Brisvegas

I don't know why the locals call Brisbane "Brisvegas", but apparently they do. It could be something to do with the speed the city is growing and rate at which skyscrapers are shooting into the sky. Did you know that Brisbane is the 2nd fastest growing city in the world, after Dubai?! And a local friend told me (she remains nameless in case it's all lies) that Brisbane has the Southern hemisphere's tallest building.

I was quite happy to be back in a city after so many weeks in the outback, on boats and in little backpacker towns. Brisbane is a very pretty city, it is a real mix of the old and new but it works well. The photos below try to show a bit of that contrast.

The North Bank reminds me of London's South Bank, and not just cos it is next to a river! This is where there are theatres and universities and some parkland with bars and restaurants scattered about. It was pretty cool and peaceful over there, apart from the Celtic celebration I bumped into with marching bagpipe bands! The city's Botanical Gardens and river walk were also very chilled places to hang out.

I only spent 2 nights in Brisbane so did a lot of walking around to try and make the most of it. The city has quite a cool street cafe vibe going on and a trendy riverside quay area, along the same lines as Sydney's Darling Harbour or Cape Town's V&A Waterfront, but not as big. Plus the weather was fantastic, which always helps.

I caught up with an old Shell friend who has just moved back to Brisbane and it was fun to go out for some drinks with a friendly face. Plus Juantia knew the best places to go and took me to a couple of cool bars near the Suncorp Stadium (we eventually found them after 2 hours walking through the red light district!!).

Brisvegas