Australia continues to surprise me in a positive way. It just keeps growing, changing and getting better. People are friendly and it has a laid back ease about it. I enjoy being here. Brisbane is a delightful place to visit. It is the largest city and capital of Queensland. It has a small town Chicago feel to it, celebrates and preserves its past and moves toward the future with wonderful modern glittering high rises built in its center. It has a lazy meandering river running through it with Venice like boats for transportation. Life seems easy and good here most of the time. What doesn't excite me is the heat, subtropical weather and the threat of floods and cyclones. Nothing is perfect.I was surprised we were able to dock in Brisbane. On January 10, 2011 Brisbane had a huge flood that made the news worldwide. I did not think a city could recover quickly from the devastation reported http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DzDXsMSdA. I was proven wrong. They recovered and are flourishing. The flood brought out the best in neighbors and together they are working to bring the city back.
Looking for non walking easy tours, we took a riverboat cruise down the Brisbane River . Knowing a month ago this same river tossed and turned boats and cars like toys gave us pause to think. The river still had a dirt color to it. As the waters subsided, a call went out asking for help. People were asked to bring buckets, cleaning supplies and mops. So many people lined up to pitch in that it took took hours to bus them all in. People say they never experienced such an outpouring of caring souls in their lives. 
We drove to the highest point in Brisbane, Mount Coot-tha. On a beautiful day, it was a lovely view.
Shopping on my own and a pocket full of coins..... what could be more fun? Shopping in both Sydney and Brisbane outshines Chicago, I hate to say. Prices are much higher here. If you think the economy is hurting, come to Australia. People were out in droves spending like crazy. All the stores were packed. The city seemed like it was the place to be and to be seen. I liked the open pedestrian walkways. 
I did not have a lot of Australian money with me when I realized I missed both breakfast and lunch today. A little snack would be nice. I remembered the Australian pie I had last year and wanted to try another pie while I was here. I found this cute little storefront and decided to give her a try. I had a $5 bill and tons of coins..... The pie was $5.50.
If there is a line, it must be good. There were four people ahead of me. I counted my change to see how much I had. Good thing for long lines. How much is each coin worth? Next I had a decision to make... beef, chicken curry, veggie... Oh, the stress. I decided on beef, big surprise....:) . The packaging was cute.... The taste so so. I has a few bites. It wasn't worth finishing. Possibly because the one I had last year was from a bakery and this seemed mass produced. It was like a beef stew inside a weak crust....needed some seasoning..
I needed to end my day on a high note. A gelato, (real Italian!) was just across the way from my pie shop....Looks good! I decided to check it out. I AM on vacation.
- Small cone.... $4.50.... Do I have it? Digging around I found little 2 coins that said $2 and a BIG coin that said 50 cents. Woo Hoo! But shouldn't the coins worth more be bigger? It was hard to read the fine print on all the funny coins. But hey, I am in a foreign country and so far...doing rather well on my own.
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