I know that I have returned home and back to feeling cold again, but I thought it would cheer me up, and make sense to finish off the blog for this trip, so here is the last instalment.
Wednesday 22nd February
Today was Briony’s birthday and as we were meeting the family for a meal in the evening, I decided to stay quite local. I took the train a couple of stations up the line for a bit of exploring, again mainly to see some murals, I certainly have visited many places in the Melbourne area this trip. On my return to Mordialloc, I happened to bump into Graeme and Briony, who had popped out for lunch at Main Street, so we all had lunch together. I then went for some shopping and a coffee before returning home.
In the evening, we went to Beaumaris, where we went to Oshima, a local Japanese restaurant, where we were joined by Sean, Moni, and the boys for a lovely buffet meal, when we got back to Pat & Kay’s we all had fun looking at photographs of the many cakes Kay had made for her children over the years using instructions from a Good Housekeeping book of children’s cakes. Graeme surprised us when we returned home by producing his production of another cake from the book for Briony, spectacular and tasty it was too.
Thursday 23rd February
Today I went into the city to do some shopping and to get my phone contract sorted out, I visited Queen Victoria Market, which was a busy vibrant place displaying none of the shortages I had been reading about in the UK papers, lunch at the market was a really good Turkish lamb sandwich and a coffee sitting outside watching the world go by. I then went to an Optus phone shop and sorted out my phone setup before wandering down to visit the Stella Maris, the Seafarers Centre on Little Collins Street, there I had a nice chat with Lee-Anne, the manager who kindly gave me a tour of the centre, which is very impressive. Lee-Anne expressed a keenness to open links with our Glasgow branch of the Merchant Navy Association, saying that she would be happy to keep in touch with us and pass on our details to some of the regular visitors to the centre.
Shopping and phone sorted, it was time to head for home, stopping off in Mates in Mordialloc, to wait for Graeme before we both hit the trail back home.
Friday 24th February
It was a scorcher today, much too warm to do much, it was even too warm to be outdoors, so it was a chance to sit with my book in the lounge with the AC turned on. However, boredom got the better of me and I got the lawn mower out and cut the grass and tidied away some weeds, then it was back indoors to cool off. I eventually went into the shed and designed and made a coaster for Briony’s brother Andrew, he is a bit of a petrolhead with a liking for Holden Commodores, which was his first car, both Graeme and I are sure he will like the finished result. The high temperatures continued into the evening so we all gathered around the AC with some cold beers to keep us happy.
Saturday 25th February
Today we went into Melbourne’s CBD to go on a Chocoholics tour, we met up with P&K at St Paul’s Cathedral, where we met with Tonya, our tour guide, and the rest of the group. Off we went initially to Degraves street to visit Clementine’s to sample the first of the day’s chocolates from Chocamama, from there we went to the fabulous Block Arcade to sample the wares from Coal River Farm, a Tasmanian Chocolate and cheese producer.
The Royal arcade was our next stop and we dropped into the original Koko Black shop to choose our sample selection, we were all spoiled for choice here. (Check out the video tour when you scroll down on the linked page) After a stroll through the city, we arrived at Guildford Lane and the Scoopy Milk bar, where were treated to a serving of Bingsu, a bowl full of snowy shaved chocolate ice, condensed milk, raspberry boba, and fresh salted fruit to tempt our taste buds. This was a great way to spend a couple of hours, getting a chance to visit some different spots of the city.
As Briony had to return home Graeme and I stayed in the city for a beer in the Duke, (a favourite of Jim & mine while in Melbourne last year), before we got a train back to Mordialloc, where we walked to the Braeside Brewery for a couple of pints and a nice pizza, I had a rather spectacular Chicken Parma one which topped of yet another great day.
Sunday 26th February
Today we drove down to Mount Eliza to visit Andrew and Sheree and the children Isla and Leo, after a stop at their home, we all went to the Ranelagh Club, their local tennis club for lunch, it was a good place to sit in the sunshine, enjoying the food and the company.
On our return home, we all had an afternoon siesta before watching that night’s episode of Australian Survivor, which has become a little bit addictive, I will need to find a way to keep updated when I get home.
Monday 27th February
Today, for part of my birthday, Graeme and Briony got me, Pat & Kay tickets to see an exhibition called Time, by the artist Rone, in a long-neglected part of Flinders Street Station. Rone, an international street artist from Geelong, whose works can be seen in and around Melbourne has created a unique space that takes you back to a part of the world where time has stood still for 70 years or so. Each of the 11 rooms tells its own story of a world that used to be – from deserted switchboards to the ghostly library, lined with hundreds of fictitious novels marked with the exhibition and its artist on their spines, the room with the sewing machines almost looked like the staff had just walked out after a day’s work and the room left neglected for 70 years.
Watching over every room is a portrait of Rone’s long-time muse, Teresa Oman, and the scene is made more memorable with the clever use of lighting and an original score by local songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, Nick Batterham. A YouTube video tour of the exhibition can be seen here:
We all thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, especially P&K, who were enthralled by the 1950’s newspapers covering the windows, they certainly brought back memories to them.
After the exhibition, we walked to the National Gallery of Victoria where we went to the member’s room for a coffee before making our way home. I met Graeme in Mordialloc and we got home to find Sean, Moni, and the boys had called round to say goodbye and we all enjoyed the Afghan meal that Moni brought over, it was so nice of them, as they all made me feel so welcomed and a part of the whole family.
After being picked up and dropped off at Glasgow Airport I didn’t have too long to wait until my flight boarded. Everything seemed to be going well until we had to wait for a wee while for them to de-ice the plane, more about this later. The flight was up there with the usual Emirates standards and passed smoothly, I eventually got to see the end of the Elvis movie I had started watching last year.
Due to the delay in leaving Glasgow, we arrived in Dubai around 30 minutes late which only left me with around 20-30 minutes to get to the gate for my flight to Melbourne, as it turned out there were a few of us in the same situation so they held the flight back, so the mad rush through the airport wasn’t really necessary. That flight also went well and after arriving on Sunday night, and going through the usual custom and immigration checks, I was met by Graeme and Briony and returned to their home in Aspendale to be met by a very excited Joffrey.
Monday 23rd January
A bit of a chill-out day to allow me to recover from my flight, as it was a nice and sunny day I sat out on the decked area and read my book and did nothing much else.
Tuesday 24th January
Up with the lark this morning to travel into the city with Graeme, he went off to work while I only had to stroll around getting to know Melbourne again. I had a wander up Swanston Street towards Queen Victoria Market before heading to the Optus phone shop to get my Sim card sorted out, once back online I went for lunch before heading to the Southern Cross Station to make enquires about the journey I was planning to make on Wednesday. My next stop was an Officeworks store to get some materials to allow Graeme to try out the laser engraver I had brought out with me. Back in the city centre I then visited an exhibition in the Town Hall by the French artist Invader, although interesting it was a little small with only one piece by him, the remainder of the exhibition was made up of photographs of similar work in the city, The weather in the city was very good for most of the day, however, just as I boarded the number 35 tourist tram, it started to rain so I was glad that I was undercover, the tram ride was very interesting and fun, something that Jim and I were unable to do during our visit, there always seemed to be problems whilst we were here.
After my day in the city, it was soon time to meet up with Graeme for a beer before catching the train home again. Unfortunately, he had chosen a hotel I was unaware of and my phone ran out of battery on the way which meant that I got slightly lost on the way, but due to the kindness of strangers, I was able to meet up although a bit later than expected. After a couple of well-earned beers, we headed home after a great day out in a city that I am beginning to get to know quite well.
Wednesday 25th January
An early start again as I headed back into the city to begin a journey from Southern Cross station to Rutherglen, a small town 190 miles northeast of Melbourne, near the Murray River border with New South Wales. The journey was very good, the first part by one of the regional trains took me to a town called Wangaratta where I changed to a small bus onwards to Rutherglen.
After leaving the bus, I quickly checked into my accommodation in the Poachers Paradise motel, where my room was very nice and comfortable and suited my needs perfectly. I then went for a look around town, a former gold mining town, today Rutherglen, recognised as one of the premier wine-growing regions in Victoria with around 20 wineries in the area, approximately 1 per 100 of the 2000 or so population. I found the town and its residents very friendly, they were all really interested to learn that I was born and raised in Rutherglen Scotland and many were quick to tell me how it came by its name, apparently in 1860 gold was found in the area and in the newly formed Star Hotel, the publican, Ruglonian John Wallace, was told: “Shout the whole bar and you can call this town whatever you like.” So he bought a beer for everyone in the pub and called the town Rutherglen.
After a walk around town, I ended up in the same Star Hotel for dinner and a beer and enjoyed watching some of the Australian Open tennis on TV before hitting the sack.
Thursday 26th January
Today being Australia Day meant that it was a little quieter in town and there were no winery tours available so I settled for a long leisurely breakfast in Caffeine N Machine, a bakery café with a vintage bike museum display situated at the roundabout at the entrance to the town, I then discovered that the towns tourist information office across the road was open, and it was there that I was directed to the towns old school museum which became my next stop. The museum was interesting with many exhibits showing life in the old town, it was also good to chat with the 2 volunteers in attendance, they were very keen to find out the differences between the 2 towns and they were quite surprised by the size of Rutherglen in Scotland. After a nice afternoon sitting in the sun reading, I finished off the day with another nice meal in the Star Hotel before retiring for the night.
Friday 27th January
Today I arranged a tour of some of the wineries with one of the locals, Alister Chisholm, an ex-pat Scot who has lived in Rutherglen for a number of years and runs a B&B in addition to running tours. After brunch again in Caffeine N Machine, I was picked up by Alister and off we went to visit ……. for some tasting sessions. Back in town, it was time to visit the local supermarket for some bits for the return journey before catching the bus back to Wangaratta for my return to Melbourne, by the time I got back to Morialloc to be collected by Graeme I was pretty jiggered to say the least however, I really enjoyed my adventure into a part of Victoria I had never seen before and the town of Rutherglen was a great place to visit.
Saturday 28th January
Today we were all rather busy, Graeme and Briony headed off to one of her friend’s baby shower while I went out with Pat & Kay firstly to visit Shannons, a specialist vehicle auctioneers to see their current display of vehicles, we certainly saw some spectacular cars and bikes of all ages and standards, one that really stood out was the gorgeous red 1935 Swallow (Jaguar) SS1 ‘Airline’ Coupe thought to be the only one of its kind in Australia. Our next stop was the Moorabbin Air Museum where we were able to see, clamber aboard and climb into the cockpit of a vast collection of aircraft of all sorts, it was great fun and certainly a wonderful way to pass an afternoon, from there we then visited an old haunt, the Naked Racer Café for a refreshing brew or two before head back to G&B’s at the end of another great day.
Sunday 29th January
For today Moni had booked tickets for us all to visit the Royal Exhibition Building Dome Promenade, this guided tour allowed us to experience spectacular views across the city along with an exhibition that explored the building’s significant history and varied uses over time, the Royal Exhibition Building is beautiful inside and out and sitting alongside the Melbourne Museum certainly made it an interesting place to visit. It was really nice to be able to catch up with Sean, Moni, Jensen, and Ollie again.
Once back home we chilled out watching the final of the men’s competition of the Australian Open championships with Novak Djokovic capturing his 10th title.
Another early morning rise to get ready for our pickup for the airport, once we had checked out of the hotel we took off with what seemed like a new driver to the route, she mistakenly took and left us in Terminal 1 when apparently we should have been taken to terminal 4, fortunately, there was an airport bus just outside that was able to take us on the 30-minute journey over to the other side of the airport. Once in terminal 4, the confusion continued, our flight turned out to be with Qantas and not Emirates as expected. Once airborne everything went well and we both had a pleasant flight into Changi.
When we arrived it took us well over an hour to clear immigration and customs before being picked up by our driver and driven to the Furama Riverfront hotel, our home for the next week. After checking in and exploring our room, which we found to be perfectly adequate for our stay, we went out for a walk around to try and get our bearings. I had stayed in this hotel 4 years ago and had some idea where things were, so we went along the road towards Clarke Quay where we found a nice Thai restaurant to have some dinner before returning to the hotel ready for bed after a long and tiring day.
Furama Riverfront HotelA room like oursThe hotel pool & JacuzziClarke QuayClarke QuayClarke Quay
Thursday 29th September
After our breakfast in the hotel, we went along the main road into town heading for Chinatown. This is one of the city’s bright, colourful and vibrant areas and we were happy to wander the streets soaking in the sights.
Our main reason for visiting Chinatown was to go to the visitor centre, next to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, to buy some phone SIM cards and to scope out tickets for some of the attractions of the city, on reaching the riverbank on Raffles Place, where we sat for a while watching the world go by, we decided to head towards theMerlion Park at Marina Bay, we got there easily and stopped for lunch, Jim loved the large Merlion and Unicorn Elephant statues we found there.
The MeerlionMarina BayMarina BayYou just have to do itYou just have to do itA Unicorn Elephant !!Marina Bay
In the Marina. Bay, we could see the grandstand for the F1 GP we have tickets for Sunday’s race and decided to see how and where we could get there, we found the entry point easily, so we thought it would be a good time to visit the Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Sands Hotel. This is where all our problems began, almost all the streets in the area were closed off and no matter how many ways we tried, we just couldn’t get to them. Feeling a bit frustrated we returned to Chinatown to the Maxwell Food Centre, a typical Hawker food court, after passing through the colourful night market, to see what was on offer, and after a couple of most refreshing Tiger beers, we had a lovely meal from the Michelan rated Tian Tian Chicken Rice stall, we both agreed that it deserved the plaudits, afterwards, I just couldn’t resist sampling one of the delicious Fuzhou Oyster cakes again it was worthy of the praise. From Chinatown, we slowly made our way home after yet another warm and tiring day, the heat and humidity really sap your energy so it was nice to return to our air-conditioned room.
Friday 30th September
We had a bit of a lie-in this morning after yesterday’s long walks, but we were still in time for a good breakfast before heading out to find the Fort Canning MRT (metro) Station to take us up to Little India, this area of Singapore is where it’s mainly Indian population lives, when wandering the streets there you could be forgiven for thinking that you really were in a part of India. This week sees the festival of Deepavali being celebrated so the streets were decorated with colourful banners and lights and there were many flower sellers on the streets selling colourful garlands.
After a refreshing sugarcane juice drink to cool us down, we took the metro to Bayfront, intending to go up the Marina Bay Sands Hotel observation deck, but due to the F1 race, it was closed. We took a stroll around the shoppes in the arcades in the hotel in search of a coffee and to say that the place was a world apart from Little India would be an understatement, despite them only being 15 minutes apart by metro, there is even a mock canal with gondolas running through it.
Now that we were in the Bay Area, we crossed over to the Gardens by the Bay, where we decided to see it all if possible, this included the Double Conservatories of the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest with its 35-meter waterfall and the aerial Cloud Walk. We were stunned by both of them, but especially the Flower Dome, with plant species from the Mediterranean, the African Savannah, and Australia, all in a massive structure. From there we had a stroll through the gardens to the Supertree Grove, the Supertrees are 18 tree-like structures 25 metres to 50 metres tall, they are vertical gardens that are home to enclaves of unique and exotic ferns, vines, orchids and also a vast collection of bromeliads.
The Flower DomeThe Cloud Forest
We then went up to the elevated walkway, the OCBC Skyway, a viewing platform between two of the larger Supertrees to enjoy a panoramic aerial view of the Gardens, we had also purchased a ticket for the Supertree Observatory, an observation platform at the top of the tallest of the Supertrees, which provided an even more spectacular view of the city and the bay.
We stayed in the park for dinner in Satay by the Bay, a hawker-type outlet before going back to Supertree Grove to see the evening’s light and music show known as the Garden Rhapsody. The music played tonight had a retro pop theme and was well coordinated and it was great fun lying on our backs watching it all.
Garden Rhapsody
We made use of public transport a lot today, using both the MRT and buses in getting about the city, mainly to avoid the restrictions due to the Grand Prix, but we still managed to put on a few thousand steps on the way. Again we returned to the hotel very tired but happy after yet another great day.
Saturday 1st October
This morning we jumped a bus down to the harbour front to get the Singapore Cable Car, a cable car ride north to Mount Faber, one of Singapore’s highest points, when we got there we were slightly disappointed as, apart from a walk through yet another rain forest, there didn’t seem to be much to do or see, perhaps. Perhaps we have just become a bit rain forest jaded.
We went back on the cable car which then carried us south to Sentosa Island, an island resort off Singapore’s southern coast, from what we could read about it, it looked like a super place to visit, with beautiful beaches, plenty of bars and restaurants and loads of activities such as zip wires, bungee jumping and what we fancied doing was a few runs on the Skyline Luge, a thrilling gravity fuelled ride downhill that I had first tried in New Zealand. We booked 3 runs intending to create our own Singapore Grand Prix, the first 2 runs went well, with each of us gaining a victory as we rode down the purpose-built tracks with their hairpin corners, tunnels and downhill slopes through the forest, however, it all changed on the last run, it had started with light rain as we took off, but by the time we reached the bottom we were in the middle of a tropical monsoon and thunderstorm, soaked to the skin, we shared the victory, the championship was drawn.
A Sentosa Saturday
After waiting for the storm to abate, we returned to the cable car to take us back to the mainland where we eventually made our way to Chinatown for a late lunch/early dinner and a well-earned beer in the Maxwell Food Court, which is becoming one of Jim’s favourite places where he likes to sample something different every time we visit.
While we were there the rain started again so we agreed to return to the hotel to dry off a bit, before going out for a snack and a beer in nearby Tiong Bahru, one of my favourite areas in Singapore, this area has a really cool vibe with its 1930’s Art Deco styled housing complexes, the suburb has become famous for its trendy cafes and independent shops. There’s also a local park and a traditional food market. There is also plenty of high-quality street art by a local resident, Yip Yew Chong, I first saw them when I visited in 2018 and they remain among my favourite murals. A 5-minute walk took us back to the hotel tired after yet another interesting day. (Expect to a page devoted to Yip Yew Chong’s work coming soon to my Street Art section)
Tiong Bahru Food Court
Sunday 2nd October
A big day today, we have tickets for the Singapore GP, which is undoubtedly the potential highlight of the trip for Jim (and me too). We thought that although the gates open at 10:00 we would wait until later to go to the track.
We started off after breakfast by going back out to Tiong Bahru to capture an image of a mural by Yip Yew Chong that I had missed during my earlier travels, we stopped off at the food court there and had some Kopi, (also known as Nanyang coffee) and a Singaporean version of a Portuguese custard tart, they were both very good. In order to see another of his wonderful murals we then went to the Amoy Street area to see his wall, describing some of Singaporean history on the wall of the Thian Hock Keng temple, since it was quite close we returned to the Maxwell Food Court for lunch before heading to the Bay Grandstand and our seats for the race.
Our seats facing the Sands Marina Hotel are very good with a great view of the track with one of the giant screens directly in front of us. The preamble to the race proper was very good, we had a W Series race, which is a fairly new series designed to encourage women into the sport, and then we saw the Formula 1 drivers parade where the drivers were taken around the track in a collection of historic vintage cars, this was when things changed a little.
Before MerchandiseAfter MerchandiseOur view on the day
At this point, the heavens opened and we had a massive rainstorm, despite cagoules and ponchos, we couldn’t stay dry and, in addition to almost everyone there, we retreated to the area under the grandstand to shelter from the rain in the hope that it would eventually stop and the race be allowed to start. After a nail-biting hour, the rain stopped and the decision was made to start the race, so following the Singaporean National Anthem, it all got underway.
It was brilliant, the sound of the cars, the vibration in our seats as they passed and the additional visuals provided by the giant screen opposite all added to the once-in-a-lifetime event, after a fabulous fireworks display, we left the area on a high and made our way back to the hotel after a fAntastic day, the potential of the day was fully realised, it was a highlight.
Race Day
Monday 3rd October
This morning, now that the road closures and the restrictions placed due to the F1 were lifted, we made our way to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and its observation platform on the 57th floor, the views over the city were spectacular, it was good to see many of the places we had visited and the F1 track from above, however, being up so high it felt extremely warm so we were glad to return to ground level and the air-conditioned comfort of one of the malls in the hotel.
Marina Bay Sands Hotel Observation Deck
Our afternoon trip was one we had always planned, a river cruise on one of the city’s Bumboats from Clarke Quay, this trip around the river was very relaxing and enjoyable, providing yet a different viewpoint of the sights seen earlier.
With time to spare after our cruise we thought we would visit Kampong Gelam, a neighbourhood known as Arab street, to see some murals by Yip Yew Chong, one of my favourite ever artists, again, nature took over with yet another rainstorm, this time, unfortunately, we were in a predominantly Muslim area so we couldn’t take solace in lunch or a beer in one of the malls, we sat it out as long as we could before trying a sprint to the nearest MRT station, we thought we had done well staying reasonably dry until a passing motorist going through a puddle completely drenched us. The murals did make the trip worthwhile though, and I did find a quirky camera shaped building that turned out to be a camera museum, unfortunately it was closed, which was a shame as it would have been a great place to shelter from the rain.
Kampong GelamVintage Camera’s Museum
We made our way back to Clarke Quay to have an enjoyable dinner in a Hawker Centre we had seen earlier before returning to the hotel to pack our cases ready for our departure tomorrow night, stopping off in Boomerang, an Australian bar across the river from us for one last round of drinks.
Tuesday 4th October
For our last day in Singapore, we decided to visit Everton Road, #33 on the Time Out list of the coolest streets in the world at the end of our trip, it was a pretty cool area, but we couldn’t see what made it stand out over other places, perhaps we needed to see it at night. The area did have some pretty cool murals by Yip Yew Chong so the journey wasn’t wasted.
On my last visit to Singapore, Raffles Hotel was closed and undergoing refurbishment and was covered in scaffolding, so I couldn’t see much, this time, however, we saw it in all its glory. We thought that it would be very exclusive and that we wouldn’t be allowed in, how wrong were we, the staff couldn’t have been more helpful, offering to take photographs and guiding us to the best spots, it really was a special place to visit.
Raffles Hotel
With loads of time to kill, we visited the Newton Food Court for lunch, this Hawker centre is a bit further out of town, and although it had been recommended to us we much preferred the Maxwell Food Court which we visited frequently.
An MRT ride back into Chinatown’s Mohamed Ali Lane led us on a hunt for more murals by Yip, which was a great way to revisit some of the places we had visited earlier and to see them with fresher eyes, it is strange how all of our walks in the area takes us back towards the Maxwell, where we had to stop for a refreshing beer before returning to the hotel to rest for a while before being collected for our travel to Changi Airport.
Unlike Perth and Western Australia, we managed to meet Dan’s Challenge by finding A Starbucks (it wasn’t hard, there are 130 of them in Singapore) and a Certified Lego Store (there were only 7 of them).
We both fully enjoyed Singapore and its many attractions, especially the F1 Grand Prix, which was very special, amongst our highlights were the Gardens by the Bay, the view from the Marina Sands hotel’s observation deck, Sentosa Island with its cable car and Luge run, plus of course the hawker food courts, especially the Maxwell. I enjoyed seeing as many of Yip Yew Chong’s murals as possible, they really tell the story of his Singaporean life in vivid colour. The photographs shown above are only a sample of the many hundreds taken by both Jim and I, but I’m sure you will agree that they show just how wonderful a time we had there. I certainly would like to come back again.
Today was an exciting one, we had an early start with a scratch breakfast then on to a shuttle bus to the Port Douglas marina to board Quicksilver VIII, a fast wavepiercing catamaran, out to the the Agincourt reef located 75 nautical miles off the coast of Port Douglas. This reef which is reputed to be one of the best diving and snorkeling sites in the world, is located at the very edge of the Great Barrier Reef and provided us with some of the spectacular vibrant aquatic animal and plant life unique to Australia’s coast.
On boarding we had tea/coffee and biscuits before departure then a nice relaxing 1 1/2 hour cruise out to the reef listening to all relevant safety briefings, on arrival at Quicksilver’s activity platform we enjoyed all of it’s facilities, we loved watching the marine life from the underwater observatory, took a cruise in one of the semi-submersibles, Jim liked that so much he did another while I got suited up and went for a snorkelling session from one of the platforms, we didn’t feel brave enough to try the ‘oceanwalker’ helmet or scuba diving.
We had the opportunity to watch the crew feeding some of the many types of fish, Jim even spotted a great view of a Green Backed turtle while out in the semi, quite a rare experience he was told, all of this kept us busy and once we had seen and done everything we realised how hungry we were so we availed ourself’s of an excellent buffet lunch. Later in the afternoon we had a beer from the onboard bar before we headed beck to port. It was great fun sitting on the foredeck being buffeted by the wind and spray at 35 knots.
Once back in Port Douglas we did a bit of shopping before returning to the hotel tired but happy to have had another smashing day out.
Tuesday 13th September
A fairly lazy day today, we first went to the Four Mile Beach next to our hotel and paddled and frolicked in the lovely warm Coral Sea. On our return to the hotel, we put on our laundry then lounged by the pool reading our books catching up on some relaxation time. In the evening, after packing our cases, we took the shuttle into town for a last look around and a lovely Thai meal in the extremely popular Star of Siam restaurant, a final beer in town before returning to the hotel for an early night.
Jim tries surfing (without aboard)Four Mile Beach Port Douglas
Wednesday 14th September
An other early start for us this morning, as we had a 3:40 am pickup arranged to take us down to Cairns sirport. We got to the airport in good time, the road was deserted at that time in the morning, and everything went well with our flight etc.
Arrival in Brisbane
We arrived in Brisbane and were met by our driver who quickly got us to the Grand Chancellor Hotel, our home for our week here. After dropping off our luggage we headed into town for a look around and to get our bearings followed by a nice lunch from one of the vendors in the local Wednesday city market. During our tour of the city we managed to meet what we call “Dan’s Challenge”, although we couldn’t quite find a certified Lego store, we did, however find Jimmys On The Mall, a great place to get our bearings when in the city.
First day in the city
We then popped over to the south bank to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre to book tickets for a show on Thursday before returning to the hotel on one of the free City Hopper buses to check in. Our room, although smaller than we have been used too, suited us fine, and we then spent some time on the Internet researching Brisbane and surrounding areas before heading out for dinner. This proved the only disappointment of the trip so far, we had chosen a local Mexican restaurant where the meal and especially the service was dreadful so much so thst I sent in an email, to the company, complaining, a first for me. After our early morning start we were quite pleased to return to the hotel for an early bed. Another good day in Australia.
QPACCity Hoppers
Thursday 15th September
The sun was shining so off we went after breakfast for a trip down the river. Using the local free bus service to get into town we crossed over to the south bank where we found many activities and installations as part of the currently running Brisbane Festival, which for us is quite fortunate. The area was extremely busy with families enjoying themselves in the sun, and it was really good to see how much the city utilises the river, with pleasure craft and ferries plying their trade, there are many new interesting building projects going up and the installation of a new bridge, the Neville Bonner Bridge which looks like it will be pretty funky.
On finding the ferry terminal we went for a trip, on one of the City Hopper Kitty Cats, down to Howard Smith Wharves, the last stop, to find that was at a large riverside complex that included Felons Brewery, we enjoyed our time here, the large Barrel Hall, crammed full of barrels painted by local artists, had tons of room for diners and lots of seating on huge bean bags outside facing the river. After an obligatory beer we returned back upriver where we had lunch, a wander round the festival installation of giant spheres before relaxing in the sun on some more of Felons bean bags, when I touched the spheres my hair stood on end, it didn’t have quite the. Same effect on Jim.
Felons Brewery
We returned to the hotel, after a bit of shopping in town, to get ourselves ready for our evening outing. Yesterday we booked tickets for the musical “Girl from the North Country” featuring songs from Bob Dylan, the show, held in the impressive Lyric Theatre, a part of the Queensland Performing Arts Centrehttps://qpac.com.au/, the show was very entertaining and certainly a different way to listen to Dylan’s music.
Friday 16th September
We decided to search for some Brisbane street art today, we had asked earlier in the tourist information office and they couldn’t help, so armed with a couple of maps and a phone app off we set, it was extremely frustrating as we couldn’t find anything mentioned in the app. By the time we reached the Howard Smith Wharf we had given up. After stopping there for lunch, we caught a Kitty Cat back to the south bank, where, with a lovely ice cream, we lounged near the bandstand listening to a good set by Felicity Kircher, a local singer/songwriter.
As usual we did a bit of shopping on the way back up to the hotel, in the evening we had a takeaway meal in our room whilst Jim watched his new favourite of AFL, he is becoming hooked on it, it’s finals season and always supports the winning team, he is really forward to the Grand Final next Saturday. During this time I reached out to a local street art blogger who provided some hints of where to look, holding out more hope for tomorrow, despite the frustrations of the morning we still had a great day.
Saturday 17th September
With the information provided by @dkjstreetartphotography we set out again to find some of Brisbane’s street art, this time much more successfully, our walk took us through Fortitude Valley back again to the Howard Smith wharf next to Felons Brewery where we intended to take the ferry back to the south bank, however due to the lovely weather, we chose to walk the 800 metres across the impressive Story Bridge towards Kangaroo Point, once we had reached the Queensland Maritime Museum on the riverside walkway and had a look around, we stopped for a coffee at this point we thought it was now a good time to try out a Neuton e-scooter, once we got the hang of them we scooted along the remainder of the riverside drive towards the Merivale Railway Bridge to look at the Pillars Project, a series of murals painted by leading artists on the pillars supporting the bridge, they certainly were impressive. Whilst in the South Brisbane area it was easy to visit Fish Lane for more street art and a beer, the scooter ride was great fun and something we will do again,
Jim scooting alongChoc’n’chip for JimRum’n’raisen for me
The sunshine then took us back to the Brisbane Festival site on the South Bank for another of the nice ice creams, and a bit of relaxation listening to some live music, before returning to our hotel for dinner, despite wanting to do it by scooter we thought it better to go by bus to avoid the city traffic.
Hot Wheels Holmes
Sunday 18th September
Whilst Jim went to scope out a local laundrette I met with Mike and Donna Holmes, distant relatives of mine in our hotel, although I had never met them previously, I have been in contact with Donna over a great many years in connection with our respective family history research, it was nice to finally meet with both of them and to put faces to the names, since they had both lived in Singapore for a while it was also good to get some tip for our visit there.
After our meeting Jim & I made our way into town where we topped up our phone cards then purchased a Go Card for the very good Brisbane transport system, and to buy some things for lunch. We then revisited the South Bank to take one of the larger City Cat ferries further down the Brisbane river. This was a great way to spend an afternoon seeing how the city is built around the river. We stopped off at one point to have our picnic lunch before travelling further down river visiting places such as Hawthorne, Tenerife and Bulimba before getting off at Northshore Hamilton, our last stop, after a walk around the area and some chill out time in the park, I love how the council provides plenty of picnic tables & benches, they even provide free electric BBQ’s for families to use, all of which are spotlessly clean.
We returned back up river getting off at the Eagle Street Pier where the are developing a new riverside complex, after a look around and the capture of some good street art we walked back to Queen Street to catch a bus back up to the hotel.
In the evening we walked into town for a meal in Hot Star Large Chicken, a place we had wanted to visit since we spotted it in Sydney, the food was very good and worth a visit, it certainly lived up to it’s name, the chicken pieces were huge. A pint in Brew Cafe & Wine Bar in Lower Burnett Lane, with it’s great murals by Drapl, before our walk up the hill to the hotel finished off the day nicely.
Monday 19th September
What would seem to becoming a regular for us, was a bus into town, buy something for lunch then walk over to the South Bank. This time we took a ferry upriver, there were limited stops on this route due to wharves closed due to damage caused by flooding earlier this year. We stayed on the ferry for the return trip, stopping at New Farm Park to visit the Brisbane Powerhouse, an old power station converted into studios for Brisbane’s creative, we managed to photograph a couple of good murals in the space.
The nearby park was a lovely place to have our picnic lunch and for Jim to have a post lunch snooze.
Once back on the South Bank we decided we would try riding an e-bike and eventually could find only one nearby, Jim had a trial ride and found that he didn’t like it too much, so I took the bike and he picked up an e-scooter, which we then used to go along the river bank for a while. Back in the CBD we pick up some things for dinner then returned to watch the Queen’s funeral on TV.
Lewars Hamilton burnin’ rubber
Tuesday 20th September
Our last full day in Brisbane started quietly with us sitting in the sun reading the papers with a coffee whilst our laundry was being done using facilities in the hotel.
We then went for a walk downtown via the nearby Roma Street Parkland and spent some time in the beautiful gardens, stopping off for an hour or so to read our books, it was so pleasant to just sit and relax without any hustle & bustle. Once in town we visited the Brew cafe again for a refreshment, and after chatting to the barman there, he directed us to Urban Climb, a climbing centre, where we could view some good murals by local artist Sofles. Fully refreshed, off we set by bus to find it, it certainly was worth our while as the place was fabby and murals were very good too.
We then used up the last of our travel credit returning to one of our favourite spots on the South Bank where we had lunch and another relaxing time watching the world go by and doing a bit of reading before returning to the hotel to pack our bags ready for our morning departure.
In the evening as the sun set we went for our last meal in Brisbane and visited Bishamon Japanese Restaurant just around the corner from the hotel, for a wonderful meal, we were lucky to get a table as the place is so popular, it would have been a shame to have missed it. This topped off a great time in Brisbane, Perth here we come.
Whilst in Glasgow at the weekend for the Merchant City Festival, I popped into the Tontine Lane, off Bell Street, to see if anything new had been added to the little collection of street art there. Nothing new had been added but I was pleased to see that the pieces created by Dzia were still there to be seen.
Dzia, originating from Belgium, is a multi-disciplinary artist who creates drawings, sculptures, and murals. A common theme in his work is animals, usually made up of complex graphic lines in which he establishes a recognisable style that evolves in his species.
The three pieces in Tontine Lane were created in one day in 2015 when he was invited by the Heverlee brewery invited him over when they were setting up a pop-up Belgian beer bar.
Tontine Lane – 2015
The giant Sea Eagle created by him I found in The Norwegian town of Bodø, just north of the Arctic Circle, it was created in 2016 for the Up North street art festival
I had a leisurely stroll into town for breakfast before heading to the meeting place for the street art walking tour I was going on, on the way I decided to go on one of the bike tours of the city, so I booked a 3hr one for Saturday morning.The street art tour was very good and the workshop which followed was great fun, we got a chance to create our own stencil then used a few different techniques to create our own piece of ‘art’, our guide Alex was very knowledgeable and entertaining.In the evening I visited the East Side Gallery where there is a graffiti painted stretch of the wall,usual I took a great many photographs, these and more details of my day will be found on the relevant sections later.
I’ve just returned from a trip to Iceland with my friend Jim Lewars, we had great fun exploring the city, visiting many of its famous sights. We also went on a couple of tours, one around the golden Circle and another out to see the Northern Lights. While there I also took many photographs of the Street Art in the city, so much that it will take me a little longer to post the images on the site.
You can read about our trip and see our photographs here.
Jim's travels 