Great Place to Live, But Wouldn't Want To Visit
Written: Jan 10 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Laidback, and one of the best climates in the world...
Cons: ...but hardly an exciting destination in itself.
The Bottom Line: Not a destination in itself, but an interesting enough stopover.
|
|
|
| munkus's Full Review: Brisbane |
Ah, my hometown of Brisbane. Poor little Brisbane, as Australia's third city it is constantly huffing and puffing to keep up with Sydney and Melbourne. If you thought Melbourne had an inferiority complex, wait until you meet Brisbane.
Brisbane is to Sydney what Detroit is to New York.
Enough diversions, certainly, but who wants mutton when there is lamb on offer?
After that rather negative introduction I really must stress that I love living in Brisbane and I imagine it's a brilliant place to raise a family. Crime is low, Education is reasonable and the suburbs are generally leafy and houses have big back yards- perfect for small children. However, as a hip young 20something (in theory), Brisbane isn't right for me at this time of my life. Though it is certainly a place I can see myself coming back to when I've tired of living in big cities.
For that's the key to Brisbane's charms, nicknamed, generally negatively, as 'Australia's Biggest Country Town', it is a city of over a million residents but without hustle or bustle. This is a good or a bad thing, depending on your point of view.
The CBD (you Yanks would probably call it Downtown) is the heart of Brisbane. It's pretty much like the city you'd expect to find in any third-rank city. The Queen St Mall is the principal shopping street with the standard department stores and major chains. Elizabeth Street, on the other side of the Hilton, is the main area for slightly more expensive shopping. Louis Vuitton is here, though I am yet to work out how Brisbane can financially support it. The CBD is largely on a grid system with East-West streets named after Kings of England (George, Albert, Edward etc...) and North-South streets named after their respective Queens (Elizabeth, Alice, Anne, Adelaide etc...). There are also a few streets which just don't logically fit the system (Turbot, Roma and Creek are the principal offenders). We hate those streets. Conformity is good.
Asides from shopping (which is not that enthralling in Brisbane), the CBD also houses City Hall and Parliament House. As an aside, in terms of land area the Brisbane City (as defined by a single council) is the second largest in the world after Los Angeles. The City Council Budget is larger than that of the State of Tasmania. City Hall squats rather inelegantly on King George Square where, after dark, you can meet many of Brisbane's most fascinating hobos and paint sniffers. State Parliament got a way better deal, set beside the elegant Brisbane Botanic Gardens which perch on a sweeping bend of the Brisbane River.
Ah, the River. For much of its life Brisbane simply refused to acknowledge the existence of the river that ran through its middle. Home to dredging and the occasional bloated corpse, it was considered somewhat undesirable. It was so ignored that during the Vietnam War, a boatload of Vietnamese Refugees got all the way up the Brisbane River, past the CBD, to the University of Queensland in St Lucia (trust me, this is a substantial distance), before anyone noticed. The river got a little desperate for attention and flooded rather substantially in January 1974, killing 16 people and putting most of Brisbane underwater. However, playing host to World Expo 88 (does anyone still do those things) changed Brisbane's view of itself and suddenly the River Was In Vogue.
The great scar along the CBD, the Riverside Expressway, was a necessary abhorration but now the river is undoubtedly the heart of Brisbane life. On the south side of the river, opposite the CBD, is a precinct known as, funnily enough, Southbank. This is home to the Queensland Cultural Centre- the Performing Arts Centre, State Library, Art Gallery and Queensland Museum (all of which are free and a new Museum of Modern Art opens in 2006) and the Southbank Parklands. I plan to do a separate entry on the Parklands, so more about them on a later date.
For many years in the 60s-80s Queensland's premier was Joh Bjielke-Peterson whose many achievements include banning public protest and developing many of Brisbane's ugliest buildings. To relax, he liked to try his hand at corruption and bribery. He singlehandedly ensured that Brisbane earned a reputation as a backwater that still sticks today (for example, Outdoor Dining only became legal after he left office). Visitors to Queensland should not mention Joh as he is still a highly divisive figure and, worse, is still alive at 104 and may have you killed (some people just don't know when to quit dammit).
One side effect of Joh's regime (and it was a regime) is that there are very few historic buildings left in Brisbane. Almost all are in the CBD- State Parliament and the Treasury Casino are two of the most obvious. The Casino is a stunning building in ornate sandstone but that it contains a casino is just too tacky for words.
Just beyond Southbank is the alternative districts of West End and Highgate Hill. Boundary Street is the main drag and is a hive of shopping and posing of the I'm-more-leftist-than-you set.
The inner city suburb of Fortitude Valley was once a very dangerous no-go area (and parts of it are still rather unsavoury- for female hookers go to Berwick St, for male hookers try MacLachlan St) but is now the heart of Brisbane's club scene at night and its trendiest shopping during the day. The club Family was ranked Australia's best nightclub in 2003 which drove many of Sydney and Melbourne's clubs to seppuku. Personally, I can't stand the faux-pretension which seems so out of odd with Brisbane (ohmigod, that is soooooo po-mo). I highly recommend Press Club which is a few seasons out of trendy but is fun for its window box seats and volume level low enough to allow talking, but high enough so you can fake that it's too loud to talk if you can't think of anything to say. Note that in Australia a 'club' generally means the strobe lighting-disco-popping-E's-in-the-toilet-stalls-variety. The trendy clubs come and go like menstrual flow (did you like that little rhyme?), but the scene is small so it's hard to go wrong. There are two main gay bars in Brisbane- The Wickham which is more of a pub style club and The Beat which is younger and infinitely sleazier. Also in The Valley, as it is known, is Chinatown which is the second largest in Australia, after Sydney. It's rather run-down and seedy and the food isn't that great.
Just beyond The Valley is New Farm which is comically, and fondly, known as 'F*g Farm' for its huge gay population. It has some of Brisbane's best dining and shopping and Brisbane's best open space- New Farm Park. You can take a City Cat from Eagle St Pier in the CBD to New Farm Park.
Mt Cootha is that big almost-mesa to the west of the city which is home to possibly Brisbane's most expensive ice cream kiosk and all those blinking TV station antennae. It's probably the most popular tourist spot in the city for it's awesome views of all of Brisbane (and boy, does it sprawl) laid out in front of you. The excellent restaurant, overpriced cafe and tacky souvenir shop are open everyday from about 7am-midnight. When there are fireworks (and as a warning, Brisbane has a dangerous small-town obsession with fireworks- we'll firework anything) it is often neck-to-neck up here. Otherwise you can amuse yourself looking for making out couples on the rocks. At the base of the mountain are another Botanic Gardens, considerably larger than the ones in the city but in my opinions not as pretty. Also in the western suburbs is St Lucia home to the University of Queensland. In a strange juxtaposition, you'll find student accommodation side by side with some of the most expensive real estate in Brisbane which creates a great cross-social ambience. An awesome trip would be catching a City Cat (the high speed ferry system) from the CBD to its terminus in St Lucia and having a wander around.
To see the iconic Brisbane 'Queenslander' style of house architecture (in brief- made of wood and raised slightly on stilts to allow cross-breezes) take a stroll through some of the older suburbs- such as Red Hill or Auchenflower. To see some more mansion versions of the Queenslander, immaculately maintained, check out the western suburbs of Chelmer, Sherwood and Graceville on the river. To the north, Ascot and Hamilton are the old-money suburbs of Brisbane and have rambling old art deco mansions.
There are two zoos in Brisbane- the quaintly dated Lone Pine which is commonly reached via special ferry service and is hugely popular with overseas visitors for its uniquely interactive approach to koalas and kangaroos. Most Brisbane residents however visit it once on a school excursion in Grade 1 and then never again. If you feel like a full day trip you can get a special deal on the trains to go to Australia Zoo where you can see STEVE IRWIN!!!!!!! and his amazing baby-dangling circus.
Brisbane has a thriving restaurant scene- its climate lends to outdoor dining and its geographical location means it is the terminus for some of Australia's best fresh produce- especially seafood and beef. Some of the top restaurants, including winners of Australia's Best Restaurant and the various Diner's Club/American Express awards, include the embarrassingly successful e'cco, Circa and II. For a much less expensive and trendy meal hit the cafe strip in West End or on the Brunswick St Mall in the Valley. Fatboys in the Valley is home to the $4 Big Breakfast- the perfect stomach liner for the clubs- and best of all its available around the clock from Thursday to midnight Sunday.
Brisbane is a sprawling city, and the public transport network is vast. It is however a cause of eternal frustration that trains are run by State but buses and ferries by Council. Apparently they will become fully integrated in 2004 but I will believe that when it happens. Fares are normal and the system is safe. Everything congregates in the CBD- Central Station for trains and under the Queen St Mall for buses. There are very few cross-city buses for example. Unlike Sydney and Melbourne, taxis are regulated by government so fares are kept reasonable and the level of service is generally good. The only real downside is on the busy nights like New Year's cabs are as hard to find as WMD's.
Brisbane undoubtedly has one of the best climates in Australia. Generally it rarely gets below 10C (50F) and rarely above 30C (90F). It's almost always sunny. However, January can be a killer with humidity- at the moment we're averaging 32C (94F) and hitting up to around 36-38C (102-106F).
Air fares change with the winds, but I like looking them up so for reference, the cheapest current roundtrip from LAX on trips.com is US$1387 on Qantas via Auckland. It would probably work out cheaper though if you flew Qantas or United to Sydney then either a good priced Qantas Domestic flight or a Virgin Blue flight to Brisbane. It's only about an 80 minute flight north, and there are practically flights leaving every 30-60 minutes. Remember though, getting to Australia from Europe or North America you're in for a long, long, long flight. Europe is about 22hours via Asia and LAX-Sydney is about 14hours. If you've got good winds. And with the new USA regulation banning queuing for toilets on trans-Pacific flights (is it just me or does that seem so absurd it hardly seems real?) you might want to pack a few empty bottles.
Brisbane has a fantastic International Airport, which is just as well as it is as much as many visitors see of Brisbane on their way to either the Sunshine or Gold Coasts. The airport is about a fifteen minute drive from the CBD, but there is an Airtrain service. It however may not be around much longer as it has been a financial flop, though it is certainly convienant and marginally cheaper than a cab. The Airtrain is also used to connect to the two domestic terminals (one for Qantas and one for Virgin Blue with a few other smaller airlines scattered between them).
Brisbane has its charms, but is not a destination in itself. It certainly deserves more than a few hours in the airport but, despite the pathetically lame efforts of Brisbane Marketing who are trying to make 'Brizvegas' catch on, it sure ain't Sydney.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
munkus
|
|
Location: Ruritania
Reviews written: 205
Trusted by: 113 members
About Me:
Munkus now lives in America. He is the size of a house.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.