BRISVEGAS

When our daughter visited a few weeks ago we went to GoMA. (The Gallery of Modern Art) A favourite place of Carol and David's. However we didn't get far before we were confronted with this sign in the forecourt of the gallery. It didn't make a lot of sense to me as there is no motel here it is near the entrance of GoMA. Then Carol called over her shoulder, as she rushed towards it to take a photo, "Its a sculpture!"

"The High/Perpetual Xmas/ No Abstractions" sculpture by Gold Coast artist Scott Redford

The sculpture with the silly name was inspired by Scott Redford's association with the neon signs of the 50's and 60's on the Gold Coast. The form was copied from a motel, now demolished, in Yukon, Oklahoma. It was created in 2009. The wording has changed since the original.

Live from "Brisvegas" is quite comical when you know the origins of the word "Brisvegas".

It is a tongue in cheek nickname for Brisbane based on an ironic resemblance of Brisbane to Las Vegas. Traditionally Brisbane was perceived as dull in the context of tourism and liveability and the complete opposite to Las Vegas. The term was coined by journalists from the bigger cities of Sydney and Melbourne in response to attempts by Brisbane City Council to attract business and tourists to the city by presenting it as an EXCITING destination. 

"The term Brisvegas first appeared in print in Time Off Magazine - a Brisbane Street Press publication in the early 90's. The Editor of the time used the term after having heard his then-partner and her friend use it. In the late 80's the girls had studied at the university in Toowoomba, a town in the ranges west of Brisbane, and used to travel to Brisbane on weekends to escape what was considered a dull environment. The song they would play (on their tape deck) was 'Viva Las Vegas' and the girls substituted 'Las' for 'Bris'. Anything bigger than Toowoomba was a 'bright light city' from Yahoo Answers.

Since the population explosion in the last ten years, where thousands of people have left the big cities of Sydney and Melbourne in their droves to come to live in our "dull" city, the term Brisvegas has been adopted by locals as an affectionate nickname for their city. 

We are used to being the brunt of jokes by the southerners but they still keep coming to live here. We have the best climate of all the capital cities in Australia. We are close to the best beaches in Australia and we are catching up in the entertainment and culture scene. GoMA has been reported as the best modern art gallery in the country.(This paragraph could be biased) 

I grew up in Sydney. It is the most beautiful city in Oz but now it is full millions of crazy people living in the fast lane. Melbourne is great for theatre and shopping but the weather is inconsistent. We have a saying, "If you don't like the weather in Melbourne wait 15 mins and it will change." I have visited Las Vegas and just quietly I would prefer to live here in BRISVEGAS.

More on the inside of the gallery in the next post.

HUNGRY WALLABY

You have probably heard about our horrific heatwave and and bush fires.  All the east coast states have been affected. Lucky for us in Brisbane we didn't get the heat as bad as in the southern states. However, we have fires raging around the outside of Brisbane. We are lucky not to have any close to us yet. There have been hundreds of homes and properties lost. My heart goes out to these victims.

It is so dry in the nearby forests that the wallabies don't have enough grass to eat so they come to feed in suburban gardens. This guy was disappointed to find that our garden is also frizzled up and dried out with not much to offer. It depresses him and it depresses me but I am better off than those who have lost their house.

I took this with my P&S through my study window.

A wallaby belongs to the Kangaroo family (Macropodea). There are more than 60 different kinds of kangaroos including many different kinds of wallabies. Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos. I think this one is a Red Neck Wallaby. (Hee hee a Redneck!!!) 

  

A WALK IN THE PARK 7

It was time to take TOH out for another airing. This time we headed for

Boronia Bushland Reserve in Logan.

It has been very dry over the past few months and the forests are like tinder boxes. The councils organise controlled burning of the undergrowth to try to reduce the danger of massive bush fires.

There were some beautiful big Gum trees (Eucalyptus). This one shedding its bark is called a Scribbly Gum for obvious reasons. (Eucalyptus haemastoma). The scribbles are made by the larvae of the Scribbly Gum Moth. It lays its eggs between the old and new bark. The larvae burrows into the new bark. When the old bark falls away it reveals the trails.

 As we walked along the concrete bike track we saw some Scaly Breasted Lorikeets pigging out on some bread that an unknown had dropped there. They have yellow feathers edged with green to give the impression of scales.

 After an hours walk it was time to head home. TOH picks up speed on the home run.

It was a quiet day in the park. Just us and a student studying in the picnic shelter.

TOH (The Other Half)

BEAUTIFUL BEACHES

 Just before Christmas, it was a dull day when we had promised to take our Swiss visitors to the beach. So we set off for the Sunshine Coast just north of Brisbane.

 There is a ribbon of beaches stretching for miles. Our first stop was Mooloolaba Beach.

There is a famous toilet block built right on the beach with a great view.

This is the view from the loo (which is my header at the moment but I had wrongly labelled it Noosa)

 After coffee at Mooloolaba we drove further north to Noosa Beach where we had.........

 lunch overlooking he beach. Our young visitors went for a surf while we watched .........

 a sand sculptor at work. 

Too soon it was time to head back to the car for the trip home. The next day our visitors hired a campervan and headed off to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. They are in Melbourne at the moment. Unfortunately there is a heat wave down there and the temperatures are in the 40's C/105+F.
Even further south Tasmania has had dreadful bushfires. One whole small town was burnt out.

A HAT IS A HAT IS A HAT

Our actor son in law gave TOH a special hat. It is one which is only given to people who have worked on a movie with Legendary Pictures, so TOH liked this hat very much. TOH wore his prized hat last week when we took our visitors on the City Cat .

 The Cat picks up quite a speed in between stops and you guessed it THE HAT blew off into the river. 

 We couldn't believe it when the Cat slowed down turned around and the deck hand fished out the hat with a long pole. The captain had seen the hat blow off from his cabin as we were on the front deck.

 This is a commuter ferry and we never expected this kindness.

 I was also surprised that I was quick enough to capture the event on camera.

One lucky boy gets his hat back. Queenslanders are known for their friendliness. This was a good example of it. It also impressed our overseas visitors.

TOH=The Other Half

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We are lucky to be one of the first countries to see in the new year and I can report all is well in 2013. We had a  quiet and relaxing New Year's Eve with friends. We had supper and some nice wine. Then we watched part of the Edinburgh Tattoo, a DVD and then the Sydney fireworks show. Hugs and kisses all round and then home to bed.
This morning we got Happy New Year wishes from both our daughters. One playing in the snow in Palm Springs, California. The other from the top of Mt Kosciuszko in NSW. (our highest mountain) while we relax at home recovering from the festivities.

Carol-Ann on top of Mt Kosciuszko, NSW.

"Darby and Joan" having lunch on the deck.

POST SCRIPT: A little interest was shown about the saying "Darby and Joan". Firstly I had it spelt incorrectly, thanks Valerie and Colin. Colin found the meaning on Wiki. There were two:
 "a happily married couple who lead a placid, uneventful life." 
 "a married couple celebrated for their mutual attachment"
I don't think the first one is really us even though it does describe our New Year's day.
I like the second one.

RIDE ON A CITY CAT

On the second day of our Swiss visitors stay with us we took them to Brisbane City. We parked at South Bank Parklands and walked through the park to catch a ferry called the "City Cat" and we went for a ride on a City Cat up and down the Brisbane River. So join us for a quick tour of a little part of Brisbane.

A "City Cat"

 Boys out for some fun on the river.

 We passed the "Riverside  Centre". When we returned after an hour's trip towards the the bay we stopped here for lunch.

 The Story Bridge sort of Brisbane's icon.

 The historic old "Custom's House" building overshadowed by tower blocks.

 After lunch beside the river, we walked back through the Queen St Mall towards the Victoria Bridge and the Parklands.

 We went into an arcade for the visitors to buy sun cream and insect spray. Our sun and insects are pretty vicious on soft, white skin of Europeans.

 We passed the brand new ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) building.

 Then we were back in the South Bank Parklands to find our car.   Our young visitors wanted photos of themselves in Brisbane. (see the City Cats)

From the river to the carpark we walked along the beautiful arbour, which stretches the whole length of the parklands. It is covered in Bougainvillea.