Parks Alive!

Our last day in Brisbane promised to be a long one, with our train to the airport not until 6.30pm. So we began the day by heading to the Southbank for breakfast and the Sunday market. The market had a lovely array of crafts and we stopped for a hearty breakfast of juice and toasties at the Dot Cafe before we started spending. The Page Turner stall had caught our attention with lovely prints of quotes or botanical pictures on pages of old Encyclopedia Britannica. After much deliberation, we ended up buying far too many!

We came across the Nepalese pagoda on the walk back up the Southbank which warranted a brief stop, before heading into the CBD for some souvenir and present shopping, including some fabulous smelling tea blends from T2.

Walking back towards the hotel, we went to the Roma Park for the Parks Alive - a two-day event of talks, music and food. After wandering around and enjoying some iced tea, we stopped to listen to the latter half of a packed talk from someone who looked like the Australian Brian Blessed....it turned out to be the famous TV presenter of Gardening Australia and a rather interesting talk. A local cafe entrepreneur followed talking about fermentation and an educationalist talking about the importance of outdoor play, all well worth listening to.

Back in the CBD, we treated ourselves to the 'banquet' at the Fat Noodle in the beautiful old Treasury Building for our last proper meal, before drinks at the Riverside bar in the east of the CBD. This allowed us to grab the free City Hopper ferry back to North Quay as our final farewell to the city before grabbing our bags from the hotel and making our way to the airport...

...goodbye Australia!Read more