Australian Escapade – Brilliant in Brisbane Part 3

Welcome to my story style travel blog, featuring my time spent in Brisbane, Australia in the spring of 2025. Normally, I do group tours when I travel but I have an opportunity to use a flight pass from my friend who works as a flight attendant. I first visited Australia in 2009 when I was touring New Zealand and decided to fly over to Sydney for a week. I figured it’s been awhile, and Brisbane is a route my friend usually flies… so we plan to meet up there! I also have many friends who live in and around Brisbane, a result of all of my travels over the years. So here we go!!!

Brisbane is Australia’s third largest city, located in Queensland, a short distance away from the east coast.

It is said to have over 280 days of sunshine a year! Brisbane offers vibrant urban energy with a relaxed charm. Part cosmopolitan and part outdoorsy, you’ll find modern architecture mixed with subtropical gardens and rooftop bars that overlook the winding waterway of the Brisbane river. And the people here are so welcoming and friendly. Also known as Brisvegas, the city has a really cool nightlife and a flashy entertainment scene.

I’m super excited for breakfast today because I’m headed to Pancake Manor, a restaurant located in an old church.

I have been having quick breakfasts at the apartment, so this will be a nice treat. Pancake Manor is also open 24 hours, so if I feel like late night pancakes I’ll be coming back!

I have the Aussie Sunrise, which is pancakes, bacon, eggs, with grilled banana and pineapple. Perfect!!

I don’t have too much planned for today, except to have a look around the Queensland Museum. The museum covers everything from natural history, Indigenous heritage, scientific discovery and Queensland’s social history. There are TONS of kids here today; as I’ve mentioned it is spring break in Australia. Yikes. Honestly, it takes away from my enjoyment of the museum. But what’s cool is my friend Tammy has brought her mom and daughters here this afternoon so I get to meet them. I met Tammy back in 2009 when we did a Contiki bus tour of New Zealand, so this is a fun reunion after almost 16 years!!! Her girls are super cute, and they show me some neat things in the museum.  And the best part about this museum…it’s free!!

I say goodbye to Tammy and head next door to the Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art. I’m generally not an art gallery person, but I need somewhere quiet after the insanity of the museum. But you know, maybe I AM an art gallery person because I absolutely love it! I spend the next hour wandering around. Here are some highlights for me:

The gallery provides clipboards, paper and pencils for anyone that wants to sketch the art and I love that there are numerous kids doing this, quietly creating their own drawings of what they see . The Modern Art building has smaller exhibits and I thought there would be more to see. But there are some interesting pieces in here too.

Back to the apartment, where I have my first real relax time of my vacation – I just chill here for the rest of the afternoon.

Tonight I walk down to the river to take the CityCat ferry service for the first time. There is one that is free and I think I’m getting on the free one and then realize that I should have paid. But no one told me I had to pay so the ride is free after all. Haha. I’m riding over to the Howard Smith Wharves, and the views of the city from the water are fantastic.

Located under the Story Bridge, the Wharves have a rich history with original timber port infrastructure, storage sheds and air-raid shelters built during World War II. Today, it is a dining and social hub and I’m meeting up with Tammy again and we are joined by Melissa. Melissa was also a part of the Contiki NZ tour in 2009! She came to visit me in Vancouver back in 2015, so here we are 10 years later.

We meet up at Felons, the biggest and most popular restaurant and brewery.

We have some beers, snacks and spend the next 5 hours reliving memories from our tour all those years ago. All the gossip! It’s so much fun, and I’m so grateful they’ve taken the evening to come hang out with me!

One thing I’ll mention – I love the ordering system here. It’s all done by their app….you put in your order and pay,  and the server brings it over.  No need to hunt down someone to order food or to settle up the bill at the end.

I take the river ferry back to South Bank, and have a somewhat early night in preparation for my big day tomorrow….I’m so excited…stay tuned….