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<\/a><\/p>\nUpon arrival, we took the train from the airport into the city and checked into our hotel.\u00a0 We then began exploring this beautiful riverfront city on foot.<\/p>\n
We even spotted this friend on our walk back to the hotel.\u00a0 We hope it wasn’t poisonous, because he was awfully close!<\/p>\n That night we found a pub with a good beer list and and had a nice dinner.\u00a0 We even chatted to a couple of real live Queenslanders for a bit about the US election and living in Australia.\u00a0 They again confirmed a funny truth about Australians – they are all terrified of the bears in the US.\u00a0 This is amazing to us given the volume of insects and animals in Australia that are here to kill us.<\/p>\n The next day was reserved for more walking around.\u00a0 We explored some of the neighborhoods and walked along the river.<\/p>\n We took the free city ferry to get the views from the water as well.<\/p>\n As you can tell, from the photos, the weather was stupendous.\u00a0 We stopped by the Southbank area for a drink and checked out the riverfront public pool that even has a sandy beach.\u00a0 Seems like a nice place to hang out on a hot afternoon!\u00a0 We watched the AFL Grand Final that afternoon and then headed out for some Thai food that evening.<\/p>\n We hatched a plan to take the train and a bus down to the Gold Coast the next day to get some beach time in. The trip is about 1 hour and 40 minutes each way.\u00a0 The beach was spectacular, but the water was still quite freezing (~ 65F).\u00a0 We spent a few hours laying on the beach reading before walking around and exploring the various towns on the coast.<\/p>\n We got a late lunch at a cafe across the street from the beach and then hopped on the bus to the train station.<\/p>\n We watched the NRL (Rugby League) grand final that night, but that sport is still pretty nonsensical to me.\u00a0 It’s like a football game with no passing and hardly any scoring – like a 6-3 Steelers \/ Ravens game in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n The next day it was time to head home.\u00a0 I don’t think that’ll be the last time we’re in Brissy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We decided to take advantage of the “Grand Final Eve” public holiday (plus an additional day off) and take a 4 day trip to Brisbane to check out the 3rd largest city in Australia and the capital of Queensland.\u00a0 Here’s a map so you can familiarize yourself.\u00a0 It is about a 2 1\/2 hour flight … Continue reading Brissy<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n