Australia

Temperatures are supposed to be around 26C, so we decided somewhere with air conditioning would be good - Brisbane City Hall. While Trev wandered from Central station to King George Square, Sarah and I took a detour to Queen Street, to pick up something for Ken (last minute Bday shopping). King George Square - The bronze Lion sculptures, which "guard" the King George Square entrance to the Brisbane City Hall, were initially on large sandstone plinths, as part of the George V memorial, which was unveiled in 1938, as a tribute to the King from the citizens of Brisbane.There are statues of some famous Queenslanders in a special section of King George Square, which is called "Speakers' Corner". The statues are of Steele Rudd, Emma Miller, and Sir Charles Lilley. Bronze sculptures from the Expo '88 site, including two kangaroos, have also been incorporated into the square's design. Brisbane City Hall, is seen as the heart of Brisbane and has been the backdrop to many cultural, social and civic events.
Our aim today though was to head to the third floor of City Hall where The Museum of Brisbane, which showcases artworks from the City of Brisbane collection as well as contemporary exhibitions by some of the city's leading artists. The two exhibitions on during this month were 'Tastes like Sunshine' and '100% Brisbane', both were interesting but in different ways. The museum prides itself on making sure exhibits cover all the cultures that live and work in Brisbane. 'Tastes Like Summer' is a collection of art work with a food theme running through it; it challenges traditional still life painting to waken all five senses, conjure up memories and reveal shared values through a range of smaller and large-scale art installations - found wood carved to form cutters for shortbread; produce boxes and cartoon signage as well as possum skins treated and painted in traditional ways to form cloaks with food based stories - interesting and thought provoking. However, '100% Brisbane' is an interactive exhibition using a variety of media to create a powerful exhibition telling the history of Brisbane through the eyes of 100 residents who currently call Brisbane their home. The most stunning part of the event was as soon as you walked into the room - projected on the wall were pictures of the 'country' and members of the aboriginal community shared their thoughts on what 'Country' means to them. The Birth of the City from the first convicts and explorers was next followed by a short film exploring Brisbane's history presented by actor and author William McInnes - interesting effects to link each part. the story continued through the Aboriginal people being dispossessed of their land; Tram days; Brisbane river floods and Place all looking at the relationship between people and place and what connects them to the city. This gave an interesting background to everything else we have seen and heard around Brisbane.
To give us a break and a little sustenance for the next part of our day we headed to Shingle Inn for coffee and Lamingtons. Originally opened in 1936 on Edward Street, Shingle Inn was well known for its superior quality cakes, unique environment and outstanding service. Now within City Hall, Shingle Inn continues its tradition as a location that can reach across the generational divide, with much of its internal woodwork and design transferred from the original Edward street cafe, making it an unusual and quaint location - it has the feel of an Old English Tea Room.
We then caught the Bus 471 from Adelaide Street to Mount Coot-tha look out. Mount Coot-tha, which is 287 metres above sea level, has the highest peak in Brisbane. Mount Coot-tha forms the eastern extent of the Taylor Range and is a prominent landmark approximately 6 km to the west of the Brisbane central business district. Before the Moreton Bay penal settlement, Mount Coot-tha was the home of the Yugarapul Aboriginal people.
Early Brisbane people called it One Tree Hill when bush at the top of the hill was cleared except for one large eucalypt tree. The Aboriginal people of the area used to come to the area to collect ‘ku-ta’ (honey) that was produced by the native stingless bee. Mount Coot-tha (Honey Mountain) is a derivative of the indigenous term which replaced the former title ‘One Tree Hill' in 1880 when the area was declared a Public Recreation Reserve.
The look out on top provides a 360 view of Brisbane from the Boondall wetlands and Moreton island right round to Westlake and Mt. French. There are maps and a compass to show people what they should be able to see on a clear day - We could easily make out Southbank with the wheel in front of Qpac. We were not the only ones there though - a number of news crews were taking photos of three guys - after Googling we found out who they were:
Fox News: Brisbane's world title challenger Alex Leapai separated two of the world’s top junior-middleweights at a Mount Coot-tha photoshoot on Tuesday but Dennis Hogan and Yuki Nonaka will be locked together in combat on Saturday night. Hogan, a former Irish champion who moved to Brisbane seven years ago, faces the hard-punching Osaka janitor at the Brisbane Convention Centre. We had a lovely lunch at the look out, then headed home for Clare's Birthday celebrations!!!Read more