First impressions of the River City were as we drove through on the way to drop off our campervan after the 3 week drive down from Cairns, was that Brisbane is a fairly small city, nice and compact as it's divided by river. We were staying in the relaxed west end not far from the South Bank riverside area ,where the free artificial beach and fresh water swimming lagoon is located.

Our first few days adjusting to public transport were tramatic - we found it a bit odd not returning to the van each night and instead having to get used to the pain of suffering that is known as 'the hostel experience'...
Brisbane is a very relaxed sub tropical city and the weather was a nice 30c most of the time, with it cooling off during the night. Apart from the nice South Bank,

where we spent a great deal of time, we took advantage of the free city loop buses in the city center, to get around the small CDB area, to check out the riverfront piers and take a stroll through the botanical gardens. We also visited the free Brisbane art gallery and took a trip up the City Hall Bell tower for a slightly higher view of the city.
One evening we took to the west end for dinner and had our chinese meal interupted as the restaurant turned into a scene from ER. One of the vietnamese waitresses was in the kitchen when a there was a flash fire which set her alight. Once the laughter from our naive fellow diners had calmed down, we were shocked to find that none of the other staff knew what to do or had even gone to her aid yet... so at which point David decided it was time to investigate the screams from the kitchen... and to find that she had nasty burns to her arms, chest and abdomen. Quickly taking control of the situation he ushered the manager into calling an ambulance and managed to confort the girl whislt hosing her down in the back yard with a hosepipe. When the ozzie ambulance finally arrived, we got to witnese first hand the laid backness of the Brisbane emergancy services, when the medic strolled into the restaurant is if he was going to be eating there not attending a serious burns victim! it was also disturbing to see that the rest of the restaurant staff appeared to be too frightened to stop work and go to the aid of the poor girl... once the medic finally got to see her and the police arrived, we decided it was time to make our departure and find somewhere else for David to get over the trauma of the past half an hour. If he had a cannula and some iv fluids/ some morphine they would have been in!!....she was so afraid and left alone, I couldnt believe how appallingly she was being treated, the manager was much more concerned with keeping the restaurant going and getting his dollars !!!.......creepy little shit!...

Anyway, once a nurse I reckon always a nurse, what can you say....

Apart from that drama brisbane was quite a nice chilled out little city, the west end has stacks of nice little cafes/bars and the south bank has a nice feel to it.
A wee word about the hostel, we stayed at the brisbane backpackesr resort. Not the worst place but not the best, we opted for a pvt room which did have a tv ,fridge, ensuite and balcony. Its kind of another of these places that you might love when your 17 and away from home for the 1st time. It offers good cheap food and a good courtesy minibus into the city and back every hour but stops a bit early at 10.30pm. Its got a small pool and mini tennis court also, kitched was fairly rank with minging fridges........just the usual then........meeeow!..