The first half of January was busy at work, as school holidays continue well past New Year's here - it's the Kiwi equivalent of summer vacation, after all. Being that my friend Chris was planning to be back in his hometown of Brisbane, Australia around then, I figured it was about time I used some of the paid holidays I'd accrued. So just as business was beginning to slow down, I "hopped over the ditch" and spent 8 days in the merry old land of Aus.
Despite never having been to Australia before, I have now met so many of its citizens and heard so much about its culture that I experienced almost no culture shock upon arrival in Brisbane. The greatest difficulty was adapting to the subtropical climate which makes 80% humidity a regular occurrence in Brisbane. Ironically, the "Sunshine State" was having some of its worst weather in two years and the heat was rarely an issue (though it was very sticky).
Before the floods, however, we managed a nice afternoon at the Gold Coast, which is a massive strip of sandy beach southeast of Brisbane - "like Miami in Australia," said Chris. After dodging some harmless dead jellyfish on the beach, I met the Australian surf. Bear in mind, reader, that my most recent swims had been 10-second dips in mountain streams and my ideal beach is a rocky ledge in Northern Ontario. The Gold Coast had two things that I am poorly accustomed to - waves and saltwater. I had forgotten that this is what people mean when they refer to "the beach." Although it was far less relaxing than I anticipated, what with the frequent mouthfuls of saltwater and the rips steadily tugging at my swim trunks, I enjoyed the chance to practice bodysurfing and experience the powerful Queensland sun.
Good thing, too, because the sun went away for the next five days. I was frankly relieved at the rain, because it meant I wouldn't have to tolerate 40°C heat in Brisbane's humidity. And we made the best of it - Chris was reacquainting himself with his hometown, and introducing me to it. Brisbane is in the midst of a boom resulting primarily from mining exploration in the Queensland Outback, and the city is changing rapidly. My curiosity for urban planning went wild as I noted the number of times Chris pointed out areas that had been decrepit five years prior and were now buzzing with life. Based on what I know, Brisbane would share certain similarities with Calgary and other cities of the Canadian west that are booming as well.
But alas, all good things come to an end. As a tropical storm made its way down the Queensland coast, the power went out and we spent my last couple days in the dark. But Chris and his family were excellent hosts and even a power outage didn't detract from that.
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| Looking downtown from Mt. Coot-tha. |
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| A closer view of downtown. |
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| Inside the Powerhouse, an old power station converted into an performing arts centre. |
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| The Gold Coast - it's more built up behind me. |
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| A ring-tailed possum out in daylight because of the rain. |
