Brisbane Riverside

When planning the trip, this place somewhat confused me. The leaflet that we picked in Sydney said that Brisbane is the fastest developing town in Australia. At the same time, my guidebook reads that there are 37 buildings worth seeing in Brisbane and some people generally suggest that when you visit Queensland, you should turn your watch back an hour and your mind 20 years.

We arrived at 9pm (genuinely surprised that it was only 8pm) and the busy Pacific Highway took us right to the middle of the town. It was dark, all the lights were on and I only managed to say "God, it's lovely here", before we took the wrong turn and ended up in a park in Ipswich (I didn't know there was an Ipswich in Queensland - actually ..) After taking a few more wrong turns, we found our hotel back in the town centre. Ten minutes on foot and we found a street where pubs looked from an old movie and had our dinner there.

Although the sea is not very far, the dominant feature of this town is the river. The next day, I spent hours on boats and hours wandering round the town centre, searching for just-the-right photograph that would catch the atmosphere of the place. I didn't find it. This night photo of Riverside doesn't do it justice - it's just one of the few photogenic parts of Brisbane. Five minutes from here you can find big houses on wooden legs (the Queenslanders), bushy gardens and people with sleepy faces. After quite an exhausting day I decided that it's not the place itself that makes the atmosphere - it's the people. And that's un-photographable.

The town of Brisbane began as a dumping ground for the worst convicts from New South Wales. In 1824 a penal settlement was established at Redcliffe on Morton Bay, but it was soon abandoned due to lack of water and hostile Aborigines (who probably just protected their land). The settlement was then moved south and inland to a present site. The area was open to free settlers in 1842.

Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games as well as Expo '88. I liked Brisbane - but then I have a thing for rivers.