Mt Coot-tha

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Friday June 7 was a day exploring a bit of Brisbane. In the morning we went shopping for bathing suits in the Gabba neighborhood which is across the river from New Farm (via Fortitude Valley and the Story Bridge across to Kangaroo Point). Kate wants a new suit for our trip to Lady Elliot Island. The store where we ended up was pretty serious with many suits to choose from and lots of diving and snorkeling gear. I offered, but Kate declined, to model a budgie smuggler — they are popular on Australian beaches.

There's some photos of traditional Queensland homes in the area with bougainvillea blooming. Apparently the "Gabba Cricket Ground" is a large oval stadium and it names the area. I understand there's some discussion about refurbishing or replacing it for the Summer Olympics Brisbane will host in 2032. But, Wikipedia tells me that "Between 1993 and 2005, the Gabba was redeveloped in six stages at a cost of A$128,000,000" so perhaps it's "good enough".

On the way back from the swim shop we stopped for the view of the city from Kangaroo Point. I was wearing my Wabi Sabis t-shirt and we shared a photo on Facebook. You cross on the Story Bridge to get to Fortitude Valley and New Farm. I understand there are conducted tours of the bridge where you can walk way up high on the beams. I recall Ross mentioning that as a possibility we might try. Neither Kate nor I are up for that adventure! Bad knees, ankles and a healthy fear of heights make us unlikely climbers.

We took an Uber and had lunch at the Balfour Kitchen & Bar which is in New Farm but at the north end very near Fortitude Valley. We had hoped to dine on the rooftop for the views but that part wasn't open. It's a very nice high end restaurant in an old house, we enjoyed our lunch and I did get some pictures from the rooftop.

We drove to Mount Coot-tha for sunset views of the city. While Google maps has been a great help at navigating the city we missed an important turn at the foot of the mountain and ended up stuck in a traffic jam on a 4-lane expressway. But we got to the mountain top in good time to catch the waning light of day. It might be interesting to come here for sunrise as you're looking east towards the city, at end of day the sun is setting behind us. 

We have been here before on previous trips and have fond memories of bumping into our friend Murray from the Brisbane Central BS&B club. The fine restaurant (The Summit Restaurant & Bar), where Murray was going, and where we had eaten in years past is no longer open. There is a cafe (The Summit Cafe) where you can get light snacks but the fine restaurant seems to have been another COVID victim.

As the sun left us we soon discovered how cool Brisbane winters can be. There's a picture in the album of a couple huddling under a blanket to keep warm as they watched the day end. Others wore sweaters (do they call them jumpers like in England?). I found it quite cool.

A note on "mountains". Mount Coot-tha is all of 741' (226m) so it's not really a mountain. There are some higher elevations in the dividing range but nothing to compare with real mountains like the Rockies or the Alps. An Uber driver was telling us about some people who were visiting from Austria and how the young boy was quite disappointed at what passes for a mountain in these parts. They had driven him into these very mountains and he had to ask "Where are the mountains?"