Melissa Chang made me do it.
I’m talking about eating Vegemite, an Australian food spread made from yeast extract. It’s served everywhere here and used in sandwiches, on toast, even as a filling in pastries.
Trust me, it’s not appealing.
But since we were in Brisbane, we had to try it.
Here’s our verdict:
There weren’t a lot of things I had to do while in Brisbane.
Sure, I wanted to try the local cuisine and walk across Story Bridge. But the one thing I was most excited about — and it wasn’t eating Vegemite — was seeing the Australian wildlife, particularly the koalas and kangaroos.
So we headed to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary, with more 130 koalas and other animals, to up close and personal with the country’s iconic animals.
I couldn’t wait!
My goal: to cuddle a koala.
Here’s what our day trip to the sanctuary — and what we ate after — looked like:
All I wanted to do on this trip was cuddle a koala — and it was actually in our itinerary on Friday. Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is the world's first and largest koala sanctuary with more than 130 koalas. And it's one of the only places that allows you to handle these marsupials. We're so there!
Follow my adventures in Brisbane on Twitter at @thedaiydish and on Instagram at @catherinetoth.
Something happens to cities when the sun drops below the horizon and sinks out of sight.
And in the case with Brisbane, the moment is magical.
The air cools, the pubs overflow, the lights from the city dance on the Brisbane River.
We decided to take a stroll down to the South Bank again — this time at night — to capture the city at its most stunning.
Here’s what the night looked like:
Follow my adventures in Brisbane on Twitter at @thedailydish and on Instagram at @catherinetoth.
Yes, we came 4,000 to Australia only to eat Chinese food.
But hey, we’re in Brisbane. Asians — particularly Chinese — are the largest ethnic minority group here. So the city’s got to have good Chinese food!
But first, we needed to check out the South Bank area along the Brisbane River.
This area was created for the Brisbane’s World Expo 88 and officially opened to the public in June 1992.
It was a quick walk from our hotel — about 15 minutes — to the river, where we strolled through open green areas, a museum campus and along a river bank pathway littered with walkers, bikers and runners. Our goal: Streets Beach, a man-made beach sprawling over 2,000 square meters.
Australia is going through a major heat wave, so the walk was sweaty. But the scenery — and the Chinese food later — was well worth it.
Here’s what our jaunt looked like:
Follow my adventures in Brisbane on Twitter @thedailydish and on Instagram @catherinetoth.
We got a late start, but it didn’t matter.
Brisbane wasn’t waiting for us, but it still had room for stragglers.
We started walking from our hotel — we’re staying at the Sofitel Brisbane — toward Queen Street Mall, a few blocks away.
We were heading to the South Bank Parklands, an area on the southern shore of the Brisbane River that has parks, grassy areas, the Wheel of Brisbane and — get this — beaches.
About 11 million people visit South Bank Parklands each year, and it’s easy to see why. There are restaurants and shops and ice cream carts everywhere. It’s a walkable, runable, bikeable stretch, too, and folks were out and about all afternoon.
We were mostly interested in the inner-city beaches, which were not what we had expected. (Video on this coming soon.) It was more like a hotel pool — with sand. Strange.
Now we’re on our way to Chinatown for some dim sum and then taking a river taxi back to South Bank for dinner.
Whenever I find Internet, I’ll post more photos. Thanks for being patient!
