Jade Buddha

Today (Sunday) was a rainy day so no day trips away from home, we decided to go and see the Jade Buddha statue which is visiting Brisbane for 4 days before it tours the rest of the country and then around the world. Its 2 3m statue carved out of a solid jade boulder originally found in Canada in 2000 and weighing 18 tons. Thai craftsmen spent years painstakingly carving the statue. It is intended to promote world peace during its travels. Here's the website.....I see it visits the USA but not Europe.

http://www.jadebuddha.org.au/en/

Scenic Rim drive to Warwick and back

Today we took a drive up the Scenic Rim mountains up towards the town of Warwick on the Darling Downs, a 350km round trip. The road up the mountain was great, lots of twists and turns as it made its way through the forest upto the plateau above and the town of Killarney (nothing special) then Warwick. The road is popular with bikers and we even passed some hardy cyclists near the top. The weather was prefect but a chilly 14C on the mountain pass and 22C in the valley. We stopped in Warwick for a bite to eat and a cup of coffee in the high street opposite the town hall and hotel, there are still some nice buildings in the town centre.

Aussie cities most liveable in world

Australian cities have been ranked among the best in a British survey of the world's most liveable cities.

Melbourne came third behind Vancouver and Vienna, out of 140 major centres.
Perth was equal fifth, Sydney ranked ninth, Adelaide was 11th place and Brisbane 16th.

The survey assessed cities based on stability, health care, education, infrastructure and culture.

After being here almost 9 months now both Inge and I vote Brisbane better than Perth. Melbourne is a nice city but the climate in wintertime is like Europe wet and windy. I would say that Vancouver is right to win it and is very nice having been there but what put me off Canada was they almost have no holidays to speak of so cant enjoy themselves because they are too busy working!

The aerial photo I attach is good as it shows you the Brisbane River meandering out to the ocean and Moreton Bay. You can see the Port at the end of the river. That was a real nice boat cruise a few weeks back, must do it again if we get visitors.

The photo of the beach is of the South Bank and the childrens beach area, in what place other than Rio de Janeiro can you laze on a beach right in the middle of the city.

Queens Birthday (UK Queen that is) & view from Mt Tambourine

Yes the Australians celebrate the english Queens official birthday on 8 June as a public holiday so we had a long weekend here. It was beautiful sunny weather and 22C so fine for winter so on the way back from flying I took a drive up Mount Tambourine which is a local beatyspot with fantastic views across the Gold Coast Hinterland.
The plateau is an irregular shape, about 8 kilometers long and about 5 kilometers across at its widest part. The highest point on Tamborine Mountain is about 600 metres above sea level.

Geologically it is only 20 million years old. Geologists say that it was formed by the ancient shield volcano directly to the south. The landward remains of this immense crater can be clearly seen from the air and from a number of vantage points in the Border Ranges. This is what is so nice gliding here you get to see these fantastic views. Mount Warning, so named by Captain Cook as he sailed up the east coast of Australia in 1770, is just a small volcanic plug near the centre of the crater.

Tamborine Mountain plateau looks down on the surrounding lowlands, across the Nerang and Coomera River valleys to the Gold Coast and Pacific Ocean to the east and over the beautiful Albert River valley and right out to the Great Dividing Range to the west.

Brisbane Greenfest

Today we went to the Greenfest Festival held in Brisbanes Botanical Gardens. The purpose of Greenfest is to create a dynamic gathering of new ideas from all industries, conservation groups, government and other community groups. This gathering provides the opportunity for individuals and networks to adjust towards and invent a greener future faster. Greenfest provides a blend of music, food, fashion, film, art, etc. IT was opened by an aboriginal dance/singing group. Lots to see from the environmental side. We even got to see a Bilby up close - see the photo - a rare marsupial only 400 left in the wild, theres a conservation effort to save them and they are protected from feral cats and foxes by a big fence running around their reserve.
The building is the former government Treasury Building. Now its a casino - so stilling taking money from people first in taxes and now by gambling...

1st Day of Winter

The 1st of June is the start of the winter season here in Queensland, the winter months are June, July and August, with July being the coldest month statistically at 15C which means that Queenslanders enjoy more winter sunshine and warmth than most other Australian states. The northern tropical parts of australia do not have summer and winter as such, here these months are the dry season although the recent rains goes against the weather trend.

As Australia is so large there are big variations in the winter climate. In the south-eastern zone in South Australia there is a wetter oceanic climate with mild winters, averaging about 20 degrees Celsius. Many consider the winter season to be the best time to visit Brisbane, avoiding the highest temperatures and humidity of summer and allowing for better conditions to explore the countryside...we will see...

Italian Week in Brisbane

This week Brisbane has an italian flavour as there's a festival promoted by the italian consulate celebrating all things italian down in the city centre.

Tomorrow we are off to see the Queensland Orchestra, which is the 'state orchestra’ playing the Four Seasons in the shopping mall in the city centre. The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music, instantly recognisable.

There's also a food market with some tasty wares on offer so we are quite looking foward to it. There's a sizable italian community in Australia which accounts for some of the good coffee and favourable influence on the food here which is not a bad thing at all.

No dutch festival yet in Brisbane I'm afraid, they only seem to be in Melbourne and occaisonally in Sydney and are very low key, though there is a shop here selling dutch stuff including raw herring which I had a go of, somehow its not quite the same as the real thing in Holland so we gave up the idea of shopping there again.

I still have to try the Belgian Beer Bar though, also in the city centre. So there is hope...