GOOD ol BRISSY - brilliant one day, perfect the next
Written: Apr 18 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: alive, huge tourism location, especially the adjacant Gold Coast
Cons: traffic
The Bottom Line: " brilliant one day, perfect the next". Gold Coast to the south and the Sunshine Coast to the north,
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| SMITHSWOODSIDE's Full Review: Brisbane |
Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, is midway up the east coast of Australia. With the Gold Coast to the south and the Sunshine Coast to the north, both domestic and international airports, Brisbane is an ideal start for an Australian holiday.
The Gold Coast is "Las Vegas on the beach", and having been to Vegas while each has differences the common "don't dare to go to bed" theme is the same. Many overseas people come to just the Gold Coast for their vacation. It is immensely popular as a honeymoon spot, which never ceases to amaze me because I would have thought there were better things to do! But then I can't talk since we honeymooned there ourselves.
Brisbane, indeed all Queensland, operates on Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT. Summertime or Daylight Saving is not observed.
Residents and visitors to Brisbane enjoy a wide range of landscapes and lifestyles. The inner-city, metropolitan Brisbane is surrounded by leafy, sometimes very hilly, suburbs. Further out in the suburbs, the traditional Australian house on a large block or even acreage dominates.
Moreton Bay and its islands provide water sports, sailing and sea-side suburbs. The Pacific Highway leads south to the Gold Coast and its well-known surf beaches.
North is the seaside town of Redcliffe, the rainforest and picturesque countryside of Pine Rivers, Caboolture and the spectacular and unique Glasshouse Mountains. Bribie Island offers the first surf beach to the north. I must confess I am not a fan of Bribie, but all the other beaches are brilliant. The Sunshine Coast towns and the inland area known as the hinterland are popular holiday spots.
Travelling west of Brisbane, past Ipswich, you soon climb the Great Dividing Range to Toowoomba and the rich plains of the Darling Downs.
Queenslanders in general and Brisbaneites in particular are quite painful when it comes to the weather. They have a saying " brilliant one day, perfect the next". The saying grinds at me, perhaps because it's almost true.! Just 400 miles south of the Tropic of Capricorn, Brisbane has a hot, humid climate which dictates the lifestyles of its residents.
While the summer maximum average temperate is only 80 degrees, the summer months have many extremely hot days with very high humidity. People with fair skins need to be very wary in midday sunshine which can burn in a few minutes. Hats, cool clothing that protects from the sun, sunscreen and common sense are essentials to enjoying Brisbane summers.
The winter is mild and very pleasant. Most winter days are sunny with average temperatures of around 70 degrees.
Public transport includes suburban electric trains, Brisbane City Council buses and private coach companies. Traffic congestion and the difficulties of parking in the city during business hours make public transport an attractive option for commuters.
Private road transport is available from taxi cab and shuttle services. If you prefer to drive yourself, check out the car hire companies, and please remember we drive on the left so basically everything is opposite. If you take my advice when hiring/renting a car do as I did in San Francisco and get to a lonely area very quickly to practice a bit. The face of the poor bloke I met head on immediately after my first left turn is indelibly planted on my brain. I bet mine is on his too! (In case you haven't "got it" I am used to turning left into my left most lane!!)
Cycling is becoming more and more popular with the extensive bikeway network constructed over the past few years.
Even though the total population of the Brisbane are is only around 2.5 million, driving wise it seems a great deal greater than that but if you are "at home" driving in concentrated cities of say 4 to 5 million or more Brisbane should pose no real problems if you remember it's all right hand drive.
From my experience its amazing how quickly we can get used to the difference - about 1 to 2 hours is enough. Of course that can be a lot of crashes!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
SMITHSWOODSIDE
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Member: Peter Smith
Location: South Australia
Reviews written: 521
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