Brisbane

We arrived in Brisbane seemingly 10 minutes after we left Sydney because this Queensland city’s clocks are an hour behind Sydney’s. Why? No idea. We knew, of course, that Brisbane had suffered from serious flooding only just before we left home but as we walked a round there was no apparent evidence. And yet something wasn’t right and it just didn’t seem like the city I visited a couple of years ago. There are no obvious tide marks on buildings, everything’s tidy but something’s not right.

We walked down to the river and then all became clear. The river is just dead: the exciting, busy riverscape with it’s river buses flitting from one bank to the other, up and down, back and forth, the marina with its fancy boats, the riverside restaurants full from coffee time to late evening no longer exists. All the ferry wharves are gone and there was just nothing on the mud brown river.

And then the damage becomes clear: flotsum above head height in the trees on the bank, the basement carparks all closed, the library and museum closed. We spoke to several locals who talked it all down but with sad and dejected voices describing their businesses decimated. It’s very, very sad.

In the city centre life sort of goes on as before but there is much to be done to restore this place and they know it has all happened before (far worse) and will most certainly happen again.

 

We have had a really nice stay for all this. We were taken on a guided walk of the city’s historical sites by a volunteer guide besotted by his city of birth and it it was really interesting and enjoyable. But, as we head up the coast tomorrow we more seriously wonder what we are going to see on the next part of our adventure.