Brisbane

Featured Image by: Laine Forrest

“It doesn’t matter where you’re going, it’s who you have beside you.”

Brisbane (Outdoor Adventures)

Coming from the parents I come from (read here if you don’t know their story), I certainly have a love for traveling that runs through my blood. However, we didn’t do so much traveling overseas after I was about 4 years old; my parents chose to settle down in the “Land of Enchantment” – also known as, New Mexico.

As much as I loved my childhood, one thing I didn’t grow up with is the camaraderie of close extended family. My dad’s side mostly all lived in Chicago (over a 14-hour drive from New Mexico), and my mom’s side lived either in Canada, or overseas (much more than a 14-hour drive). When I had the opportunity to play basketball in Australia, I was ecstatic at the idea of meeting so many of my mom’s family, as, no exaggeration, they mostly all live here! David jokes that I have family in every Australian city, except Adelaide!

My mom was born and raised in Zimbabwe – a country in Africa. Some of her family still live there, but most emigrated to Australia after things with the government got a little dangerous. After being here a while, I’ve come to discover that there are a lot of people from Africa who live in Australia. Why wouldn’t they choose America like my mom did? Well, for one, they may not have had a handsome American sweep them off their feet, but what I commonly hear is that the Australian climate and culture is similar to that of southern Africa, and it’s the closest thing to home they can get. (In my opinion, Australia is pretty great, so I wouldn’t question them anyway.)

L. to R: Cousin Celia, Great-Aunty Rita, Cousin Mike, Great-Uncle Rob, and Me

As you can imagine, as soon as I made the long plane ride over, it wouldn’t be long till I met some of these relatives for the first time! When David and I found out there was a break during the season, we first booked plane tickets for Brisbane as quickly as possible, where both my first cousin, once removed (Mike), great uncle (Rob), and my aunt (Laine) and their families live. Meeting some of my family members for the first time, and seeing cousins I had met when I was younger now all grown up was my favorite part, but sightseeing was definitely a bonus! Here are a few cool outdoorsy places we visited while staying with my cousin’s family:

Tamborine Mountain (Tamborine National Park)

Enter into the rainforest of ginormous-trunked and weirdly-shaped trees, whistling, colorful birds, and the historic Curtis Falls; this national park was incredible! My initial reaction to the beauty around me was the realization that I had never actually been in a rainforest before!

The hike to Curtis Falls was like non other – it was like walking through a jungle I had only seen in the movies. As you can see, it turned into a very interactive trek!

The road where the forest entry lies, is also lined with shops, including Tambourine Mountain Teapots (not my cuppa tea – although enjoyable to peruse – but a collector’s dream I’m sure!), Australian Outback Opals (much too expensive, but absolutely gorgeous to look at!)…

…and, of course, plenty of ice cream shops to choose from! We went for the one with the prettiest outdoor seating! 😉

Seriously, are those not the cutest seats you’ve ever seen? Oh, and if you happen to stop in there at some point of your life, I highly recommend the sticky date pudding ice cream! I tasted this before I knew the glories of Australia’s delicious sticky date pudding, and, as foreign as it sounded to me, I did not walk away disappointed.

The Gold Coast (Mermaid Beach)

As I’ve probably mentioned before, and probably will mention over and over, the beaches of Australia are stunning, and the Gold Coast is one of the best. Of course, it was beautiful, but David and I were just happy to see some waves to enjoy some body surfing!

Now, not only do beaches in Australia never seem to be packed, but this was the middle of May – the Australian winter – and no one seemed interested in catching any waves except for us and my awesome cousins! Keep in mind, there were people walking around in winter coats – because Queensland is just blessed with awesome weather, and the locals think anything below temperate is cold – but it really was not cold. We had such a blast fighting the waves and losing over and over!

Wellington Point Park (Banyan Trees)

Are you scared of heights? Then I suggest you don’t climb the trees at this park! Or, if you’re like me and you don’t realize how scared of heights you are until you start climbing a thick branch, then just keep crawling – you’re already there; may as well get a good pic out of it!

Really though, these trees were quite amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it – the branches form what are called buttress roots that grow towards the ground and, after eventually establishing contact with the ground, can grow up to 30 meters below the soil. I found it to be very fascinating and quite a wonder of nature!

As much joy as our outdoor adventures brought me, I loved simply sitting in the house sipping on tea and honey made from the bees in their backyard, and hearing all the stories of my mom growing up in Africa. It was the closest I felt to my parents since leaving America and I couldn’t believe I had grown up not knowing these people who are now so dear to my heart.

Brisbane (City Life)

Aunty Laine, Toni, Nikki, and Me

The city, or, as they call it here, Central Business District (CBD) of Brisbane is bustling with beauty, and really not so much hustle. A lot of Australians will talk negatively of big cities in Australia, but for an American, the hustle of a big city in Australia faintly measures up to that in America. I found Brisbane, in particular, a very lovely city. After staying with my first group of relatives, we met my aunt, uncle and cousins in the CBD. This family visited my family in America a few times when we were all younger, and those memories would require a whole other post! But what a treat it was to reminisce together and make more memories. Here are a few of the cool places we went while staying with them:

CBD/Grand Arbour/Botanic Gardens/Ella’s Pink Lady

The Grand Arbour is an icon of Brisbane’s South Bank Parklands. It stretches along the pathway as the curling steel columns arch above your head. We happened to go at just the right time, as the pink bouganvilleas were in full blossom! The pathway took us past a community garden called the Epicurious Garden. I was fascinated by the “picking protocol” that I presume helps make such a thing at all possible in a city. We continued the walk past the man-made beach called Streets Beach; unfortunately, it was drained for the winter, but I could imagine what a cool place it’d be in the summer! The other spectacular, but natural water feature winding through the city is the Brisbane River, which I found to be most stunning from an airplane window; it reminds me of a snake delicately slithering as if to miss the surrounding buildings.

CityCat ferries on the Brisbane River are a normal form of transportation to get around the city as well. We chose to walk the path with the river on one side and the Botanic Gardens on the other. We also walked passed the Maritime Museum spotting the iconic “Ella’s Pink Lady” – a 34-foot yacht sailed by Jessica Watson; the youngest person to sail solo around the world. It took her 210 days at age 16!

I also couldn’t help but notice the remarkable architecture of Brisbane’s CBD, as we headed to lunch at an Italian restaurant called Vapiano. It was like an Italian Subway with a made-to-order pizza and pasta bar. Mmmm yumm…

Mt. Coot-tha Summit

After lunch, we set out for Mt. Coot-tha Summit Lookout and got to see the beautiful city and the Brisbane River running through. There are great hiking trails filled with the many wildlife species such as the 150 bird species, but we enjoyed it from a distance.

Noosa Beach (Sunshine Coast)

The next day we packed into the car and headed out to the Sunshine Coast to see Noosa Beach. The weather was mostly rainy that day, so no one was up for body surfing, but the beach was still breathtaking.

We also walked along window shopping on Hastings Street and stopped in a cute little coffee shop to enjoy cappuccinos and banana bread.

On our way home we stopped for lunch as my relatives were shocked that we had never been introduced to Nando’s before and they couldn’t allow that for one day longer! Perri Perri Sauce is now a commodity in our house, and you’re probably not Australian if you’ve never had Nando’s Perri Perri Chicken before.

Our Brisbane trip was coming to an end as the sun was lowering behind the horizon. One last Aussie experience was on the list, however, before we could close the evening – bird feeding!

The beautiful Australian birds are one of my favorite things about living in this country; their songs bring peace and their colors take me to another realm… My uncle Gordon feeds the birds every night, right outside their front door. I couldn’t have asked for better memories.

I’m so grateful for this country, and yes I do love it here, but I know my adventures wouldn’t be the same without the family beside me.

Thanks so much for reading! If you like this post, follow me on Instagram and Twitter, or like my page on Facebook!

Cheers,

Joyful Jot