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South Bank Parklands (Brisbane, Australia)
by catsholiday Brisbane South Bank Park I left Brisbane which had been my home for thirteen years and brought my two young children back home to England to start a new life by ourselves in April 1989. We had spent the previous year enjoying the wonderful Expo 88 which was on the South bank of the Brisbane River. As we had season tickets I ... must have taken the children at least three times a week as there was always something new to see or do there. After Expo finished there was a lot of discussion as to what should be done with the area. Some eco conservationists wanted in returned to natural parkland whist others wanted something a bit more exciting that would be used by more people than dog walkers and joggers. Finally after a lot of fuss the plans for the South Bank Parkland were published and it looked like Brisbane was going to get a really lovely missed area with some rainforest areas, some cafe and restaurants and some play areas and pools all alongside the river and next to the museums and art galleries that were already there. I left before this was finished and so when we returned to Brisbane in 2010 I was very interested in seeing this new area by the river known to locals as the South Bank. Unfortunately the one thing that Brisbane has learned to do in the last 30 years was to charge exorbitant fees for parking the car anywhere near the city. We parked a little way away from the South Bank but a walk able distance and for 3 hours parking we paid nearly $25 which is London prices and a totally outrageous price. The same is charged at the Airport and other places in the city. The idea of this being they want you to use the public transport, buses, the River Cat (wasn't running when we were there because the river was dangerously high) and trains. That is all very fine and jolly if you know where and how to get this transport and if you are not making your way from one area, passing through Brisbane briefly before driving on to the next place. You have to leave your car somewhere secure as it is full of all your luggage so a car park is really the only option. My husband was NOT impressed. Anyway, to the park which we walked to through the South Bank railway station and then just under the end of the Victoria Bridge which crosses the river from the South Bank into the city. It has been very well done and we enjoyed walking through the lovely rainforest area on the wooden walkways and seeing the tropical flowers and huge trees. If you looked carefully you could spot the odd tiny frogs but they were pretty well hidden, unfortunately the mosquitoes were not quite so shy and they were plentiful in this area which spoilt it a little. Sadly, I understand from my friends that this area was pretty well washed away in the floods at the start of this year. The one exhibit that remained from Expo was the Nepalese Pagoda which was a gift to Brisbane from Nepal. It is very pretty but a little out of place. However this was another feature that suffered in the recent flood but hopefully it will be restored to its former glory as it was pretty and a reminder of Expo 88. It was also somewhere peaceful to sit in the shade which is always a bonus in the hot summer days. There were a number of pools including a huge beach area which had paddling areas and some deeper pools. There was a lot of controversy over the deeper areas as some people felt they were dangerous. Recently pool laws and fencing regulations for private pools have been tightened but this beach area and pool is to remain unfenced. Many are concerned as a lot of young people do drink and then hang around the area but my view is they want to drown themselves then they will. This area is right beside the huge Brisbane River so people are just as likely to fall in there and drown if they are drunk. The river edge has a wall but it is not that high and then there are rocks and then the river. The walk way goes all along the river from the Captain Cook bridge to the Story Bridge with a break in the middle which was being done up when we were there. Apart from these pool areas and sandy mock beaches there are playgrounds with swings, slides and climbing things for younger children. They have tried to provide shade by planting trees and having large umbrellas type sail covers which keeps some of the sun off in summer. The part I was most impressed with was the beautiful bougainvillea arch which was a long tunnel of purple and green that went for some distance along the inner part of the park near the cafes and restaurants. We sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee at a cafe and were immediately joined by three enormous ibis which wander round the park a bit like pigeons in Trafalgar square. You can't turn your back on your food as they are very cheeky and just hop up on the table while you are there eating They stand about two foot high and have huge long pointed beaks about 10 inches long so they are a force to be reckoned with. You are not meant to feed them but they don't wait to have food offered they just help themselves. There are, or were prior to the big flood, at least twenty cafes and restaurants in the park but don't think this is a cheap place to eat. Nowhere in Australia is cheap it seems. We paid nearly £10 for a couple of coffees and when we looked at the rather smart restaurant the prices were easily English prices if not a bit more. We had made some sandwiches in our hotel at the Gold Coast and so we ate these sitting like a couple of oldies on a bench watching the river rushing by and the seagulls perching on posts enjoying a bit of sunshine which we had not seen much of at all while we were in Queensland, the so called 'Sunshine State'. I enjoyed the chance to wander around the park and thought that it was a good use of the area but I know many people in Brisbane do not like it. So sad that so much of it was washed away in the big floods in January this year 2011 and it has taken a lot of money and effort to get it back and running again. A lot of the park is open again and the main pools are open and have been since Easter week end although the big lagoon pool is still being repaired. According to the website these parts of the park are now open; the children's play park the Boat pool and all the retailers bar two are trading. The markets are running again as normal on Friday evenings from 5pm and on Saturdays and Sundays during the day. The South Bank CityCat and City Ferry terminals have re-opened as well so one more option to save you paying exorbitant car parking in the car parks. If you are visiting in the near future you will still have part of the park fenced off while repairs continue to the main lagoon, the rainforest walk and the rainforest, and the riverside restaurants. So it will be a while before it is fully restored to the lovely park and entertainment area it was. Although it was sad that so much of Brisbane was destroyed and I really felt for all my friends and relatives out there, it was a huge relief that in the main it was only property that suffered. With a lot of hard work and money the people of Queensland will get back to normal in time unlike those poor souls in Japan. So if you are visiting Brisbane take a walk down to the South bank area. I would suggest trying another way other than taking the car. There are buses from various parts of the city and suburbs and there are trains as well as the River cat which normally runs up and down across the river except when the river is dangerously full and fast flowing. The South bank area is also the home of the Brisbane Museum, theatre and art Gallery complex where exhibitions are held and you can see plays and performances so this part of the city is a good place to be near. If you are staying in the actual city then it is simply a matter of walking across the Victoria Bridge and you are there. Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same user name. İCatsholiday Read the complete review |
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Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
by thedevilinme So, now that we don't need the salt any more for the roads lets send it Down Under to rub in Australia's wounds, an impressive test victory at the MCG sealing the return of The Ashes. Not only did Strauss boys turn them over in front of 85,000 home fans but the innings and 157 run victory was the biggest since the days of Jim Laker and ... uncovered wickets, a very big win indeed, the end of an era for Australian cricket. Melbourne (1998), of course, was the last time England won a test match in Australia before this series and that was a dead rubber, England already 3-0 down. But this was an emphatic test victory you can get to secure the Urn Down Under after a 24 year wait and wont be forgotten by those who were there. Australia are not the fourth best test team in the world for nothing. With just India and South Africa above England now we can start to think the unthinkable, England number one in the world. Steyn and Morkel and Tendulker and Dravid will be a big test to get past but we can get close next year. I have been to Australia twice, once for a two week holiday to watch cricket and once for a year out there, which I also spent following cricket, including attending the memorable World Cup Final in front of 80,000 fans, mostly English. We lost to Pakistan that day but I had bet on them at 11-1 at the start of the tournament so it softened the blow. We also joined the teams 'commiseration' celebrations in the hotel bar after, where Gladstone Small, he of no neck, did the Gladstone Small shoulder dance on top of the bar. -The Venue- The stadium is a huge concrete bowl, the size of Australia's ego when it comes to sport and cricket, the largest stadium in Australia and holds the world record for the highest light towers at any sporting venue, heating it up even more, 110 degrees the last time I was there. It's so big that its yearly admittance is more than the people who live in the city. If you are up in the nose bleeds then the pitch is the size a stamp. Ticket prices forcricket when I was last there were very cheap, just $40 Aus dollars (£16) to watch the World Cup Final. Test match prices were around $60 this test I understand. Located close to the centre the MCG is also remembered as the centerpiece stadium of both the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Throughout the autumn and winter, it serves as the home of Australian Rules Football (the one with the silly tiny shorts), with at least one game-sometimes more-held there each round. The stadium fills to capacity for the AFL Grand Final in late September and quite an atmosphere. What the groundsman make of that is another thing, cricket booted off the square for the first Aussie Rules game as early as April! No less than four Aussie rules sides play their home matches there. No wonder Warney got so much rip there! It's well worth taking a game of Aussie Rules in if you're out there in the autumn winter period. It is a very violent sport and non stop action. The MCG is often referred to by locals as "The G" and has also hosted other major events, including Gaelic footy, Rugby union and State of Origin rugby league, as well as soccer matches, FIFA World Cup qualifiers and International Friendly matches brining in huge gates. It's also used for rock concerts and the like. According to wikkipedia David Cassidy played the first ever gig there back in 1976; 'Slick' the support act. Some of you will remember those two cuties. Up until the early 1970s, 120,000 people plus could cram in - the record crowd standing at around 130,000, bizarrely for a Billy Graham evangelistic crusade in 1959, followed by 121,696 for the 1970 VFL Aussie Rules Grand Final. Redevelopments have limited the seating capacity to just over 100,000. This makes it the tenth largest stadium in the world. If 90.900 plus had attended the test last week it would have broken the seated world record for a cricket match. The previous highest was Aussie V West Indies in 1961, 90,821 seats purchased. The record should have fallen last week but for the Australian Cricket Board forgetting to sell the remaining tickets MCG members didn't want to Barmy Army fans. It was the location for the first ever test match back in 1877 (1862 saw the first ever cricket international) and also the worlds first ever one-day international, a 40 over affair back in 1971 between England and Australia and, of course, it was the scene of the famous centenary test back in 1977. NSW ran up the highest ever first-class score of 1107 runs in an innings here in the 1940s. It was also the ground that Shaun Tait bowled the fastest ever delivery in cricket and where the Chappell brothers contrived to bowl an under arm delivery so the batsmen couldn't hit a six off the last ball to win a one-day international back in 1981. Controversial umpire Darrell Hair also called Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing here, resulting in neutral umpires appointed for all further tests around the world. Muttiah was legally allowed to carry on bending his arm whilst Hair carried on chasing headlines, resulting in that annulled test match in England. Oh and Merv Hughes famously came second in a Merv Hughes look-alike competition here at David Boons benefit. -The Big Match- If Perth was a traditional Aussie wicket then Melbourne was Pom conditions, a bouncy fast track replaced with a slow English style seamer, a toss you didn't want to lose in front of 86, 456 punters. The Aussies had momentum and so asked the groundsman to leave a bit of grass on, keeping their battery of four quickies from Perth, but Strauss winning the spin and putting Aussie in on it and so negated that advantage. England were brilliant, bowling the same nagging line outside off stump with swing and angle, Australia all-out for a catastrophic 98, every single dismissal caught behind the wicket, a record six for Prior. Andersen and Tremlett were immaculate, as was Bresnan, the shell-shocked Ponting sneaking off in front of those 88,145 fans with his head held low. It was Australia's lowest Ashes score against England at home since 1938, and the lowest against England at the MCG in the grounds history, clearly not Plan A. Its 45 years since we bowled the old enemy out for less than 100. If that was impressive then how about 157-0 at the close at four an over, both Cook (82) and Strauss (69) set for hundreds, the Ashes all but secured. Day two saw 67,456 people see Siddle nip out the openers early with the final lick of movement on the ball before Pietersen (51) and Trott get in and shared a near 100 stand to take the game further away from Australia. Another wobble saw the middle-order get out cheap, England at 267-5 and hope for OZ, before keeper Prior (85) joined Trott (168*) for another big stand (173) and that was that for an Australian win, England posting 513, Siddle cleaning up the tail with 6-75, the only bowling plus for team Aus this series. Ricky Ponting was fined 40% of his match fee for arguing with the umpire as his frustration boiled over as accepted the likelihood that he would be the first ever Ashes captain to lose three Ashes series. Australia's reply started well after lunch on day three, 99-1 making you think - well what if the Aussie batting fires this time? But once Watson fell Lbw for 54 they quickly collapsed to 158-6, the splattering of Ponting's stumps a suitable metaphor for his chances of keeping The Ashes and the captaincy. Australia had a late and resigned whack in front of a mainly English crowd on day four with Haddin finishing unbeaten on 55* and Saddle making 40, before Bresnan nipped out the final one to reclaim The Ashes, the final moments missed by anyone listening in on Radio Four4 as the ubiquitous Shipping Forecast was being called. England celebrated with the sprinkler dance and headed for the beach and bars. Ponting refused to resign. With him being rested for the final test I don't think he will ever play again. ****Verdict***** There's no coming back from being bowled out for 98 and giving the Pom's the perfect English conditions to bowl on was crazy. A flat wicket five day consolidating draw was what was required and so on to Sydney for the thrilling decider. Conceding 500 three times in the series is all you need to know about Australia's bowling without Warne and McGrath. The likes of mercenary Trott have been the difference in the England team years and this series victory feels hollow to me and we have just too many Saffers in the side to call them England. He is second only to the great Tendulker in test runs scored this year. -Result- England beat Australia by an innings and 157 runs. If you want to be naughty and watch free Ashes cricket online then accidentally click this link below. http://webcric.com/live-cricket-streaming-3.htm Read the complete review |
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RnR White Water Rafting (Tully River, Australia)
by mizzy The day after my skydive I decided I would book white water rafting. RnR were recommended to me and I can certainly say they were a great company. They picked me up from my hostel at Mission Beach, then we drove down to their office inside a pub in Tully. We were then picked up by a larger coach that had come from ... cairns. We could hire wet weather shoes and a thermal vest which I was so glad I had as it was freezing! The weather was cloudy but not too much rain, which was great as there wasnt too bad a glare from the water. You cant wear sunglasses unless you have a strap as they will fall off. We had 6 people in our raft including our hilarious instructor. We went down so many rapids I cant even remember which was which, but at one our instructor tipped us out of the boat. We also floated down one rapid which was amazing although a bit like drowning. We wore hard hats and life jackets so I felt completely safe. It was a thrill and a great day out but not as good as skydiving. I would thoroughly recommend this company to anyone in the Noth Queensland area of Australia. It was a fun day, I bought the dvd and it was so funny to see our faces going down the rapids. If you cant swim dont worry you are still allowed to do it! It costs around $200 but I got a special offer through my old work. Read the complete review |
Australia Sightseeing International |
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1 review Sightseeing International / |
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1 review White water rafting on the Tully River, Cairns. - www.raft.com.au / Sightseeing International /tully.html |
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1 review Address: Front St / Sightseeing International / Hamilton Island / Queensland / Australia / 4803 / Tel: +61 07 4946 8613 |
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Sightseeing International / Fraser Explorer Tours are operated by the Kingfisher Bay Resort Group, which also incorporates Kingfisher Bay Resort, Eurong Beach Resort, Fraser Island Barges and Fraser Island Cool Dingo Tours. |
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Sightseeing International / Information: Whale watching cruises depart daily 1 June to 31 October at 9.00am from Mariners Cove Marina next to Marina Mirage, Main Beach. |
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Sightseeing International / The Great Ocean Road stretches the entire length of the coast and was built after WWI |
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Sightseeing International / Cultural centre which displays the traditions and way of life of the aborigine people of Northern Territory |
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1 review Sightseeing International / Take in the sunset flight over Byron Bay, Australia and see the sights from above! - Take in the sunset flight over Byron Bay, Australia and see the sights from above! |
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Sightseeing Type: Tours / Sightseeing International / Address: 287 Draper Street / Cairns / Queensland / 4870 / Australia - Snorkeling, diving and day crusies to the Outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. |
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Address: Middleton / Sightseeing International / Fleurieu Peninsula / South Australia - The tours operated include: Learn to Surf, Guided Sea Kayak tours and Kangaroo Island Wildlife Adventures. |
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