The Look and Feel of Brisbane

When I pictured Australia, I envisioned the outback—a dry desert like climate, few trees, and heat. Other than the picture of the Sydney Opera House that most are familiar with, I had no sense of what the bigger cities would be like. I was pleasantly surprised by the look and feel of Brisbane. It’s the third largest city in Australia and is the capitol of the state of Queensland. While it isn’t the size of a large city from an American perspective, it is not small. They also label parts of the city differently. So the downtown area, or central business district (CBD) have an address in Brisbane, anything outside of the business district have address of their suburb. So areas that are less than a 10-minute walk from the heart of will be labeled as a different city, but still socially considered part of Brisbane.

The architecture is fantastic. A little bit of background here – its seems as if Brisbane has been growing significantly in the past 5-10 years, and so a large portion of the buildings built in the recent years have an ultra-modern feel to them and are often accented with bright happy upbeat colors – bright oranges, blues, reds. Mo- you would love it here. In contrast, the original buildings have a very old historical feel to them and are spattered throughout the city. So you end up getting pockets where you have the two right next to each other living in contrast of two very different economic and social eras of this one unique city. Its beautiful. This is true of both business and residential buildings. And because Brisbane is situated on a winding river, you have bridges all over bringing you from one distinct neighborhood to the next. Each bridge looks quite distinctive in style. Our new apartment and work over look the Story bridge.

It also seems as if they don’t plan their communities here as we do in the states. While the CBD is on an identifiable grid, as soon as you get out to the first layer of neighborhoods you notice that the plots seem to be fairly random and on no distinguishable grid. You don’t see rows of homes or streets, you see houses and yards scattered about in no particular line or order. We have also heard a lot about the traditional “queenslander” style home which has a very deep south feel to me. They tend to have intricate woodwork around doors and windows, wrap around porches, and often have tin roofs.

Apparently one of the biggest downfalls of this traditional style is the frequent infestation of opossums. Yep, you read that right. Apparently, they walk along the power lines into the tin roofs and attics of these houses and scurry about at night. Now consider the sound dynamics of a tin roof – it magnifies and echoes sound throughout the entire house. So a small rodent scurrying through at night (they are nocturnal after all) sounds like rapid fire weapons attacking the home. 

Finally layered on top of the beautiful architecture, you have the natural features. The river for one is a lovely site that the city seems to be purposely built around. Each neighborhood is lined along it and has its own view and park along it. Generally on each bank you will find cafes, restaurants, shops, and parks. Throughout the city you have an array of tropical plants-palms, palm trees, fig trees. The most distinctive of this spring season is the jacaranda – a bright purple tree that is everywhere. Apparently, as the seasons change equally colorful red trees take over the city in summer, followed by yellow trees in the fall.

Peculiarities

Random Sculptures—throughout the city there seem to be randomly placed sculptures with no apparent them or explanation. They just pop up in front of you as you explore the city.

Sugar free—the city seems to be particularly health conscious with gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options labeled on most menus. There also appears to be a lot of nonfat/low fat and soy options. But oddly, very little comes in a sugar free variety. Splenda is also hard to find. Likely this is due to high import taxes and the fact that sugar cane grows naturally here and is readily available.           

To City—As you travel along the highways here you will notice signs directing you to “City.” They don’t mention which city, they just assume you know where you are going. So if you travel to Oz, be sure to get a navigation system.

Things I Miss

Unlimited Internet – You pay by your usage here. And it goes fast. After 4 days of only using it at night to write emails and Skype, we exceed our allotted 1500 MB, which cost $40. So we may not be online as much as we used to L            

Phrase-ology

Partner – there is no reference to boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife. Your significant other is referred to as your partner across the board.

            Made Redundant—let go/laid off

Pot-Scooner-Pint—these are the three sizes of beer and they change depending on which city you are in. In Brisbane, you can order a pot of Gold and receive a small XXXX Gold (pronounced Four-Ex) beer which is brewed locally.

            GFC—Global Financial Crisis. It comes up a lot in everyday conversation so they have taken  
            to abbreviating it.

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

On Saturday we decided to do some good old fashion site seeing. Armed with a fistful of tourist brochures from the hotel, we ventured to coffee and a breakfast pie – a surprisingly delicious mini pot pie of sorts filled any and everything and topped with mashed potatoes, gravy, and smashed peas- at Pie Face.  We initially were going to go beer tasting at a local brewery but sadly they were all booked so we moved on to our other top option—The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary—Boasting 130 Koalas and unique experience.

I have to say that it was one of the coolest things that I have ever done and will definitely be dragging all of my visitors to experience it. I am already looking into an annual membership.

 

 

Birds

When you first walk in you are immediately greeted by free flying lorikeets and various parrot-ish bright colored birds. They are no enclosed in anyway but I suppose hang around for the free food. They were not at all disturbed by our presence and were more than happy to pose for a few photos. Throughout the sanctuary, there were all sorts of Aussie birds – most of which I cant recall the name of so I will just post cute pictures.

Kangaroos

The next stop was the Kangaroo field. That’s right, its exactly what it sounds like, a very large field of Kangaroos. And you get to walk amongst them, feed them and pet them. They are enclosed but in a very large space. Much like the lorikeets, they did not mind us in the least. The ones that were ready to nosh actually approached us hoping to be fed. Kangaroos are funny funny creatures. When they are not in a hurry, they walk on four legs –leaning forward quite a but to put their little arms down and move themselves forward. Think of an old 90 year old man hunged over with a cane and you’ve got it. And they move at a similar pace. However, when they have somewhere to be (aka when someone drops a feed bag and they sense a large food supply) they hop which is a quite agile and speedy movement –much more graceful and athletic. But perhaps the most surprising behavior was their proclivity to lounge like, well, like we do. The lay down on their sides, legs long, and prop up on their elbows as if they were posing from some seductive boudoir photo. Its hilarious. And when feeling particularly secure, one will roll on its back, all four legs up in the air as if playing dead. They’ll stay like that for a minute or two and then return to the aforementioned lounge position.

Wallabies

Wallabies are like mini kangaroos – shorter in stature and narrower in build. They also have different color markings. To be completely honest, we didn’t even know it was a wallaby that we were meeting until well after – I just assumed it was a baby or special kind of kangaroo. It was not. So my apologies go out to the wallaby kind for mistaking them. They were cute but way less personable than the Roos. In fact they were quite shy and seemed fairly anxious.

Wombats

All I want for Christmas is a Wombat. So I have to say, before I came here I declared that I wanted a pet wombat. I showed people pictures and met lots of skepticism when I tried to convince everyone that they are cute loveable animals and not overgrown rodents. Admittedly, they look like a smaller version of that forest monster rodent in the Princess Bride but in an incredibly cute way. Both Lisa and I melted at the site of them. They look friendly and innocent and you just have this urge to give them a huge hug. They are about the size in width/girth of a small pig and the height of a small-medium sized dog. Sadly, you could not pet the wombat at Lone Pine. But I am not giving up my quest to adopt one. And after meeting them, there is no way I could eat one.

Koalas

They weren’t kidding –there were LOTS of Koalas-at least 130. They were organized into little Koala huts out in the open with small rails keeping you from climbing in and taking one home –foiled again!  The huts grouped like koalas together- there was the Kindergarten Koalas, the Girls Club, the Boys Club, The Bachelor Pad, The Brides to Be, The mums and bubs, the Retirement Home, and probably several more that I am forgetting.

 Some were sleeping, some were climbing, some were playing and others were voraciously eating.

They were adorable, slow moving, laid back creatures who seemed not to have a care in the world. 

And the best part…wait for it…you can hold one! They rotate a small group of the koalas with the best temperament into the holding line. They weigh about what you would expect a child of that size to weigh, they grip you tightly so they don’t fall and they just sit, content in your arms. Their fir looks like it would feel wooly but they were actually quite soft – their fir really felt like a stuffed animal. We didn’t buy the commemorative photo this time but stay tuned for a future one.

Tasmanian Devils

These guys were just as cute as I expected them to be. They were a little bigger than expected – about the size of a small dog. They seemed sleepy and didn’t do a whole lot but were still worth seeing.

 

 

 

Dingos

All you dog lovers out there be prepared. These pups are gorgeous! They have a regal feel about them while still being raw and strong  - they were somewhere between a German Shepherd and the wolves from that old Kevin Costner movie. GORGEOUS.  I want one. It will just have to live in a different room than my wombat because it is apparently true that they hunt and eat anything – small mammals, bats, any animal smaller than it, small children. Yup. But I still plan to tame one.

Fox Bats

We almost skipped the bats all together. I have never been a fan of bats and it was the last thing on the way out, but I am so glad I didn’t. These guys are adorable.  Picture a fox shrunk down to the size of a kitten with wings. They come in black, grey, and red and are very furry—surprisingly loveable. I couldn’t get a good picture of one so I found one online.

There were endless amounts of fascinating new creatures to meet and in the excitement of it all, I have to admit that I don’t remember them all. To them, I apologize. 

Now that you have met all of my new friends, you have a little insight into the adventure you will experience when you come visit! Lone Pine will definitely be on the must see list.

Kangaroos, Koalas, Dingo's oh my!

More to come on this later but I wanted to let you all know that I went ahead and posted pictures of my new best friends/future pets on my Flikr account. Click the link below the thumbnails above. 

Just a quick teaser on the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - we got to hold a Koala and pet free roaming kangaroos and wallabys!  BEST THING EVER.

Welcome to Brisbane!

A Quick Introduction

Thanks to a new job opportunity and my need for change every few years, I moved (or am in the process of moving) to Australia, specifically Brisbane. When I first started interviewing (and lets be honest, until I arrived here, presumably like many of you, I had no idea where Brisbane was or what it was known for. So here is a quick rundown:

• Brisbane (pronounced  brɪzbən) is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia.
• Brisbane's metropolitan area has an approximate population of 2 million.
• A resident of Brisbane is commonly known as a "Brisbanite"
• It was also rated the 16th most liveable city in the world in 2009 by The Economist
• Brisbane has the largest economy of any city between Sydney and Singapore, and has seen consistent economic growth in recent years as a result of the resources boom.
• White-collar industries include information technology, financial services, higher education and public sector administration
• "Bris Vegas" is a nickname given to the city. This has been attributed to an Elvis Presley tribute CD and the city's growing live music scene.

Click here or more information on Brisbane. For more info on Australia as a whole, I strongly recommend Bill Bryson’s book In a Sunburned Country – It’s an easy and incredibly interested book that will make you laugh out loud.

I knew this adventure would be exciting and interesting and I wanted to share my experience with all of my family and friends but given…

International calling rates: an area where America is to blame – I could make 200 minutes of calls to the US and unlimited texts with my basic and cheaper than in the states iPhone plan and receive calls from the US for free, but most American plans charge all of you high fees to even receive calls AND texts, much less make the calls yourself.

The time difference:14 hours for most of you – quick tip – if you add Brisbane to your world clock feature on your phone, you can easily check what time it is hear…before calling us in the middle of the night. But in general look at your clock, change am to pm and add 2, and that’s what time it is here…only tomorrow…we are a day ahead. So it can be hard to find a time to call or Skype (I will sign onto Skype whenever I can so if you want to talk face to face, find me there – I am cbrookeorr).

And not wanting to spend most of my time repeating stories over and over instead of exploring my exciting new world.

…I decided to join most of my fellow Gen Y-ers by blogging about it. Admittedly, I feel a little old and lame for not having a blog already…and not knowing how to really establish or manage one. So bare with me – this is a learning experience for me.

I’m not quite sure yet how I will organize it or how often I will be able to add to it. For those of you that have worked with me you know that I am an ENFJ. The E in me doesn’t really like this whole blog idea because I would rather tell you all…in person…at a crowded bar…in Vegas. But instead, I am viewing this as an opportunity to strengthen my I side by reflecting and Journaling. I don’t anticipate being successful at it but I am going to try. The N in me will want to change that structure and make each entry creatively distinctive from the last. I may drone on forever (like I am now-to be fair, its 4 am so there isn’t much else to do) or may be short and to the point. I will try to provide detail to satisfy all you S’s out there (uh hum…Kristin) but I make no promises. I also will probably not proof read this before posting it so please pardon all spelling and grammatical errors as if this was sent from my blackberry or iPhone.  The F in be will try to give shout outs to everyone and will probably feel guilty when I inevitably miss an opportunity to reference someone – forgive me for that. And lets be honest, the F in me trumps the others as evidenced by the short cry-fest I had when I first arrived and the reality of the distance between me and my loved ones set it. I miss you all. And lastly, the J in me will want to have a set schedule and it will always be on my to-do list, but continually be pushed back in priority and I will want to structure it in an organized way but the procrastinator in me may sabotage that need. Oh and I will probably post pictures, but they will inevitably be a month late. J

For now (and again this may change as soon as my next entry), I am thinking I will start with whatever story warrants attention and whatever detail I have time or the attention span to add and end with some quick hit higher level points (similarities and differences to the Amer-can way, phrases that are different, and the funniest moments) for my fellow N’s out there who could care less to know the details and prefer to skip to the punch line. 

The Journey

         The Flight

The flight was looong (14 hours from LA) and uncomfortable. There is no getting around that. The seats were the size of the ones on any given AirTran flight and you are packed in like sardines. The aisles are even narrower so you cant really walk around without being in the way of the steady stream of patrons making their way to the bathroom. We slept as much as we could but not very well. The food was ok. The flight attendants were very friendly. The movies were recent. The landing was VERY rough – we lost altitude so fast I 100% expected the oxygen masks to fall. That happened 3 times on decent and 4 crew members got injured. But alas, we made it in safely at 6 am Brisbane time on Thursday after leaving Tuesday evening. Its rough – fly Business class if you can afford to.

The Jet Lag

So I’ve flown to Europe twice in my life. Both times I had been warned of the trepidations of jet lag. Both times, I had no problems adjusting almost immediately. This time was different. I attribute it to getting older and being less resilient. We landed at 6 am Brisbane time on Thursday (4 pm Wednesday EST) after waking up around 2 am on the plane. We ran around all day seeing the city, checking into the hotel, and getting things situated. We went to dinner. We fell asleep at 6:30 Thursday. We woke up at 4 am Friday and couldn’t sleep anymore – had another jam packed day and went for dinner and drinks and made it all the way to 9:30 pm. Up again Saturday at 5 am. And so on. Its been rough. Hopefully we will be a little more adjusted before work on Monday!

         The Rental Car

We got a rental car at the airport so we could get our oversized cumbersome luggage to the hotel and explore the city. It took us almost an hour to figure out how to get all the luggage squeezed, tightly, into the corolla. We had 5 70lb suitcases, two carryon suitcases, and our laptop bags. We could barely wheel it through the parking lot and even then we were losing pieces as they rolled astray into on coming traffic or people. We definitely looked like THOSE Americans who had significantly over packed for an assuredly short holiday.  I’m still impressed that we got it in. The driving was different but more on that later. The funniest part was the navigation system we had. First, it is in kilometers and meters rather than miles and yards. Would you know when to turn if you were instructed to turn right in 600 km? We sure didn’t. It also doesn’t tell you what the speed limit is like the ones in the US do. And the dashboard in the car is written in KM/H instead of MPH. So were didn’t have a sense for how fast we were or weren’t going…whoops. But the funniest moment was about five minutes into the trip when the previously friendly Aussie voice alerted us in an all too serious ominous tone “WARNING: TRAFFIC CONTROL. “  Again, we were at a loss. Our latest hypothesis is that there must be camera monitoring at some intersections (as that is usually when our Aussie navigator gets anxious) and she wants to prevent us from committing an infraction. It’s a mystery!

The Rundown

Similarities

Coffee Shops: Like us Amer-cans, there are coffee shops on every street corner (called Cafes) with great coffee and pastries and other delicious baked goods – though I haven’t spotted doughnuts, kolaches, or breakfast burritos – mostly croissants, baguettes, and other French influenced breakfast foods). They also don’t have sugar free syrups or sugar free redbull for that matter. There are some same coffee shops like Gloria Jeans and the Starbucks and the Starbucks and the Starbucks and the…well you get it. 

Restaurants: McDonalds, Vapiano, Subway, Wagamama (Kat – that should be enough motivation to visit – no?, and Burger King (but called Hungry Jack) 

Stores: Among others, they have Target, Nine West, Apple, Mac (makeup), French Connection, LuLu Lemon, Hoyts cinemas (flash back for my SU peeps), Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Fossil, Toni and Guy, and lots of British stores whose names you might be familiar with.

Peculiarities (I don’t know why I called it this  - just sounds fitting – like something they might say here…though I haven’t actually heard anyone say it.)

The Toilets: I know it sounds odd to mention—inappropriate perhaps. And most of you are probably assuming it’s the whole flushing in the opposite direction thing. Honestly, I have no idea if the water in the toilet flushes backwards. I can’t say that I have ever taken note of which way it flushes in the US by comparison. The different thing we were perplexed by is the mechanism in which you flush. There is no lever. There are two buttons and we weren’t sure why at first. Even now, we aren’t sure. Our guess is that the half full one is to  use less water when you are flushing, well, less, a.k.a. number 1, and the full flush is for number 2. However, we have yet to verify that hypothesis because its sort of an awkward topic to ask a perfect stranger.

Stay Left: They drive on the left here. I don’t even want to attempt that feat soon – I would have turned into oncoming traffic at least 10 times by now. Luckily Lisa is a Left side driving rockstar so I will leave that to her. I also keep walking to the drivers door thinking it’s the passengers side – the wheel is on the wrong side too! And the most difficult every day hurdle is that they also walk (and pass) on the left here. We quite frequently feel like salmon swimming upstream in the crowds – then we realize its because we are walking on the right again. Its so ingrained in our habits that it is hard to adjust – even when you are thinking about it. They also pass on the left so when we almost run into people face first, and then step to the side to get around, we step the same way and run into them again. Entrances and Exits are also reversed. I suspect I will be running face first into locals for a while yet. 

Crossing the Street: I know it sounds well…pedestrian. But the rules here are different. I have been warned that they WILL hit you. And in fact if they do, and you did not have a walk sign or are jay walking, YOU are responsible for paying for the damages that your flying body inflicted on their car (any one else flashing back to the opening scene of Meet Joe Black? I am.) So not a lot of people jay walk here unless its early in the morning and the streets are fairly deserted (as we discovered on our 5 am stroll). And the crosswalk signs are more interesting than ours – the little blinking man seems more animated and is Green when you can walk and turns Red when you cant) In addition to that, it is accompanied by a loud ticking sounds to ensure that the walker understands that they are quickly running out of time to cross before becoming road pizza. Think of the 60 minutes into clock only louder and faster. Kim - you would not be able to walk around the city without having a panic attack so maybe we will just rent a car when you visit. ;) 

Beards: They are everywhere. I’m not digging the over abundance of gratuitous facial hair but I suppose I will get used to it.
Dogs: I haven’t seen any. Not one. And no dog park signs or signs warning you to clean up your beloved four-legged friend’s excrement. Curious.

Knee Socks...on men: Sorry boys - this isn't an attractive look and its not one I will come around to. 

Phrase-ology

           Travelator = Escalator

            Lift = Elevator

            Rubbish = garbage/trash

            Brekky = Breakfast

            A Smoker = Slang for a coffee

Unanswered Questions

Why are the egg yolks orange?
What are the egret size birds that act like pigeons and jump on café tables to eat scraps seemingly unnoticed by the patrons at the next table?

What are the pretty purple flower trees?

Why are there syringe disposal boxes in all of the public bathrooms?

What are the purple berries (see below) and can we eat them?

Laugh out loud moments

“I’m into long walks on the beach, a good book, wine, and recycling” ...wait what?

So we were signing up for our new Bank accounts at the NAB and our bank guy, Shamus Deveroux (although his name was Irish/French he was reportedly half Indonesian and half Australia- curious to say the least) was a 20 something local so we were picking his brain about the various neighborhoods and things to do. And to be fair, we were severely jet lagged – it was around 2 pm Brisbane time on our first day and we had woken up on the plane that morning around 2 am and hadn’t napped or really stopped moving since we landed. So after our barrage of where should we live and were to people go to have a good time questions, Lisa somewhat randomly transitions to – Do people here recycle? After a brief uhhhhm from the guy, he says “well yeah…I mean yeah… sometimes.” You can see him searching for the sociably responsible correct answer before he comes out with “Well no, not really.” And then in an equally unpredictable somewhat awkward turn with a quizzical look, he asks “Is that something your in to?” I wanted to bust out laughing at the question because it was so strange to hear but I was mostly confused at the moment thanks to the severe sleep deprivation. Lisa, equally puzzled, and also searching for the socially correct answer but not wanting to sound like a tool responds “Yes?” And then we both started uncontrollably laughing. Poor Shamus did not know what to say or do or why these silly Americans were deliriously laughing or how he had set this all in motion. Once we caught our breaths, Lisa tried to back peddle and explain how some countries recycle by rule and others don’t but there was really no way to fully recover. So when I hack Lisa’s fancy new Mac book to establish her Match profile so that I can vicariously date through here, I will inevitably lead with… I’m into long walks on the beach, a good book, wine, and recycling.

:) Thats all for now! Wish me luck on my first week of work!
<3 B