Brisbane to Surfers Paradise: Quick Note

Brisbane is a beautiful city. The heart of the city is definitely the river that winds through it. This city has a beautiful combination of high rises mixed with parks and gardens surrounded by foothills. Its much cleaner than Sydney (which reminds me of New York City) and definitely seems like a much more livable city.

I flew into Brisbane airport and hopped on a train (AU$14) that took me to central station. From here, there are plenty of hostels and hotels you can goto.

I would hop on the city tour bus. For AU$25 you can ride a city bus that takes you to all the major attractions and allows you to ride on City Cat, which is the city's ferry service. Taking a ride on the city ferry service is a great way to see the city skyline. The bus takes you up this mountain that overlooks the city. You can hop on and off the bus and there is another bus every 45 minutes. It's a great way to do a narrated tour of the city.

The main part of downtown must be the Queen Street Mall. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, information booths, and its great to hang out here just to people watch. In particular, there is this discount souvenir shop that sells a variety of Australian items. It is on the corner of Queen and Albert. I purchased several boomerangs, leather wallets (between AU$7-$10), and this kangaroo leather cowboy hat that you will see me wearing now.

I spent a couple days here, and then took the Gold Coast train and transferred to a bus that took me to Surfer's Paradise where I am now.