Kangaroo Point from Mowbray Park

Momentary

Checking out this delicate and intricate installation inspired by light and reflection in Brisbane. The artist is Kenji Uranishi and it's at the Museum of Brisbane. Read more here.

Riding beneath the Gateway Bridge

Kate Tempest at Avid Reader last night.

Australia is being treated to a book tour by London rapper, poet and novelist Kate Tempest. Last night she was being interviewed at my local bookshop, Avid Reader. She's promoting her novel, some of which she performed from memory with the same rhythm and intensity that she gives her poetry. It gets you deep down.

Meanwhile at the Vet in Moorooka...

Juice Bar Art

Watermelon carvings outside the juice bar in the Brisbane Square markets.

Alighting at North Quay

The downside of Brisbane's public transport system is that it costs a fortune to go anywhere. There isn't a maximum fare per day so if you were intent on a long day traveling all over the place, you rack up some serious dollars. You can lower the cost of each trip by getting a Go Card or if you pay cash, get all your travel done within 2 hours and your initial ticket is the only one you need to buy.

The upside of Brisbane's public transport system is the CityCat. It's a network of catamarans that run from the University in St. Lucia in the south to Northshore, north east of the city towards the Gateway Bridge. You just can't beat cruising along the river with the sun on your face and the wind in your hair.

Thank Truck It's Thursday!

There's a catering mob in South Brisbane called Wandering Cooks. On a Thursday evening their office carpark plays host to 3 or 4 food trucks and they change each week - the night is called Thank Truck It's Thursday. There's an outdoor fireplace, some fake grass, tables and chairs and also a bar if you want to make things civilised.

Early Morning Constitutional

This is looking east from the Gateway Bridge. The horizon is a thick haze due to all the smoke from industrial chimneys.

Flat White at Cafe 63 in Yeronga

Owl in shining armour

This plastic owl is supposed to keep the rest of the birds - especially kookaburras - from swooping on to the balcony at work and stealing the lunch from our forks (it has happened!). Mostly it seems to be working but there are a few magpies who have cottoned on and are happy to peck at the crumbs.

Great Brisbane Bike Ride 2016

Yesterday was the primary event in Bicycle Queensland's Bike Week - the Grest Brisbane Bike Ride a giant bike ride with over 2,000 participants. Riders can choose between 40, 75 and 110km routes. They close off or partially close dozens of roads that are normally choked with traffic. Traffic light signals switch to flashing amber in the city and an army of volunteers and police give cyclists as much help as they can. There was a bit of a bottle neck at the Moggill Ferry as hundreds of riders arrived and the ferry man said he could only take 60 people at a time.

It was about an hour and a quarter between the two photos. That's the ferry with the cars on it. Luckily for us, the 40km ride on the other side of the river had a lot less hills than the preceding 70kms!

No Parking On The Grassed Areas

Paddle's Up!

Despite the fact that I have lived in this part of the world for 11 years, I still don't know a paddle board from a surf board. I took this photo thinking "Wow - not much in the way of surf today. What's he doing??". Aaaanyway... this is a paddle board - it's bulkier than a surf board and has a non-slippy surface that you can kneel on while paddling around with a paddle.

Tinpan Orange play on my mate Kirsty's deck.

Bands that would normally play festivals and big venues are playing mini gigs in people's houses all around Australia thanks to this mob called Parlour. It's such a great idea. You pay for your ticket (much cheaper than an official venue) and you get the relaxed setting with friends and neighbours, up close and personal with the band.  Last night about 50 of us relaxed on to my friend Kirsty's deck for a gig by the fabulous Tinpan Orange. With BYO drinks -and for a gold coin donation curry and a cake- it really doesn't get better than that!

 

Practice practice practice

This Sunday is the start of Bike Week in Queensland. The flagship event is the Great Brisbane Bike Ride which includes cycling up Mount Coot-tha. OK, it's less of a mountain and more of a 2.5km hill so we're not talking Tour De France or anything but it's challenge enough for your average everyday cyclist. This week there have been lots of cyclists squeezing in some last minute practice each morning. The light here at this time of year is beautiful and all you can smell is eucalyptus forest and all you can hear are birds and the sound of your own gasping and wheezing. Sublime.

Barek

I love the little characters this artist paints. This is stuck on the side of one of those little telephone exchange boxes. It's just a few centimetres wide.

See more here.

Reward

Yesterday morning's fog draped over the city as seen from the lookout at Mt. Coot-tha. It would have been a better shot if I had been bothered to lug my SLR up the hill but it was hard enough on the bike without it. This was taken with my phone camera. Pretty lovely anyway and a nice reward for getting out of bed at the crack of dawn and hoisting myself up the hill.

Paste up, The Valley

Happy Mother's Day!

Breakfast was made for me this morning by my 13 year old daughter. It's 2 pancakes with jam in the middle and icing sugar on top!

(Luckily for her there were plenty of off-cuts to eat. Unluckily for her dad there's a pile of washing up)