Friday Night and Saturday Morning in Brisbane

When I left you at the end of the last post we had just settled into our hotel in Brisbane on Friday evening. After a warm day's driving I had a 30 minutes snooze before going for a shower and a change of clothes. The tiredness I felt could well have been related to the heat, but it seems it was me catching the virus Drew had been suffering from earlier in the week, as the next few days were to show!

Still on this evening we were ready to go out for the evening at 6.30pm and we took this route:

Though dark by 6.30pm it was still a clear warm evening, so we daddled on our way taking photos of a lot of the Brisbane sites at night. They are quite striking.

Brisbane Festival

You will notice that some of the major buildings, like the town hall and the Victoria Bridge were lit in pink. This is because we have arrived in the City on the last weekend of the Brisbane Festival, a celebration of the life and culture of the city, which had brought out many of the city folk and many from the country beyond. The light show over the river carried out by drone not by fireworks was particularly striking and when we cross the Brisbane River from the City to South Brisbane we were suddenly in a large and busy crowd, meaning that the last few 100 meters of our walk was a fight through a crowd trying to go in the opposite direction, turning a gentle stroll into a rough and tumble scrum to get to where we wanted to be.

Sage Yellowfin

We arrived at Sage Yellowfin with only a minute to spare before our reservation. It was clear as soon as we arrived that we had been wise to book as this restaurant, along with the other five along this strip, was packed out with festival goers. 

We were glad to see the number of people eating out at 7.30pm. Our experience in New South Wales had been that restaurants had emptied at around this time, with people going out to eat at 5.30pm or 6pm - well in Queensland this pattern isn't followed and eating tends to be at a time more familiar to us Brits. 

We were shown to our table and had a delightful sourdough toast with confit garlic and aged Balsamic for a pre-starter as we perused the menu. [Co-pilot's note: In Aberdare, dear readers, we translate this to 'had a look at'!!]

I had picked the restaurant, a day or two ago, as it had a good selection of fish on the menu, perfect for a Friday.

Drew started with Crisp Cauliflower with harissa yogurt, dukka and herbs. He enjoyed this dish, which he found intriguing. It had a hint of spice, a bit of peppery fire, but the overriding taste of crunchy cauliflower - very tasty 

My starter was Chargrilled Octopus Tentacles, this Fremantle Octopus was served with a miso ginger butter, baby potatoes, smoked aubergine puree and chilli sauce. There was a lovely smooth miso and ginger paste through the tiny cubes of potatoes. I do hope they have a machine to cut them this small as it would take ages by hand. Drew chops them this small for a couple of the dishes I cook at home, but he whinges at how small I want them! 

The octopus was crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. What the Spanish call Rejos Fritos. There was a much more octopussy flavour than on yesterday's main course - very enjoyable with a hint of chilli, not fiery, but satisfying.

Drew choose Fish and Chips for his main. As you'll see in the photo, it was even served on a piece of 'faux' newspaper. It was a battered piece of Hake with chips and house-made tartare sauce. The batter was lovely and crispy, the fish was warm all the way through and the chips were really salty - ideal from Drew's perspective. He has already noticed on this holiday that he has had to learn not to auto-condiment, a Terry Pratchett phrase for someone who automatically adds salt to everything, as Australians are very generous with the salt in the cooking.

My main was the Crispy Skinned Barramundi. A juicy well cooked piece of barramundi served with sauteed potatoes, green vegetables and chive oil. This fish, known as Asian Sea Bass in some cultures - e.g., Thailand, is a white, flaky fleshed fish with a mild, but appetising flavour. Chargrilled it is delicious, the crispy skin working with the soft white flesh to combine so well. The vegetables were crisp and delicious too and the sauce was tangy with chive - a perfect combination.

Bed

While we had been eating dinner the mad crowds around the river bank had dispersed, so our 45 minute walk back to the hotel was quiet and comfortable. We were in bed by 11.00pm

Saturday Morning in Brisbane

I woke up at 5am, later than usual, I had a slightly itchy throat, but thought it would go away as the day progressed. Drew woke at 5.30am and I made the usual cup of tea. 

We went down to breakfast as it opened at 7am, to find that instead of being on our own, as we often are at early breakfast, we had been preempted by 50+ people, crowding the dining room.

It didn't stop us having a good breakfast, but did mean having to navigate past a lot of people to get to the food. There was a great selection of fruit and, after a few days absence, beef and chicken sausages were back on the menu.

Haydn's starters

Drew's Starters

Haydn's Mains

Drew's Mains

Planning the day ahead

We had two options for today, either we head off early and look for places to visit on the route between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast or we spend some more time exploring Brisbane, which we had only seen at night. 

We looked at the blog of one of our friends (and regular blog commenters) Lloyd, who had travelled in the opposite direction along this coast and had visited Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, though these days it is called Robert Irwin's Australia Zoo, following the death of Steve. We decided a river walk and visit to two cathedrals were more our thing, so opted to stay in Brisbane and do the short, 90 minute drive, later in the day.  

Following breakfast we returned to our room, I uploaded last night's photos and sorted some emails and packed for the journey. We dropped our cases down into the car, which is in the basement carpark of the hotel and check-out of the hotel at 9.30am confirming that our car park slot is covered until 1pm.

This was our gentle route for the morning:

St. Andrew's Cathedral

St Andrew's Cathedral, the Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane, is just a few blocks down the hill from our hotel. So, we make it our first destination.

It is a striking Gothic Church set in its own grounds. It wouldn't be out of place in Aberdeen or Glasgow, but seems a little glowering for sunny Brisbane.

One of the striking features of the Cathedral Square is a statue called El Emigrante which commemorates the people of the Lebanon who have settled in Australia.

The statue is currently being used as one side of a tent for someone living in the square. He was very polite and asked Drew if he wanted him to take down his tent so he could take a photo of all four sides of the statue - Drew declined and explained that three sides were enough.

We then entered into the Cathedral and its internal shape and size evoked many British Cathedrals in the Gothic tradition.

But what was more surprising was what was going on inside the Cathedral. A Buddhist Mindfulness session with people laying on the floor or adopting the lotus position while electric candles were flickering and a central person offered occasional prompts while a young lady walked around the cathedral, like Tinkerbell, with occasional chimes and tinkles. 

We were able to move around the side of the cathedral and take the magnificent stained glass here - mainly traditional, but with some newer elements and Drew was glad to discover that snoring occurs in mindfulness sessions the world over, as one of the participants had a loud snore. This amused Drew no end, as when I took part in some relaxation sessions at the university some years ago, I would often drift off and snore - so much that I got expelled (well it was much more polite than that really) from future sessions because of the disruption I was causing - who would put an hours silence straight after lunch I ask in mitigation - I was bound to have a quick nap!!

Here is a compilation of some of the stained glass. 

They can all be seen in more detail on Flickr - starting here .

Anzac Memorial

Our next stop was to the Anzac Memorial, directly opposite the Central Station in Brisbane. This memorial is lighter and more open than the one in Sydney and makes a bigger effort to mark all those who died in Australia's external wars including Aboriginal People. It really provided a place to relax and reflect.

St. Stephan's Cathedral - new and old

A few steps from the Anzac Memorial is the Old Post Office building and through a covered walkway beside this you come to the Catholic Cathedral in Brisbane. The Cathedral is, in a slightly younger and lighter style, as influenced by the Gothic movement as its Anglican sister. But even more interesting, as a sign of changing times in the development of Brisbane, the original Cathedral, on the right, has been retained beside the new Cathedral showing the transition from a tiny chapel to a basilica.

We took plenty of photos inside the church, many of the stained glass, but also of the striking figure of the central crucifix which depicts Jesus as an aboriginal person offering himself for the salvation of the world.

The old cathedral is a lovely contrast from the glitz of the main church and a quiet place to pray.

Coffee in a courtyard

We walked from St. Stephen's towards the River and spotted a sign pointing down an alley offering coffee. It turned out to be a very pleasant, but tiny, coffee venue called Spencer's. The coffee is brewed and served from a hatch in the side of a building and with the help of some crates and tables the cafe is the sitting area in the alley. 

and before anyone asks, yes, I had a Long Black and Drew a Latte! [Co-pilot's note: A quick review, dear readers, of the above picture will confirm, as I have always said - that he takes me to the nicest of places!!]

Along the River

From Spencer's it was only a 100 metres to the Brisbane River. It is looking glorious in the sunshine this Saturday late morning/early afternoon.

We walked along the river down to the botanic (I keep having to remind myself it is that not botanical) gardens. And then walk back along the Heritage Trail past old (1860 - 1880) buildings and on to the Holiday Inn Express, arriving back at 12.30pm. A brief toilet break in the lobby before we depart at 12.40pm.

The journey and evening in the exotically named Maroochydore is for the next post.