Our time in Brisbane unfortunately overlapped with the rather-strong remnants of Tropical Cyclone Oswald. Rain came and went on the first evening but Eric was able to get some interesting shots of the CBD from our apartment balcony.

The next day featured intermittent showers, so we were able to get out and explore a few spots on a wet Saturday.

free city hopper water taxi… slow, but cost-effective

The free ferry took a winding 30 minutes to get to the South bank dock, just over one mile as the crow flies. We walked up the south bank promenade ducking out of rain, heading to the museum section. The Australia Day festival was still going on with a moderately damp crowd.

QaGOMA (Queensland Gallery of Modern Art) was a nice dry spot to spend a few hours. This fantastic (and free!) museum had lots of colorful fun art and installations and plenty of play areas for children to get creative.

After enjoying the museum exhibits we walked over the Go Between Bridge and through an office/business area to The Scratch, a craft beer bar. Our bartender, Patrick, was a great host and gave us a tasting and background of all the beers on draft. To accompany the high gravity beer, we also ordered a smoked cheddar plate that was delicious. While we were there we also discovered that you can bring in your own food (or have it delivered). This bar definitely also felt more like a living room with comfy couches and boardgames leading to a relaxed vibe.

The drafts

• 4 Degrees Wheat- banana and toasty (Eric ordered.)
• Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta – earl grey IPA, lots of anise and hops
• 4 Pines Wee Heavy Scotch Ale – lift yer kilts! Lots of smoky malt. (Leandra ordered.)
• Nogne Imperial Dunkel Witbier – dark and sweet finish
• Bacchus Waimea Golden Bitter- light and fruity, hand pumped and on the warm side

After our first round, we still had some cheese left, so we went to the bottle list. Leandra ordered the Brewboys Seeing Double Wee Heavy and Eric opted for the Moon Dog Magnificent Mullet Billy Ray Citrus (with a name like that how could we not??).

mmm, smoooooky cheeeeese

Semi-dried off, we made our way back to the CityHopper ferry and onto Kangaroo Point to meet up with the family for cocktails in the apartment. Viewing any fireworks was going to be a challenge with all the rain, so we cabbed it over to an indoor meal at the Ship Inn on the south promenade. We found the prices steep, even for Australian standards, but the food was pretty good. Leandra’s bouillabaisse went nicely with a glass of the Allendale Chardonnay, while Eric went with the Wild Earth Riesling and a chicken burger (which was really just a chicken breast on a bun).

The rain worsened on Sunday, so we were stuck inside all day. Thankfully, we had a stocked fridge so Lynn (Leandra’s step-mom) and Steph (step-sister) prepared lamb chops and kangaroo sausages and we watched Djokovic beat Andy Murray in the tennis final.

Monday morning the sun started finally peaking out behind the clouds, so at least my folks had a nice day to cap off the end of their two month trip. We got a cab to the airport — with our first ever female driver — to relax in the Qantas lounge with some sparkling wine, coconut apricot balls and chocolate chip cookies, while we awaited our 747 to Singapore.