riverfront. It has an arbour of Bougainvillea that runs a full kilometer! There is also a rainforest , a free pool complex that is just huge and even a Nepalese temple. And obviously a bunch of shops, but they somehow disappear in the beauty of the rest. Oh...and a huge ferris wheel that costs $22 for a ride! That just made me laugh...Brisbane is not London, there's just not that much to see! And the ferry down the river is free...
I walked across the river bridge and saw the old Treasury building, which ironically is now...a casino. Then it was past the old Treasury annex and the Queen's gardens and through the CBD past the high end shopping district.

The next morning I awoke to a very pungent smell of smoke. There was a heavy haze over the city. Gone was the beautiful blue sky, replaced with dreary gray smoke...all a product of the long drought and the resulting bushfires all across eastern Australia. My time in Brisbane was over. I jumped in the right hand driving car and onto the left side of the road and made my way north to the Sunshine Coast. Uneventfully, I might add. Then it was a walk on the beach and a nap by the pool...