This is my stop!

I'm off back to Europe for a few weeks.... England, Ireland and Crete here I come, yahoo!! I've got a post ready for the City Daily Photo theme day on 1st of July but other than that you won't hear from me until July 21st or 22nd. 

Make the most of it

The rain is coming. A wet weekend beckons in Brisbane town!

View from City Hall

At 92m, City Hall in Brisbane used to be the tallest building in town until the 1960s. Now it's completely dwarfed by the huge towers that are going up in the CBD but it's still fun (and free) to go up to the clock tower in an ancient manual-operated lift. You get a different perspective on the city from up there. This is looking north-west with Albert Street on the right, Roma Street train station and Roma Street parklands.

Blanket with your coffee?

My favourite place to sit and have a coffee is on the Goodwill Bridge. Great staff, lovely coffee and a picture-postcard view. (No, I'm not being paid to write that.) This was taken a couple of weeks ago from a moving CityCat so apologies for the blurriness. As you can see, it was warm enough to take your shirt off while canoeing down the river. It's chilled down to about 20 degrees celcius (68f) which means winter woolies for many Brisbane folks. I know. I used to laugh... but you get acclimatised after a few years. And if you're having coffee on the bridge at this time of year they even provide blankets. Toasty!

Cranes Everywhere

Brisbane is in the middle of a building boom with cranes everywhere. This is the the junction of Adelaide and George streets on the site of the old law courts. They are building a high-rise luxury hotel - work has just finished on the 7-level basement. It looks like there was a recent break-in to the site and someone took the machinery for a bit of a joyride costing $100K worth of damage... but things appear to be back on track now. Enjoy the rare expanse of sky while you can!

Aussie

 

I've been trying to snap one of these posters for the past couple of weeks but Brisbane City Council have been very quick to remove them.

Click here for more info...

Hard Boiled Egg

 The wheel was yellow in the middle and white around the outside last night. I told my daughter it was just like an egg and to which she gave me a look like "that's stretching it a bit". Then we arrived at our destination visiting friends staying at Casino Towers with this amazing view and -hey presto- check out the reflection in the river!

Ibises

The sacred ibis isn't so sacred in Brisbane. They have adapted well to urban life here and hang out anywhere there might be a free meal such as park barbeques and bins. That long bill is perfect for dipping in and pulling out tasty discarded morsels.

Buy Local Eat Local

In an effort to buy more local produce I've joined a local food buying group. We've got quite a few popping up all over Brisbane. We try and order fruit, vegetables and eggs from local farmers. We've also got local dairies, bakeries and grocery suppliers on board and some of our members even sell their own stuff too... meaning our trips to the supermarket are less frequent and we spend a lot less of our money there.

Do You See The Light?

Stained glass in the sunshine, Bulimba.

Underwater Doorway Girl

Another offering tucked away in a quiet road by street artist Barek.

Writer's block at Urban Rowing

Breeze in

 This is one of many building sites along the river in West End. A few years ago this was an industrial area. Today, it is unrecognisable. There is a feeling of impending doom among the community as the market gets more and more saturated with luxury apartments with names like Breeze, Light and Co, Vida and Virtuoso. There have been petitions, protests and numerous submissions to council to reduce the amount of development so that it is sustainable but it largely has fallen on deaf ears.

Thirst Quencher

We haven't had much rain to speak of for months. Our summer this year was very dry and that's when we normally get the bulk of our year's rain. But now, 4 days into our official winter, it isn't just raining - it's an "event" according to the media. It's been pouring steadily in Brisbane since last night and is forecast to continue throughout the day delivering totals of between 100 and 200 mls. My plants will be happy!

What's happening in Bulimba right now?

Art classes, choir, senior citizens group, baby massage, father and baby group, baby goods for sale (lots of babies round here!) dance classes, cleaning services, weight loss group, pilates, ultimate frisbee, furniture for sale, a theatre production and a penthouse apartment with big balcony and courtyard pool to enjoy it all from for $415pw. And possibly a cat.

View from the MOB

Taken from inside the Museum of Brisbane looking across the dome of City Hall.

June Theme Day: Shadows and HIghlights

Here's my take on the City Daily Photo theme Shadows and Highlights. Morning breaking through the kitchen windows at work. Plenty of shadows and the prospect of food which, for me, is always a highlight.

To check out what other City Daily Photo bloggers have posted for this theme, click here.