Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Touristy stuff
Soundtrack: "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours" by Manic Street Preachers
Good morning this morning.
I thought I'd take a trip to the Commisariat Stores yesterday, as they're the second oldest remaining structure in Queensland. You see, Brisbane was basically a prison colony (it being a swamp and everything), so there wasn't much here until around the 1830s, and then, everybody wanted to hide that their town used to be a prison colony, so they pulled all the cool stuff down. I broke into the Commisariat through the back door and joined a tour, and the two old-timers leading the tour didn't seem to think anything of it, so I tagged along and learnt all about the prisoners, which was really interesting, actually. It was also cool to see what Brisbane was like in the colonial days. The lead guide kept on saying things like: "If you stand outside Myer [the Aussie version of Marks and Spencer] in Queen Street Mall, opposite you will be where the prisoners were kept." We ended the tour at the main entrance, where I saw that I should've actually paid an entrance fee of $4, so I ran away before anybody noticed that I'd got in for free.
I'd also been recommended to take a trip on the City Cat river ferry by Michael, so I obliged. Because it's actually part of Translink, the price for a round trip is very reasonable as normal people have to use it all the time (for example, there's a stop at University of Queensland where all the students get on and off). That was really good fun, because the different parts of the river in downtown Brisbane are all pretty different. The most downriver stretch is full of tasteless mansions (one of them was painted pink, for heavens' sake) with pontoons and boathouses onto the river. The centre of town was filled with the tall bank buildings, and then, the swampy bits around the botanical gardens. [Incidentally, the botanical gardens used to be where the prisoners used to grow their vegetables.] Upriver, there's lots of tropical vegetation around the river, and lots of wooden houses up on the banks, equipped for jungle living. It wasn't really the best thing to attempt in only short-sleeves, though, as it got pretty bloody cold when the boat was travelling fast. Oh well.
The day was ended with a trip up to the windmill, which is the oldest remaining sturcture in Queensland. It was a bit of a disappointment, though, because it's badly in need of restoration, and it's missing its sails and observation deck-type-thing. They don't even open it up so that you can go inside and have a look at the shell of the thing. Apparently, they spent the money on a new footie stadium instead. What a typically Australian move to make.
Good morning this morning.
I thought I'd take a trip to the Commisariat Stores yesterday, as they're the second oldest remaining structure in Queensland. You see, Brisbane was basically a prison colony (it being a swamp and everything), so there wasn't much here until around the 1830s, and then, everybody wanted to hide that their town used to be a prison colony, so they pulled all the cool stuff down. I broke into the Commisariat through the back door and joined a tour, and the two old-timers leading the tour didn't seem to think anything of it, so I tagged along and learnt all about the prisoners, which was really interesting, actually. It was also cool to see what Brisbane was like in the colonial days. The lead guide kept on saying things like: "If you stand outside Myer [the Aussie version of Marks and Spencer] in Queen Street Mall, opposite you will be where the prisoners were kept." We ended the tour at the main entrance, where I saw that I should've actually paid an entrance fee of $4, so I ran away before anybody noticed that I'd got in for free.
I'd also been recommended to take a trip on the City Cat river ferry by Michael, so I obliged. Because it's actually part of Translink, the price for a round trip is very reasonable as normal people have to use it all the time (for example, there's a stop at University of Queensland where all the students get on and off). That was really good fun, because the different parts of the river in downtown Brisbane are all pretty different. The most downriver stretch is full of tasteless mansions (one of them was painted pink, for heavens' sake) with pontoons and boathouses onto the river. The centre of town was filled with the tall bank buildings, and then, the swampy bits around the botanical gardens. [Incidentally, the botanical gardens used to be where the prisoners used to grow their vegetables.] Upriver, there's lots of tropical vegetation around the river, and lots of wooden houses up on the banks, equipped for jungle living. It wasn't really the best thing to attempt in only short-sleeves, though, as it got pretty bloody cold when the boat was travelling fast. Oh well.
The day was ended with a trip up to the windmill, which is the oldest remaining sturcture in Queensland. It was a bit of a disappointment, though, because it's badly in need of restoration, and it's missing its sails and observation deck-type-thing. They don't even open it up so that you can go inside and have a look at the shell of the thing. Apparently, they spent the money on a new footie stadium instead. What a typically Australian move to make.
