Gold Coast - Mar 16

Summary: cruising on the Brisbane River, loving the Gold Coast

Brisbane is about as active on a Sunday morning as any town can be. There was lots of action in the coffee shops. Some marketplace open with various stands selling everything from furniture to clothing over by a nearby pier, but our plans were pretty clear: walk around a little, get the river cruise booked, maybe get a motel booked for after the Gold Coast, and get to the Gold Coast. And that is what we did. Drink the free espresso at the Hilton, walk around the pedestrian mall behind the hotel, take the boat cruise, and go down to the Gold Coast. The cruise was great. We saw the rest of the city and learned quite a bit of history. Brisbane has just under 2 million people and is the fastest growing capital city in Australia (it sure looks the part). There is a rather blue collar history to Brisbane, but much of what was in the past (wool warehouses, power plants) has been remodeled and made beautiful. Apartments were built on the waterfront in front of the warehouses and the old power plant (next to a huge park) is now restored with everything down to the old graffiti preserved. There are nice new neighborhoods along the river between the city and the sea. There is one picture of houses (below) – one had a mermaid (as if from the mast of a ship) on the top deck. The cruise was wonderful – Alex was happy to be on a boat and he could not get very far away. He was entertained and I was educated about the city. Life is good. It rained a little, but stopped when we returned to the jetty. So we walked back, Alex played with some kids on the walk back (chased by a girl, actually), we checked out, the valet twisted a balloon into a koala hat, and we were off to the Gold Coast.
I may have overdone it with judging Aussie cities as more European or more American or more Australian. If you visit them, you should be able to see what I mean (café culture vs. skyscrapers), but they are all Aussie through and through – it is really about influences and layout. Regardless, Brisbane fits right up there with Australian cities that get it right. Between the pedestrian mall (forgot the street name - parallel to and north of Elizabeth), the South bank area (museums, piers, restaurants, cafes, a public pool, playgrounds etc), and the botanical garden, Brisbane makes a great impression on a visitor from the start. What little I’ve seen of Brisbane is enough – I could drink coffee and eat lunch around here for about a week and still be clear that I like this city and its offerings. That said, I went to the Hilton lounge that I have access to (thanks to work travel in ’07) and doing breakfast (and practically do dinner) for free, so I can’t really review much about the food offerings except to say it looks good.

The Gold Coast is a great region. The beaches look great. Fantastic hotels line the coast (with more built all the time – two are being built between the Conrad Hilton and the water right now). I was mistaken in thinking that there was no natural beauty close by (in my preview) – there are great-looking mountains about 15 miles away and a few islands just north of us. There are a ton of amusement parks around here, but we just don’t have the time (and I do not have the inclination) to go to Sea World (which includes Elmo & his Sesame Street henchmen) and seventeen other parks. California has theme parks and they won’t confuse Alex by having Elmo say “Oy, ya billiken! Throw another shrimp on the bahbie and stop ya whinging!” (what? Aussie Elmo doesn’t say that? Then never mind)
We just took some time walking around this property – the Hilton is its own island, shaped like a pyramid, and set up for conferences, gambling, and shows. Think of it as a Vegas casino – stage for live music, 4-5 restaurants, gambling floor, a dinner show – set in Ft Lauderdale/ West Palm Beach. Nice place really. Funny thing, I booked the hotel with points online. My profile should be all over this reservation, but they looked befuddled when I asked about the concierge lounge (as in, “well, yes, but you have to be elite”). Net net, we got a sweet room. Anyhow, the pool is epic – 2 hot tubs, 4 pools (two with fountains in the middle - all connected with little waterfalls). Alex loved it because he could push the button to turn on the hot tub, but the highlight could be that they have lots of lizards and dragons running around the pool area. I’m talking foot-and-a-half/ two foot long lizards running around. It is really cool and not remotely scary. Met some people in the hot tub (Alex is a bit of a conversation starter) – Australians originally from Serbia and Sri Lanka. Everyone really loves and is proud of this country (with good reason, as this blog has attested). They feel “lucky” or blessed to be living here and for the good fortune that has come Australia’s way over the years. Many have been to the US, most would like to go soon. As we left a guy from the San Francisco area arrived (I spotted his Yank accent at a distance). Anyhow, the rain came back and we noticed that our stuff was soaked, so we went back upstairs to the Hilton lounge for appetizers. As usual, Alex was his outgoing self and the woman running the lounge was wonderful. She (and all the people here) really like kids. This is not always the case in a concierge lounge or a casino hotel, but it is true for sure here. They also appreciate his ability to say “g’day” and “good on ya”. We had a great time, but the food theme at the hotel this month is Mexican. I have wanted to try Australian Mexican food, maybe just to see if Australia can pull off Mexican food to make a Californian homesick. The Mexican food/ brick oven pizza restaurant in Port Macquarie did not seem a good candidate, but these guys did. Well, the food was good & relatively spicy, but let me just say I don’t think the cook’s name is Jose. I would recommend it though. A band came around playing Mexican music and they enlisted Alex’s help. Anyhow, it is a good scene here.

Tomorrow, we are just going to enjoy the resort, take the monorail across the street to the beach, and maybe go to the observation deck at the Q1 (I think that’s the name) after nap time. Regardless if I got the name right, it is hard to miss – this 80-story building to our north is a good place to look down on the beach and all. There is a lot that I will miss on the Gold Coast and I have accepted that. If I had a week between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, I could get around to a lot more. But I don’t. As a consequence, I will miss many things that I would love to see & do this time. Still, I know when I have found a good place for a vacation. I was a little unsure before I left for Australia– it seemed a little cheesy and prepackaged before I got here. There are lots of beaches on this earth with resorts next to them – there was nothing to lead me to believe this would be better. Now that I am here, it just seems pretty well done.

Next: sand, monorail, observation deck