Brisbane day two
After a morning of business meetings, it was time to go back to exploring Brisbane. A few floating clouds crossed the blue sky and the temperatures stayed in the 80s with virtually no humidity. It was a perfect day to walk along the river. And walk I did.
I wandered along the South Bank pathway past the Goodwill pedestrian bridge, past the Maritime Museum, under the Captain Cook Bridge and along the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. These red cliffs are around 50 feet high and provide a perfect place for rock climbers to practice. In the old days much of the stone used to build Brisbane was quarried from these cliffs.
The walk passed plenty of benches set on small porches over the river and nature detours through riverbank trees and bushes. And the pathway was shared with bicyclists and rollerbladers. The Riverlife Adventure Center, about halfway between Captain Cook Bridge and Story Bridge rents out kayaks and other small boats so that locals and visitors can enjoy more of the river. They reportedly also rent bicycles. On the opposite shore, the Brisbane skyscrapers defined the Central Business District.
Story Bridge has an organized “bridge adventure climb” similar to the bridge climb in Sydney. The climb reaches a platform about 80 meters above the river with an unencumbered 360-degree view of Brisbane.
Eventually, after walking to the tip of Kangaroo Point, I took a CityFerry back to South Bank Parklands. It was a relaxing A$2.20 (less than US$2) trip back and I discovered how well Brisbane uses its river as an alternative transportation system. The regularly scheduled ferries, CityFerry and CityCats, provide a wonderful affordable alternative to cars and buses.
Still on the south bank of the river, but in the opposite direction, the Queensland Performing Arts Complex (QPAC) has performances, but I couldn’t figure out a way to get inside and explore. Further upriver past the Victoria Bridge are the square Queensland Art Gallery (QAG), the Queensland State Library and the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA).
The two museums cover art from different periods. GoMA (right) basically displays contemporary art from 1917 to present. There is a strong Asian influence in the art and the ongoing exhibition of the 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art only added to that feel. Several of the displays such as Yayoi Kusama’s Soul Under the Moon were almost disorienting and the Aborigine artwork designs created tranquility.
The QAG collection is far more traditional with paintings by Picasso, Degas and Pissaro plus one of the best collections of early Australian art and some Asian art from China and India. The museum building itself is dramatic, with a giant chandelier, reflecting pool and enormous display space.
The rest of my afternoon and evening was spent in the pursuit of Australian, especially Queensland, cuisine and wine. Queensland is not known for any particular cuisine as far as I could figure after speaking with marking folk and restaurant owners, but they do have some excellent wineries. Since wine production pales in comparison to Hunter Valley and Barossa Valley I decided to make sure that I at least drank Queensland wines. The pickings were slim at local restaurants but they were excellent without the over oaking and heaviness that many of the common wines display from Hunter Valley and Barossa Valley that we find in the U.S. I only had a chance to try a Merlot from Jimbour Ludwig Leichhardt and a Viogner from Ballandean Estate in Queensland. Both were exceptional. After looking up Queensland wines on the Web, I can see that this is one part of the state that I will have to return to explore.
Note: There is no tipping custom in Australia. If service is exceptional, one can leave a tip, but it rarely is more than 5 percent.
As for food, my first two dinners were steaks — a fillet mignon at Breakfast Creek Hotel and a Scotch Fillet at Cha Cha Char on the Eagle Street Pier on the river. While Breakfast Creek Hotel is considered perhaps touristy, Cha Cha Char is recognized as one of the best steak places in Australia. Australian beef is excellent and many of the menus will let diners know whether the beef is grain fed or grass fed.
I had never heard of Wagyu beef. The Cha Cha Char menu explains that it is a Japanese breed raised on a “long fed” feeding program of natural grains and cereal straw along with a stress-free living environment ensure that these cattle produce an exceptionally tender, juicy and flavoursome steak. The portion was too big for my appetite; hopefully, I will have a chance to try it again during this trip.
I had a lunch at a modern restaurant, Era, on Melbourne Street in South Brisbane, not too far from the QAG, GoMA and QPAC (I love the Aussie use of acronyms). There, I had my first Yabby experience. These are the Australian version of our crayfish. Most yabbies are farm-raised these days, but my Australian hosts smiled broadly as they told stories of yabbying and using a yabby pump to search for the critters. The yabby tails were served in a leek soup with escargot. The main course was barramundi over potatoes with duck ragout and Enoki mushrooms. It was a delightful Australian focused meal.
My final dinner spot was Tukka in the West End. (Photo right. Courtesy OurBrisbane.com.) In the Australian outback this means to eat I am told. Tukka, run by Chef/Owner Stéphane Brémont, is one of the country’s premier “native restaurants.” This place regularly wins awards for its indigenous meals that blend unique Australian flavors and foods. The “native platter” served as an appetizer (entrée in Australia) was a board with emu, kangaroo and crocodile. There were emu sausages, emu salami, smoked emu and emu prosciutto. The same selection of kangaroo was presented, plus three bites of crocodile in lemon myrtle sauce. The rest of the platter was filled with native nuts and berries such as tiny sandpaper figs, lilly-pilly fruit, wild rosella, desert lime, bunya nuts, macadamia nuts, muntries, pepperleaf and native greens. The bread served was called a “damper,” which is a roll that was baked right in the coals of a fire by bushmen and stockmen working in the outback. All in all a presentation set for an Aborigine or outback king.
The entrées (mains in Australia) served to our group were wallaby, emu and Australian steak. The wallaby (cousin of a kangaroo) was tough and dry, much like I remember its cousin, kangaroo. The emu was surprisingly red with a flavor more akin to a steak rather than chicken. It was tender, flavorful, rare and juicy. We washed everything down with a wonderful Tasmanian Pinot Noir.
The West End is a section of Brisbane that was originally settled by the Greek immigrants and recently rediscovered but the city’s young professionals and artists. It is a bustling collection of bars, nightclubs and restaurants not too far from South Bank. Some of the top nightlife spots, all on Boundary Street, are the Lychee Lounge (right) with its Barbie doll chandelier, Ouzeri with a distinct Mediterranean flair and the upstairs hotspot Uber.
My overall impression is that Brisbane is very comfortable and relaxing. It is a great place visit and locals all swear that it is an even better place to live. There is a lot to do between city neighborhoods, the river activities and museums, but no pressure to do it. The city has plenty of wonderful parks to relax in and some of the best beaches in the world only minutes away. It is a city that the citizens seem to really enjoy. Children play in fountains, businessmen relax at outdoor cafes, joggers trace the riverbanks, shoppers enjoy an experience that makes use of the city center and Brisbane is clean. The people who live here take care of their town. They seem to live responsibly. Brisbaners actively enjoy their city and what it offers rather than simply survive.
Next, I visit the Barossa Valley, Australia’s biggest wine region.
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