Brisbane

9 January – 12 January

Sunday:

I want more time in Lennox Head, but we’ve been warned that the worst of the weather is to hit today and tomorrow.  There doesn’t seem much point hanging out at a beach campsite in the rain, so we head for the city. Brisbane is struggling to win us over.   The drive up through the brash, tacky gold coast doesn’t help.  The beach is pretty enough, but the run-down high-rises and cheesy attractions ruin it all. 

We’ve booked ourselves into a lasminute.com affair in the CBD, which is nothing plush but will do the job.  After settling in we take a stroll over the river to the West End.  I ‘accidentally’ steer Nick into one of the best cocktail bars in town, where I feel obliged (it would be rude not to) to order fancy cocktails.  They don’t do Charlie Chaplins, so I have to order off menu.  It’s fun anyhow, and afterwards we stop for some Thai food.

It would be most accurate to say that we waded back to our apartment.  The rain is relentless.  We arrive finally with dripping jeans and squelching trainers – thank goodness for tumble driers.  

Monday:

We’re in search of information today.  After Brisbane we’re planning to head north.  For a while now though the highway has been closed around the Rockhampton area.  We need to know if there is a way through or if we’re just wasting our time.  We set off on a walking tour round the city, with tourist information being one of the first stops. 

Armed with some websites to check out, we continue our tour.  We're not particularly warming to the city, but it still manages to surprise me with interesting statues on street corners

and beautiful buildings sandwiched between high-rises and wasteland. 

I do like the tropical feel, and the fact that you can see fellas like this along the riverbank.

It rains on/off all day, which is tiresome.  A bit of sunshine wouldn’t go amiss.  Back at the hotel we do a bit of route planning: it seems we can still head north, but it will mean about a 1000km detour – almost doubling the distance.  Still, we’re willing to give it a go.

We’re getting spoilt tonight: Dec, Suze, Lee and Lisa bought us a voucher for a 3 course meal in Australia for a wedding present, and we’re cashing it in tonight.  We head to our chosen restaurant where we’re wined and dined till the 3 block stumble back feels like an endurance test.

Tuesday:

We feel we’ve seen enough of the city and (especially as it is STILL raining) we decide to head to Australia Zoo.  Traffic is slow out of the city and we eventually get caught up in a big jam.  We’ve no idea what is causing it, until we have to get through the sheet of water covering the road. 

It’s not a good sign, and we decide our priority is getting back into the city, sod the zoo.  Unfortunately we’re too late.  They’ve already closed the road southbound.  We’ve got no choice but to go north.  This wouldn’t normally be a problem, but all our stuff is back in the hotel and we’re supposed to be checking out tomorrow.

We decide to head to Noosa.  Dec & Suze were heading there after Sydney and if we remember rightly, tonight is their last night there. 

We get lucky.  They are still in Noosa and have a spare bed in their apartment so we’re not homeless for the night.  We joked about gate-crashing their honeymoon, but this isn’t quite what we’d meant. 

We kill some time in Noosa (mostly spent in the car, as it’s lashing it down so hard) until they get back from their Fraser Island trip.  Then its out for a Chinese before a delicious sleep.  Dec & Suze are meant to be flying out of Brisbane in the morning, so if the roads don’t open we’re all a bit up the creek. 

Wednesday:

We up and off bright and early.  We get to Brisbane with no problems at all.  We’ve extended our stay for another night, as we didn’t think we’d get back in time to check out.  As it is we’re back before 10am and have the day to, well, panic really.  Brisbane river is due to flood and if you believed the media, WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE.  The river is set to peak at 5.5m, but the TV are running simulations of what it’d be like at 9m.  Ironically enough, it’s not raining and it’s a beautiful sunny, blue skies day. 

We’re figuring there’s no way we can head north (75% of Queensland is a disaster area, the roads round Rockhampton are still closed, and our 1000km detour has just been scuppered by a 7m wave of water that has taken out the Toowoomba region), so the best thing to do is cut our losses and head back south. 

A large portion of the day is spent negotiating cancellations with the accommodation and trips we’d already booked in the north and changing our flights to New Zealand from Cairns to Sydney.  In between all this we’re taking regular walks around the city to view the rising floodwaters. 

Eventually success!  Everything is cancelled that needs to be cancelled.  The only thing we need to do is get ourselves back to Sydney by 30 January.  Our plan for tomorrow (if we make it through the night, the media are suggesting it’s a definite maybe) is to get up and get as far south of Brisbane as we can.  I’m gutted to be missing out on our north east coat adventure, but at the same time can’t complain.  We’re being mildly inconvenienced, others are losing their homes.