Year One

On August 24 we had our first year anniversary in Brisbane.  The first year here has absolutely flown by!  We have had so many fantastic experiences since coming here: starting new jobs (September 6 is the first anniversary at work), exploring a new city, seeing the coastal areas and swimming in the ocean, experiencing tropical heat and humidity, getting used to all the weird bugs and making it through the "flood of the century".  We still have so much to see and do in Australia, we feel like we haven't even scratched the surface of what there is to see and do here.  Oddly enough, this also marks the first time in a long time that we have spend an entire year in the same country!  We forget how easy it is to travel to Europe and the US from Canada.

To celebrate our first year, we went back to the same restaurant that we ate at on our first night here.  A year ago we were struggling to stay awake so we walked to Eagle St Pier, which seemed SO far away from where we were staying, and ate at a nice Italian restaurant (Il Centro).  Now we realize how close Eagle St Pier is to everything, and that we really didn't walk very far to get there.  What a difference a year, and not being jet-lagged, makes!

First year photo!

We are also getting more into Aussie sports.  Aussie Rules Football is pretty unique to Australia (hence the name) but cricket and rugby are popular the world over.  Last night we went to the Bledisoe Cup, a rugby union match that is played between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All-Blacks.  This was a HUGE match, not only because of the intense rivalry between the two countries, but because it is the last match they play before the world cup.   (The World Cup of Rugby starts next month in New Zealand.  There was another match on the Gold Coast last night between a second team of Australians and the Canadians...Canada lost 38-14.)

The rugby match was really exciting!  This was our first time in Suncorp Stadium (badly flooded in January) and it is a great venue for a game like this.  It was only 10 minutes to walk there from our house.  The crowd was lively and lubricated, but still well behaved.  The big monitors at either end of the stadium continually flashed signs reminding us to report anti-social behaviour, but we just did not see any.  All the fans were having fun and cheering madly.

Suncorp Stadium

This was a really nice way to spend a warm winter evening.  We left the house wearing jumpers, jackets and hats, figured out that we would die of heat exhaustion on the way if we tried to walk to the Stadium dressed that warmly.  We did a quick retreat to layer-down, and made a mental note to remember that a winter evening in the tropics is still pretty warm.

Haka Dance

The heavily favoured All Blacks started the game by doing a haka dance, which is traditional Maori dance. It is a fairly intimidating thing to see, with an entire team of gigantic men yelling and moving in unison. It may have got under our skin, but the heroic Wallabies shrugged it off. The final score was 25 -20 for the Wallabies!



Sydney Visit

The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

We have just returend from a three day jaunt to Sydney.  We decided to take advantage of the last public holiday of the year in Queensland (Show Day), and make a long weekend in Sydney.  This was our second trip to Sydney and we absolutely loved it!  We had mixed weather, so we tried to take advantage of the sun when it was shining, and of indoor things when it was raining.

On our first day we visited the NSW Art Gallery to see an exhibit of pre-WWII art.  We had no idea, but there was a huge artists' movement in Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s, that was completely anti-facsist, anti-Nazi and anti-Hitler.  There were posters and sculptures mocking the Nazi movement and portrayals of Hitler and Goebbels as murderers.  The most amazing thing is that the majority of the artists that created these statements knew enough to get out of Germany before 1938, and most of them continued their careers in exile.  It was a fascinating exhibit.

A house as wide as a kayak (yellow kayak in the centre of the photo)

We took advantage of a sunny day and went on a morning "coffee cruise" of the Sydney Harbour.  The cruise took us to the highlights of the harbour, with great views of the bridge and Opera House and into a number of the smaller harbours.  Some of these harbours are where the most expensive real estate in Sydney is located.  There are lots of 1960s condos that don't look like much from the outside, but look out at quite a bit from the inside, making them worth millions of dollars.  Every square metre of land is used and our favourite place was a four story condo, only as wide as a kayak, wedged between two larger developments.  If you have an extra $9 million lying around, you may be able to buy it!

Our favourite discovery on this trip was the statue of Matthew Flinders' cat, Trim!  Matthew Flinders was an explorer in the late 1700s - early 1800s, who circumnavigated Australia.  He had a shipboard cat named Trim, to whom he was devoted.  Trim was a constant companion of Flinders and even stayed with him when Flinders was taken prisoner on the island of Mauritius, where Trim disappeared.  When Matthew Flinders returned to England he wrote a tribute to Trim, which is on a plaque near the Trim statue:

"The best and most illustrious of his race.  The most affectionate of friends, faithful of servants, and best of creatures.  He made the tour of the globe, and a voyage to Australia, which he circumnavigated, and was ever the delight and pleasure of his fellow voyagers."

Trim Statue

That was one beloved cat!

Hotels vs hotels

When we first moved here we were a little confused by the difference between a hotel and a hotel that is not a hotel, but is actually a pub.  Even reading that sentence is confusing! 

The hotels that are actually hotels (there are rooms for rent, plus possibly a lounge or breakfast area) are called hotels.  The Sofitel, Radisson, and various other chains and boutique hotels are exactly what one thinks of when ones asks "where is a good place to stay in Brisbane?"  The other hotels are the confusing ones.  These are hotels that were built in the 1800s and early 1900s as hotels, but have since been turned into pubs.  The confusing part is that they are still called hotels!   Luckily TripAdvisor and other booking websites have no trouble telling these types of hotels apart.  We have not heard of anyone booking a week in a pub (although we know a few who have spent a week in a pub.)

Last week we blogged about the post-flood recovery at the Regatta Hotel.  The Regatta may have once been a hotel where people rented rooms, but now it is all pub.  At the base of the Story Bridge, on Kangaroo Point, is the Story Bridge Hotel, also a pub.  When we first got here we couldn't figure out why there were all these little hotels in strange places, but now we know: they are actually pubs.

Story Bridge Hotel

Story Bridge

The Story Bridge Hotel was built in 1886 in Kangaroo Point.  Before the bridge (photo above) connected Kangaroo Point to the rest of the CBD, the Story Bridge Hotel was just a pub in the middle of nowhere, probably in a fairly rough part of the city.  By the 1980s, it was re-furbished and a vital part of the Kangaroo Point suburb.  From the front it looks like a fairly small building, but there is a courtyard, a sit-down restaurant and a pub all on the main level, plus seating upstairs.  All the hotels (pub-hotels) are like this...small-ish looking from the outside but massive on the inside.  We have learned that the best thing to do when coming across an unfamiliar one, is to just go in.  It is never a disappointment!

Recovery

It has now been almost 7 months since the January floods.  It seems like Brisbane has bounced right back and everybody is back in business.  One of the iconic buildings that was affected by the flood was the Regatta Hotel, a pub that was built in the late 1800s.  It was extensively damaged in the floods of the 1800s, 1900s and now the 2011 floods.

Regatta Hotel, pre 2011 flooding and flood markers

Even though the hotel was badly damaged, it was open for business within 2 weeks of the flood.  We finally decided to go check it out yesterday, although we did notice that the ground floor was still cordoned off.  We were in for a big surprise when we went up the stairs to the upper levels.  There is a window cut in to the staircase, giving a view of the ground level and the damage that was done.

The top of the beams is actually the ground level, and you can see through to the foundation.  To put these views in perspective, at the top right of the picture on the bottom you can see a fireplace.

Clearly there is a long way to go before the entire pub is open for business.  We give these guys full credit for being open at all!

This week we participated in the Australian census, which is a requirement for all people living in Australia.   It is illegal here to not vote and to not participate in federal government surveys.  How much of a requirement is it?  Not filling out the forms is a $200 fine!   These guys are serious!

Christmas in July

Christmas is something that Canadians associate with winter.  Many Christmas carols reference snow or ice, and the traditional dinner of ham or turkey is something that suits cold weather.  Brisbane does not fit that mould at the best of times, but especially not during Christmas, which occurs at the height of summer in Australia.  July, however, is a cooler month, and last night we had a "Christmas in July" dinner at a local restaurant.

Christmas decorations

The "Christmas in July" theme is quite common.  The restaurant we went to offered a three course menu (with two choices per course) for $55/person.  Other restaurants have higher-end prices or larger menus.  The Blue Mountains, outside of Sydney, has a "Yulefest" every year, complete with natural snow.  We don't quite need to have a "snow fix" yet, but maybe in the next 6 - 15 years we will miss the -30C temperatures and partake in winter activities.

Re-opened Pools

We took a walk to the South Bank area today to check out a food festival (does today become Boxing Day in July?) and were very happy to see that all of the pools and swimming areas that were destroyed by the floods have now been restored and are open again for business.  Even though the temperatures are a bit cool (low 20ºC's), nothing will stop a kid from going for a swim!

It's nice to see the pools open again, but the best thing we saw this week was a story from Northern Queensland.  A crocodile was spotted in a small town in Northern Queensland, apparently trying to cross the highway that runs through town, and causing quite a ruckus with the local traffic.  The croc was initially subdued by the local police department who held him in place with a push broom while waiting for the local croc man.  When he arrived, wearing his "safetly flip-flops", he was slightly better armed with a garden rake.  He poked the croc with his rake, threw a blanket over its head and then put two big elastics around the croc's snout (apparently, croc's have incredible force when closing their jaws but not to open them).  This was followed by another blanket that went around the croc's body, which was then picked up and put in the front seat of a truck and driven across the highway, where he was released to go back about his business.  No fuss, no muss, just one happy croc.

Tour de Force!

As we are sure everyone knows by now, Cadel Evans has just become the first Australian to win the Tour de France.  As proud as we are of Canadian Ryder Hesjedal for the second top 20 finish in a row, we couldn't be happier for Cadel Evans!  He came back from what should have been an insurmountable time deficit to beat Andy Schleck in the individual time trial and blah, blah, blah.  The important thing is that there is talk of a national holiday! 

Cadel Evans in the Yellow Jersey (from couriermail.com.au)

Australia is a great place to live and work.  There is almost constant summer, the people are friendly with a terrific sense of humour...dripping with self-deprecation and sarcasm that can't be beat.  But there is an issue with the lack of public holidays.  There are 11 public holidays, including New Year's, Good Friday, Christams and Boxing Day, which are celebrated just about everywhere.  That leaves 7 days: Australia Day, Anzac Day, Easter Monday, Labour Day and the Queen's Birthday.  The 7th holiday is a state holiday, the Royal Queensland Show, which is an agricultural exhibition.  That is NOT enough statutory holidays!  Yes, it is the same number of public holidays as in Canada, but we just feel like there should be more.

So congratulations to Cadel Evans on his massive achievement of winning the Tour de France...and thanks for the hope of another holiday.  We need it!

The Doctor

Last night we saw "Dr. Zhivago", the new musical based on the movie, based on the book, of the same name.  This production is currently touring Australia.  It is the story of individuals caught up in the Russian Revolution.   It is a bleak story featuring scenes in the dead of winter...where we find ourselves right now in Brisbane.

A bleak winter's day.  (Sorry Canadians, it is just too tempting to keep throwing these "winter" shots in!  If it makes you feel any better, we generally need a light jacket or jumper in the evenings.)

The theme of individuals caught up in an unstable regime is very fitting right now, as Australia seems to be teetering on the brink of an election: last week, Julia Gillard's government brought in a Carbon Tax.  Last year Julia Gillard overthrew Kevin Rudd, based on the threat to the government over an unpopular tax.  Here we are with a minority government, breaking the promise not to bring in a Carbon Tax, and probably headed for another election only a year after the last one! 

The Carbon Tax is intended to hit industry, with the recognition that most households will be affected by a higher cost of living.  Those on low or fixed incomes will be able to apply for a rebate.  It is a tough sell, especially with the threat of another global finacial crisis just around the corner.  No-one likes the idea of paying more tax, especially a tax that we were all guaranteed in an election promise, would not be brought in.  It's not the tax that is the problem, it is the broken promise.

What has the world come to when you can't trust a politician?  It's a world gone mad.

(PS - Happy Birthday to our friends in Calgary, Ivy and Rodger, both of whom hit a big birthday this week.  Here's to another 50!)