Brisbane - as beautiful as Sydney?

So today we are in Brisbane! We are very excited to see the city. It has been recommended to us as the emerging city in Australia and it has a population of 2.35 million - I didn't expect that. We are staying in a backpacker hostel! That itself is quite unique - I somehow like it, but I would feel out of place without the kids. But I've always been interested in how it is. Well, now I know, it's also practical and maybe it's not bad for Daniel either. I'll ask him later - right now he's taking a power nap. ☺️

Back to Brisbane! In the morning, we left for the city at 10 o'clock, after preparing our breakfast in the backpacker kitchen.

Our tour started at Southbank, the waterfront opposite downtown. There is a large park on the promenade, with a playground, another one of those great public swimming pools, and lots of cool bars that all open their doors completely to the street, so it looks like they have no wall facing the street. Some bars also have a bar facing the street, which I think is particularly cool. You sit at a counter and can watch the people passing by 😉.

Brisbane is located on a river, unfortunately not directly on the sea. So we decided that we have to ride along this river to really see the city. As smart as we are 😂, we didn't choose a tourist tour, but simply took the Jet Cats, the public transportation. We love riding public transportation here. We get to experience more of the Australians and it's cheaper anyway. Here in Brisbane, it's like in Sydney: you buy a card and load it with money. With that, you can use all public transportation. When boarding the respective vehicle, you hold it to a device, and the same when getting off, and then the corresponding amount is deducted. We find that pretty practical and we feel like real Australians when we use these cards. 😉

During the river cruise, we saw the skyline from the water and could see how people live here. Very nice houses, right on the water, each house had its own boat dock.

After the tour, we took a walk through the botanical garden and the city and then returned to our accommodation!

Somehow we decided that Brisbane is a great city, but that we still like Sydney much better.

It's hard to say why, but we think it could be because Sydney is much more generous and you can see the ocean from everywhere. Even though Brisbane is beautiful along the river, a river is not the same as the sea.

Tomorrow I would like to go to the beach again. We have considered going to Bribie Island. That is an island nearby. Jayell, whom we met while sailing, grew up there! I wrote to her about it, but I didn't expect her reaction: she immediately called her mother Lulu to take care of us if she has time!

I actually knew that Australians were like that... yet we are blown away! Unbelievable, that would never happen in Germany. We keep laughing about it, are really happy about the hospitality, and decide to be the same in the future. Daniel now wants to send me his friends all the time. I'll take them in at my place... 💪🏻

I will report tomorrow how it turned out with Lulu.

Until then.... good night!!!

P.S. I'm really happy that you're reading my blog. I keep coming up with things to write about.... even Daniel is already saying what else we have to mention.... there is just sooo much!