Brisbane, Round One

I am happy to report that our hostel in Brisbane was significantly cleaner than that in Auckland. One half of the hostel is brand spanking new, while the other half is slated for demolition in a couple of months and a new wing of the hostel, complete with rooftop pool, shall be built in its stead. The hygiene of the bathrooms in the to-be-flattened half is somewhat questionable, but no where near the disgusting factor of the YHA Montgomery’s in Hobart. The newer building is impeccably clean.

Brisbane itself is certainly bustling, and has its lovely bits. We were delighted with the discovery of the day-glow purple flowered trees that dot the city. They are not a native species, but they are awfully pretty:



The city also has a wealth of botanical gardens, which we explored quite a bit. The trees there are deadly, and I ended up getting stuck in one of them:



The shopping is excellent, especially in the CBD (that’s downtown to you North Americans) and quite a lot of street performers and buskers. So far our favourite find is the South Banks area, which is touristy, I’ll admit, but very lovely. The archway that runs along a large portion of the South Banks stretch is yet another example of the excellent modern architecture that Australia seems to take so naturally to:



There are outdoor markets and cafes galore, and some lively looking restaurants. We passed by a Turkish restaurant that has Friday and Saturday night belly dance performances, and while we were not able to take in the performance that particular night, we’re hoping to be back during an upcoming weekend night so we can get a drink and watch the dancer. From what we could see, she’s very good.

The array of wildlife within Brisbane itself seems to be comprised mainly of the regular sort of urban birds, such as various sorts of corvids, hundreds of swallows, gigantic fruit bats (I actually shrieked with delight the first evening we spotted the fruit bats flying overhead), and garbage birds ibis. There are lots of ibis. I used to think that ibis were lovely graceful birds worthy of being immortalized in Egyptian art. Upon closer inspection, they are surprisingly ugly things that are considered quite a nuisance by the locals. Why are they a nuisance? Well, let me show you.

First the ibis decides to strut around downtown, enjoying the sun and appearing innocent enough:




Next, the ibis finds a likely looking garbage can and hops on for a quick peek:




Then the ibis reaches in with that great long beak, pulls out a fast food bag (usually McDonald’s), and spreads the contents all over the street:



They are commensurate pickers and eaters of garbage and strew the stuff around everywhere. They are perpetually rummaging around garbage bins and are more effective at trashing an area than a pack of seagulls.