More in Brisbane and environs

While waiting for our big trip to Heron Island and the Great Barrier Reef next Sunday (fingers crossed that our beautiful weather holds for that trip--looking a bit iffy at present), we continued our exploration of Brisbane, today in the CBD (central business district).  We more or less made a clockwise loop (from a bird's perspective) starting at the Central Station, going SE to the botanical gardens, then looping back NW to Roma Street Station for the trip home.
From a distance, downtown Brisbane looks like nothing but glass and steel towers, but there are a number of interesting old buildings tucked hear and there among the giants.  Our first stop was at St. Stephen's Cathedral (Catholic), which is a Gothic-style church begun  in 1864, replacing a much smaller church (still located on the grounds and used as a chapel).  The exterior was covered in scaffolding due to a re-roofing job and it has no impressive spires, but the inside was accessible and included beautiful stained glass form Germany, France, Ireland and Australia.  There was also some artwork both inside and on the grounds.

Interior of St. Stephen's Cathedral showing the stained glass from Ireland and the organ pipes.  There is also a very modern, carved crucifix suspended above that is a bit hard to see with the lighting.

We then continued to the botanical gardens, entering across the river from Kangaroo Point with a nice view of the Story Bridge, a beautiful old cantilever-truss bridge about 800 m long and built in the late 1930s.

Susan near the entrance of the botanical gardens with the river and the Story Bridge in the background.

 The botanical gardens had a variety of species including both native Australian specimens and exotic specimens from around the world.  Many of the exotic trees provided a deep shade (much more so than most Australian native trees) so the walk was very pleasant.  We exited the gardens at the Queensland Parliament building, but arrived too early for the tours.  (We intended to return after lunch but found other interesting things that filled up our time and never made it back--maybe sometime before we leave.)

Susan walking under the canopy on on one of the main walkways/bikeways in the botanical gardens.  The river is to the left and the beautiful tree is a poinciana, native to Madagascar.

Paul, Susan and Wesley wandering through a forest(?) of bamboo in the botanical gardens.

The Queensland Parliament building facade facing the botanical gardens.

We then more or less stumbled across the Commissariat Store Museum tucked away near the river by the Treasury Casino.  We knew it was there, but it had not received much publicity, so we didn't have it on our "must see" list.  It was an extremely interesting and a bit disturbing museum mostly about Brisbane's time as a penal colony.  Since we so far had not visited any of the (many) "old gaols" in Australia, this was our first up close and personal encounter with the penal system.  In a couple of words, it was stunningly harsh: shackles, cat o' nine tails, floggings, solitary confinement, etc.  The guide's descriptions were quite vivid and made my stomach feel like it did going through the parasite exhibit (see previous post).  Brisbane was actually the place they sent the prisoners who got in trouble in Sydney, their first stop, so the goal was to inflict physical torture.  We ended up spending almost 2 hours there.

The Commissariat Store building.  The first two floors are original and the third added later.  It was built with prisoner labor and the workmanship is remarkable, especially considering the conditions.  This was not a jail and the bars are to protect the stores (i.e., to keep prisoners out).

After a late lunch break on Queen Street (perfect after the gruesome tales at the museum), we made our way to the city hall, home of the Museum of Brisbane. It was a bit eclectic with some history, some exhibits relating to Brisbane, some Chinese modern art and an exhibit called 100% Brisbane.  The last is one in which museum visitors can interactively add their opinions, their demographic information, their opinions, etc., so that an evolving snapshot of what Brisbane really is emerges.  This type of exhibit has been done in many cities around the world, including Philadelphia and San Diego in the US.  We didn't really have time to do everything justice, but did slip in a quick trip to the top of the city hall bell tower before leaving.  It was built in the 1920s and for many years was the tallest building in Brisbane. It no longer holds that title (and is probably not even in the tip 20 anymore), but it gives a nice view over the city and down at King George Square and the red-brick Uniting Church.

City Hall and clock tower looking across King George Square.  This is also the site of the Museum of Brisbane.

View down from the tower at the spot where the previous photo was taken.  The 1880s red-brick Uniting Church is also seen.

Before catching the train home, we made one final detour to see the old windmill, the oldest building in Queensland.  It was built to mill grain for the prison, but the wind proved insufficient, so the vanes were removed and prisoners took 1-hour shifts on a treadmill to do the milling.  Apparently this was used in place of flogging for some of the more "enlightened" wardens.

The vaneless windmill;  oldest building in Queensland.

Wednesday was our day to go to the "Uni" (University of Queensland) to see Kathy's and Paul's digs and do a little campus sightseeing.  The day got off to a rocky start when I left my pack (including passport and Kindle) on a seat at the boat dock on our way to campus.  Kathy contacted the transit company and a very nice woman named Carrie contacted another boat, whose crew went ashore, collected the pack and delivered it to the central information kiosk, where I picked it up in the afternoon.  So what could have been a disaster was hardly a blip.
We first met Jonathan for some expert commentary during visits to two university museums:  anthropology and antiquities.  The anthropological museum exhibit focused on the Solomon Islands, where Jonathan spent three weeks doing field work. The antiquities museum had several displays on Egyptian, Greek and Roman artifacts with the main exhibit called "Useless Beauty" about luxury and extravagance in Rome.

Carved masks from the Solomon Islands.  The one on the left is late 19th century and on the right is modern for the tourist trade.  The one on the left would have been on the bow of a head hunting canoe.  Ritual head hunting was practiced into the 1920s.

We then walked through the new engineering building, a very stunning structure with a very efficient design, and stopped at a small outdoor cafe adjacent to the building for lunch.

Exterior of the engineering building.  The terra-cotta-colored facade is designed to shade the glass and lower solar gains (which is a major load factor in Queensland).

A view through the trees of the photo-voltaic panels covering most of the roof of the engineering building.  These panels optimize collection by tracking the sun.

Kathy and Jonathan at the cafe right outside the engineering building.  I normally don't post food pictures, but the style with which this food is served at a university eating spot is completely new to me--square plates, crockery, artistically placed garnishes, chop sticks...  In Platteville, one is hard-pressed to find a restaurant that serves with this style, let alone at UWP!

Finally, we wandered around the "Great Court" (what we would probably call a quad in the US, but it was more of a trapezoid and bigger than most quads).  The appearance is quite striking with mottled sandstone walls (randomly set with no attempt at matching) and arched, covered walkways all around.  A feature that adds interest to its attractiveness is the many stone carvings integrated into the facade:  gargoyles, coats-of-arms (from universities world-wide), Queensland flora/fauna, friezes, etc.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these carvings and even a guidebook to help find/identify them.  (There are also numerous blank spots where future carvings can be added.

A view across the Great Court ath the University of Queensland.

A view looking down one of the covered walkways around the perimeter of the court.  You can observe some of the color variation in the sandstone.

Carvings of Darwin (L) and Mendel (R) on the School of Biological Sciences building.  Each carving includes symbolic details relating to the work of each of these men.  Color variations are again observable here.

Coats of arms for UC-Berkeley (L) and Stanford (R).  I'm not sure how universities qualified for inclusion and I'm not sure if it was an accident or not that Berkeley and Stanford are juxtaposed.  Neither UW nor UWP made the grade.

In our wanderings, we also popped into the Physics Building to see the world's longest running experiment (actually more of demo than experiment).  A professor back in the 1920s set up a funnel filled with pitch to demonstrate that even though it felt like and shattered like a solid, it flowed.  In the 90-odd years the apparatus has been there, there have been 9 drops.  (I.e., there is roughly a drop every decade!)  It is now streamed on the web so anyone can sit at home and wait for the tenth drop to fall.

The pitch drop experiment with the web cams trained on the drop.  You can see the drop forming at the outlet of the funnel.

About 3:15 I had to head downtown to pick up my pack.  In walking to the Central Station for the train back to Darra, I did a bit more wandering downtown and visited ANZAC Square and Post Office Square, places that we missed the previous day.

ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) Square with Central Station in the background.  Originally built to honor vets of the Great War, it now includes smaller memorials to subsequent wars.  There is an eternal flame in the center of the circle of columns on the upper level.  The statue in the foreground shows a native of New Guinea helping a wounded Australian soldier during WWII.

Tomorrow will be a holiday, Australia Day, when Brittany wants to show us how to play cricket.

Thursday, 26 January, is Australia Day, celebrating the arrival of the First Fleet at  Botany Bay (Sydney) in 1788 with its cargo of convicts, sailors and overseers.  To Aboriginals, it is known as Invasion Day--it all depends on perspective.  In many ways, it's similar to reactions to Columbus day in the US.  As a holiday, we got up a bit later, had more of the family around and took a break from our sightseeing "job."  The day was pretty mellow with board games, a pool for the kids, a few water balloons and probably the worst game of pick-up cricket ever!  We used a tennis ball, cricket bat and a chair for the wicket.  We played three inning (which normally should take about three days, I think, but we got out so fast that it didn't last long!  Cricket seems painfully slow, but Brittany assures us it's very exciting.)  An old man from the neighborhood sat down to watch and seemed extremely amused by the spectacle--I'm sure he'd never seen cricket played like this before.  (For those who like to keep score, I tied for second, with only Jonathan ahead and Brittany tied--the two Aussies.

Kathy and Susan filling water balloons with Emma watching.

Sky also loved the water balloons but was never able to actually catch one.

Breanna bowling to Kathy w/ Wesley at the wicket and Susan in the field.

Susan at bat.  Our "fan" is at the picnic table.

Me, starting to run after a prodigious hit.  (Well, I think it was enough to get to the other wicket at least!)

We then went home and had snags on the barbie (sausages on the barbecue)--they weren't exactly Wisconsin brats, but were kangaroo!

Sorry, another food photo, but I just had to show the Kanga Banga snags for our grilling.

On Friday, we got back into our rental car for the first time in several days and set off for Lamington National Park on our own.  (Kathy and Paul both had commitments and were no doubt grateful for a bit of break.)  Lamington is near Springbrook (see earlier post) and is also a part of Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Site.  It's about a two-hour drive from Darra, the last 30 km or so on very narrow (often single lane), winding road with blind corners and numerous switchbacks.  On Wesley's GPS, the road looks similar to a small intestine, only slightly straightened.  It is a destination of many one-day bus tours, but by some act of providence there were very few vehicles, let alone large buses, competing with us for space on the road.  (Click for Google Map detail of the road, then zoom in.)
We first visited the park information booth to scout out potential trails and then went on the treetop walk--a highlight of the park.  The treetop walk is actually on private property in the middle of the park, a place called O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat.  (Amazingly, it is free!)  The walk consists of a series of suspension-type foot bridge spans about 16 m above the ground and at one point, there are ladders up a tree to a platform that is about 30 m high.  We have already been in rain forests at ground level, but this gave the opportunity to observe the forest at canopy level.  Unfortunately, but also quite appropriately, it started to rain (in a rain forest--imagine that!) as we climbed to the higher platform.  We then took out a poncho and held it up as a make-shift shelter to wait out the 15-minute rain.  We then continued the walk, still getting wet but with drips from trees instead of rain.  The rain also brought some fog, so views were somewhat restricted.

Susan on one of the suspension spans of the tree top walk.

View down the ladder leading up to the elevated platform.

Susan waiting out the rain under the poncho.

View from the upper platform.  This was the only place above the canopy from which one could actually view the surrounding landscape.

After the walk, it was lunchtime, so we stopped at O'Reilly's Cafe for a bite.  There is also an area near the cafe where the birds can have a bite, courtesy of the tourists who purchase food for them.  (Interestingly, right across the street, on National Park property, feeding of animals is prohibited.)

Some of the folks who purchased bird food got tired of the feeding before the food was all distributed, so it was simply dumped on the ground--the birds didn't seem to care.  Here a bush turkey and crimson rosellas

One of the crimson rosellas took a liking to Siusan's head, even though she had no food for them.

While eating, it started to rain again, so we chilled until the next break in the rain.  We then headed out to make a 4-km walk into the park to view Morans Falls.  After about 15 minutes, it started to rain again and only increased in intensity this time.  Susan and Wesley donned ponchos and I had an umbrella, but it rained hard enough that none of us stayed particularly dry, especially the feet.  We carried on until we arrived at the view point, but basically took a photo and decided to retreat back to O'Reilly's to warm up.  (It was, after all, afternoon tea time!)

Rain forest view on our hike.  Note the massive vines;  some of the trunks were 25-30 cm in diameter.

View of Morans Falls.  Unfortunately, we didn't spend much time here enjoying the scenery.  Note the umbrella to protect the camera from the rain.

Before returning, I glanced at my legs/feet and found a leech attached to my ankle and a couple more on my socks.  Susan and Wesley also looked and found some.  On the way back up, we checked regularly, pulling them off as found and at the car made a final sweep.  In all, I estimate that that we pulled off 20-24 leeches.  Several of them had attached firmly enough that we bled when they were removed.  Of course, leeches inject an anti-coagulant, so the bleeding persists for a half hour or more.  (Sorry, we were too busy trying to get rid of the leeches that there is no photographic record.)
Having inspected our shoes, socks, shirts, ponchos, etc., for additional leeches, we headed back down the serpentine road, this time in a steady rain.  With patience, we got back to Darra without incident.
Saturday was mostly a day of preparation for the trip to Heron Island.  As it is a self-contained resort, we don't need food, linens, etc., however we need to do laundry, pack and get sun protection items as needed.  We went to a shopping center (mall in the US) for some of these items, so we got to see a bit of the suburban shopping experience.  Some was quite familiar:  Target, K-Mart,... while some were not:  independent butcher, green grocer, fish market; unfamiliar store names, covered parking.  All in all, it was comparable with many malls in the US.  For lunch, we went to the cafe in the senior apartment complex where Jessica works and enjoyed her culinary creations.  It's impressive what she can turn out with little more than sandwich presses.  We then explored a little in parkland along the river reclaimed from the site of an old coal-fired power plant.  Part of the grounds includes the Queensland Tennis Complex as well as some exclusive, riverside high rises.  We picked up a brochure for a 4-bedroom, 3-bath for a bit under $3 million (but it's Australian dollars, so we could still be in the hunt 😁).