A new city

Yesterday my work took me to a new city on this vast and (mostly) empty continent: Brisbane. I had a chance to take a peak at what is considered “the” beach destination on the east coast – but getting there was a bit of a rush…

It all started with the alarm going off at 5:00h in the morning. Everything was packed and ready to go, so it was just a quick breakfast and a coffee before Willemijn dropped me off at the local train station. The plane was due to leave at 7:00h, so pleeeenty of time.

You see, I had calculated everything so carefully: take the 5:34h train into the city, switch at Flinder Street to Southern Cross and take the bus from there to Melbourne airport. The tickets were bought, I had checked in and everything was ready to go. So…

The problems started when I realized that while on the train a) I might have calculated everything a bit too tight and b) I missed the first connection to Southern Cross.

So, with the delay already mounting up to seven minutes I arrived at Southern Cross, frantically looking for the bus station. Turns out, it is not out front (as it sais on Google Maps), but rather underneath the station itself. And only a few, relatively small doors give entrance. (OK, OK, the signs are pretty large, but it was early, and I was in a rush…)

It was around this time, getting on the bus for the 20 minute commute to the airport that I realized, that maybe, just maybe, I had calculated everything just a bit on the tight side. And by the time we had almost arrived at the airport, and the clock showed 6:42h, I was convinced that I had missed my flight.

But I would not give up without a fight. When the bus doors opened at 6:45h, I sprang out, ran through the airport and security (luckily there was no line) and was off to the farthest end of the terminal (of course!) where the plane was departing from. Arriving there out of breath, but just in time.

Long story short, I just barely made it before they closed the doors, together with two other stragglers. What a start to a long day.

Of the two hour flight there is little to tell. It was mostly “zzzzz”, interrupted by some orange juice and cookies.

Leaving the terminal, I was hit by sunlight, warmth (at least compared to icy Melbourne) and the smell of coffee. All in all a very nice welcome. 🙂

Getting onto the train into the city was a lot less stressful, with 10 minutes of time to spare on the platform. Time to wake up.

Well, the rest of the day was spent in the office and in meetings, so there is not much to tell. Just a couple of pictures with the view from the office.

I spent the night there as well, walking around the inner city to find some food. Second impression was also very nice, if a little smaller than Melbourne. A nice pedestrian zone with the (here in Australia) usual mix of big shopping chains and small, local stores. I did not really feel like looking for a special restaurant and ended up getting a burger. But there is a chance that I will be back here in the future, so that is definately on the bucket list (as well as more exploration of the inner city and surrounding areas).