Tuesday April 2, was the first really rainy day of our trip. It had rained during the night, stopped for a very short time, and then rained heavily on and off for most of the day and evening. Unfortunately, there aren't any cultural sites or other things to do in Byron Bay except hang at the beach and visit a limited number of shops. We still wandered into town during the day, but headed back to the Airbnb for dinner. Our host rents 4 rooms and they were all occupied. We talked to two groups of young German women in their early 20s who were travelling for a few months in New Zealand and Australia.
 |
| "Bin Chicken" in Byron Bay on our street in the morning. |
We had a late morning coffee at Top Shop, about a 5 minute walk from the Airbnb. We managed to get there before the rain started again.
 |
| Top Shop |
 |
| Free range eggs, local, organic ham, bacon and sausage. |
 |
| Alain with his coffee under pic of Big Sur. |
 |
| View down the street from Top Shop |
 |
| Very beachy feel at Top Shop |
We checked out a few more stores in town and then were able to eat a late lunch outside at Bay Leaf before the afternoon torrential rains.
 |
| We shared a roast potato flat bread with wonderful roast vegetables-- the brunch and lunch choices are very imaginative. |
 |
| Alain with lunch--- we shared this plate of food. |
The rain was not pleasant so we stopped at Byron Bay Fresh later in the afternoon to share a vegan banana cupcake.
 |
| Great vegan choices |
On the way back to the Airbnb we saw a tree full of colourful birds. We are going to miss all the wonderful tropical birds we have seen on our trip.
 |
| Colourful birds in Byron Bay. |
When we got back to the Airbnb, all the young women from the other three rooms were there. We all cooked our separate dinners in the kitchen and chatted around the table. Marion, our host, said she had never seen so many people in her kitchen at one time. Rain can do that. We arranged to take an earlier shuttle bus to Brisbane the following day as rain was again predicted for Byron Bay.
Wednesday April 3, was cloudy with on and off rain in Byron Bay. At 10:30 a.m. we were picked up by Easy Bus shuttle which seats about 20 people (bus was about 3/4 full). We made good time and got dropped at the Brisbane bus station at about noon, Brisbane time. Brisbane is in Queensland, the next State over from New South Wales, where both Sydney and Byron Bay are located. Brisbane does not change its clocks for Daylight Savings Time and is, therefore, an hour earlier than Byron Bay. Most of Australia moves their clocks back one hour on Sunday, but Brisbane does not change its time. For us, it means that sunset is an hour earlier now. We started our trip in Auckland with 2 1/2 extra hours of sun in the evening and will end our trip in Brisbane, with about two hours less of sun in the evening than Toronto. However, the high on Wednesday in Brisbane was 26C!!
Brisbane is Australia's third largest city with a population of around 2.4 million. In the past, Brisbane has been regarded as an outsize country town, overshadowed by Sydney and Melbourne. It is changing with a number of new developments and a large arts precinct and many art galleries. The Brisbane River carves the city into many different neighbourhoods.
We are staying at an Airbnb in a very good location for walking to everything. We have a one bedroom apartment on the first floor (second floor in North America) in an older heritage building called 'The New Yorker' which has very high ceilings and wood floors.
 |
| Living room, kitchen and separate bedroom and bathroom off bedroom. |
 |
| New modern buildings |
 |
| Another view |
We decided to go for a late lunch (and coffee) at Coffee Anthology about a 20 minute walk away. Unfortunately, they had just closed their kitchen at 2:00 p.m. and we arrived at about 2:10 p.m. They had only a few items left on the menu. We were hungry after our trip so we decided to stay and have something to eat along with our coffee.
 |
| Coffee Anthology-- very nice place |
 |
| Alain had a brekkie roll (bacon/egg/cheddar cheese on milk bun). I had a chia bowl with fruit. The coffee was very good. |
 |
| Another cool building |
We wandered some more and checked a very cool coffee shop called John Mills Himself. It was located in an alley where a printing business had operated.
 |
| John Mills, Himself |
We are finding Brisbane quite edgy. Some great architecture and a mix of old and new. Definitely, the cool new kid on the block.
 |
| Newer building |
 |
| Old Brisbane--- subject of much derision- Quote from author David Malouf (b. 1934) Part of Literary Trail 1996 |
 |
| Another new building |
We stopped at the Tourist Information Centre and got a more detailed map and some info on museums and transit. There are some free ferries on the Brisbane River which intersects the city and there is a small section of the city that is served by free buses. However, it looks like we will be able to walk most places.
We were lucky that the weekly Brisbane farmers' market is on Wednesdays. We got fish, fruit, vegetables and a nice baguette at the market.
 |
| Very nice fish kiosk |
 |
| Veg |
 |
Marketers
The avocado guy told us that we would not find Fuerte avocados in stores, as they have a very short shelf live. He said we would like the flavour. We bought one to try. Avocado toast really is a thing in Australia.
|
 |
| New avocados to try |
 |
| Butterflies on a building |
 |
| Neighbouring building |
We stopped at Noosa Chocolate Factory-- a wonderful chocolate store we had heard about.
 |
| Alain making a choice |
The server made me a special chocolate drink with no milk and just a bit of water and honey. The chocolate is very good.
 |
| With chocolate drink |
As we were finishing our chocolate drink, it started to rain- luckily not for too long. We headed back to the apartment for a Maui Maui fish dinner. Our apartment is quite large with very high ceilings and is very well equipped.
 |
Staying at The New Yorker in Brisbane
We are in wind-down mode as Brisbane is our last stop of our DownUnder adventure. We head back to Toronto on Sunday. Lots to do and see before then!
|
Comments
Post a Comment