Brissy & The Beach
 

Somewhat of a squeal to my Sydney thread, here are my photos from Brisbane and Byron Bay. I left Sydney on an overnight Greyhound and arrived in the notorious backpacking town of Byron Bay. It reminded me a lot of American east coast beach towns. Small wood buildings, ice cream, surf and sandwich shops. There was an even mix of families and backpackers, businesses catering to both. The beach was great but in the end, still a beach. I dabbled at surfing and got stung by a jellyfish. Nothing serious but certainly not enjoyable.

Brisbane was a short bus ride north. Somewhat of an odd city to visit on a world tour. I had a friend living there that let me crash on his couch. Always nice to save a bit of cash and have an insider show you around. The city reminded me a lot of my home, Denver, maybe a bit more urban. Unlike the US, Australia is still chugging away at their real estate boom. Several towers were under construction or getting under way. Christmas was quickly approaching and the city had all the decorations out. A bit odd to see tinsel and wreaths next to palm trees in the summer. The seasonal rains were actually quite unseasonable, wreaking havoc on the area. You can see from some shots the Brisbane river was at the brim. Shortly after I left it crested and flooded parts of the city. I took a day trip into the surrounding mountains, getting a chance to see some of the local flora and fauna. Ok, enough talk.



























































That crest of land in the distance is the most easterly point in Australia.

You really have an eye for things. Excellent:worship:.

i have always gotten a strange feeling from (photographs and secondhand accounts of) brisbane, and i can't place it. it is as if this city is displaced or pastless or detached somehow. i can't get a good sense of the role it plays in australia's national consciousness. i don't have any sense of how it sees itself.

Sydney and Melbourne may get all the love internationally, but Bris-Vegas knows how to shine. Great pics!

Brisbane is on my list.

Looks like a fun town.

I love beautiful Brisbane and the Aussie lifestyle. Impressive photos!

That is precisely because it is displaced and pastless, just like other post-modern cities: Perth, Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Vancouver, Calgary etc.

This picture:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/...6df8dcf1_b.jpg

completely wowed me. The ocean almost looks as mountainous as the actual mountains in the background, and the people only complete the picture.

Of course, the rest of your pics are equally jaw-dropping (as always), but that was my favorite.

Ouch! You're really throwing Denver under the bus by equating it to Vegas - Denver is a modern city and a western city but it's historical timeline has nothing in common with Vegas, Phoenix, or Calgary. Up until about 1905 Denver was the second largest city in the western US. By 1940 Denver had a population of over 322,000 - fourth largest in the west with LA at 1.5 million, San Fran at 634,000, and Seattle at 368,000. That equates to a substantial amount of historical pre-war building stock. Vegas and Phoenix were non-existent in 1940. Denver had a larger population in 1890 than Calgary had in 1950. Denver has nearly fifty square miles of pre-war neighborhoods which I am slowly posting threads of on this site.

As always Okayyou - really appreciate your photos and thanks for posting.

can't go wrong with an Okayyou photo thread. Top notch as always!

Like most I don't have much of a sense of this place either. Most descriptions from the area seem to be from Surfer's Paradise / Gold Coast.

Excellent photos.

Incredible thread & pics! Thanks for posting OkayYou!

forgive me for responding with this picture as someone just did but it deserved to be posted again, it's incredible as are all of them but man, as a beach freak, those beach pics you took are otherworldly:worship::tup:

Unfortunately for Brisbane, it's not really a destination for most people going to Queensland - they're usually heading for the Gold Coast (50-100km to the south east on the coast) or the Sunshine Coast (50-100km to the north) or Far North Queensland (1-2 hours flying time from Brisbane waaayyy up north).

Brisbane is the capital city in one of the most decentralised states - only about ~40-50% of Queensland's population lives in its metro - compare to 75% of Victorians live in Melbourne and 65-70% of New South Welshmen live in Sydney.

just for everyone's info - the photos (if you hadnt noticed) are mixed - Beachy/Pothead/Tatooed people: Byron, the rest are in Brisbane including the hinterland photos.

Amazing is all I can say!

What a great place! Nice looking city, surrounded by natural, rugged lands!

Plenty of natural beauty to enjoy down there. Lovely!

I really wasn't in Brisbane long enough to get a good feel for the citiy's identity. Like I said, it reminded me of Denver. Both have defined one major street in their CBD for pedestians. The scale of their buildings were about the same, Brisbane is building taller hi-rises currently. Architecturally Denver's new stuff is more bland and modest but Brisbane really seemed to lack any historic district. There were some nice Victorian government buildings but nothing like Denver's LoDo. Brisbane has the beach and Denver has the mountains. Neither city is really on the global radar but appear to fare quite well in their respective domestic standings. I probably wouldn't have stopped in Brisbane if I didn't have a friend living there.

I did manage to hit Surfer's paradise and the Gold Coast for a day, no pics though. Talk about a place with no past. Gold Coast reminded me of Miami or Ft. Luaderale, huge condos abutting miles of sunny beach. There was some monster condo project that looked brand new, I think this one, third tallest res building in the world.

Again, thanks for all the comments. Plenty more threads to come.