Brisbane, the second time around.
14 - 16 January 2023
It was pouring down rain our last day on Fraser Island, so we took the early ferry out, and used the day to see the country side on our way back to Brisbane. First stop was Maryborough. You may recall Maryborough is home of the rather large Ned Kelly. But Maryborough also has bragging rights as birthplace of P.L. Travers, most famous for writing Mary Poppins.
Walk / Don’t Walk lights in downtown Maryborough.
Julie’s favorite character from the movie
Maryborough has converted the Bank house to a Mary Poppins museum. There are also a number of M.P. related murals and sculptures across town.
Fraser Grill, our silver Toyota CHR is just behind the fence in the parking lot.
Julie chose a circuitous route back to Brisbane, which took us past the Fraser Grill. We literally drove past and circled back for a late lunch. While Anthony was ordering, the cook, cattle raiser, owner Craig(?) asked about Anthony’s Char-Grill T-Shirt (thanks Mark Holt). Turns out, in his spare time, he works for an international construction company, and has a co-worker in Raleigh. Anthony had BBQ (Texas Style, but very good none the less) and Julie had a burger, which was the best she had so far in Australia. So if you are in Goomboran Queensland, you must check this place out!
Julie picked Noosa Bay as our next stop, and charted a most interesting route. Complete with dirt roads, and coastal towns with pretty views.
We had a pleasant drive home, until Anthony missed a turn in Brisbane (he blames Waze) a few kilometers from the hotel. After some stressful driving in the city, we were rewarded with a gorgeous sunset from our hotel room (and “Bourbon and dry” at the lounge).
Our room was on the other side of the hotel, with a better view of the Brisbane river.
Sunday, we took a river cruise to lunch at the Breakfast Creek Restaurant. We went about 15 kilometers down river, and took photos along the way.
Seen outside of the Modern Art Museum, no commentary provided.
Julie’s favorite house on the trip.
Julie and Anthony both had the steak for lunch, which was pretty good. We were treated to the ceremonial spiking of the keg. XXXX is a popular beer in Queensland (think Budweiser back home) but the XXXX on the Wood (from the cask) was pretty darned good.
After the Cruise, we rode the Sky wheel in South Bank for birds eye views of the city.
South Bank Beach, from above
Back toward our hotel. Its the white building in the middle.
A multi-billion dollar casino, under construction.
The Cultural district, with theaters, the library and museums. You can see our boat from lunch docked just beyond the bridge.
After the Skywheel, we completed the loop on the City Cat ferry. This time we went up river to Queensland University. It was a nice way to say goodbye to Brisbane.