On the Waterfront

Today I took to the water (the Brisbane River) to get another, different, fantastic view of the city. I took the 'CityCat' service from the suburb of Bulimba into downtown Brisbane. Bulimba is a fashionable, cafe and bookstore-filled area - and the area that is Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's parliamentary constituency. Needless to say, I enjoyed a 'flat white' coffee from one of the local, independent coffee shops. This one was run by two brothers - and they had even named the store '2 Brothers'. I was then fortunate to chance upon a superb local bookstore - Mary Ryan's, which had a great selection of children's books - many by Australian authors. I had a long chat with the incredibly helpful manager of the children's section - and I now have scores of wonderful recommendations of books for us to use back at school.

I then caught the boat from the small pier in Bulimba. Many locals use this boat service as their means of getting from the suburbs to the city center for work every morning. What a wonderful commute! On the thirty minute journey I was treated to many great views of the city, including the striking 'Story Bridge' - a steel cantilever bridge, built in the 1930s.

I got off the boat just opposite the huge ferris wheel and I walked up towards the oldest part of Brisbane - and Brisbane's oldest building, the Commissariat's Store. This building dates from 1829 and was actually built by the convicts who has just been sent up to the new settlement of Brisbane from Sydney. This building was the government store house - for all food products and supplies. This is one of only two building that still remains from the days when Brisbane was a convict town. I guess they were keen to remove most traces of that era and replace it with the thriving and uplifting city that stands here now.
I continued my historical quest by looking for more of Brisbane's oldest buildings. I found Victoria Square - where a huge statue of Queen Victoria still stands, proudly surveying the city. The City Hall is a beautiful, colonial-style building with a tall clocktower that strikes every hour with the same chimes as Big Ben, in London. Every old building here seems to have some fascinating story behind it. Like the old windmill - the only other remaining building from convict times - inside which prisoners spent all day on a treadmill grinding the grains that would then be used to make their own bread. My favorite, though - which in many ways nicely sums up the Brisbane mentality and the Australian way - is the story of the old Treasury Building. This grand old Victorian building - once full of civil servants and governmental economists is now, would you believe, Brisbane's casino! There is some beautiful symmetry there - and the irony is wonderfully appropriate.