Discovering Brisbane

Friday morning started early: at 6 am. That was when the two sleepyheads, me and Ann, finally decided we had had enough of sleep (more 14 hours!) and were ready for action :) New place, new life, new phone number, new bank account.. So off we go to the Brisbane's CBD (H) Fortitude Valley, where Ash and Arpi live, is one of the suburbs right off the center of the city that is just a 15-minute walk away by Ann Street. Yeah, that's right, Ann's got her own street here. Ann Street, Kairi Town - there's a little something for everybody in Australia. Ann Street takes you down to the Adelaide Street corner, right where we had to go to get the visa in the passport at DIMIA (Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs). The office was on the 14th floor of one of the Brisbane's mini skyscrapers and the whole process didn't take us more than about half an hour. Legally immigrated, we headed on to the bank - lucky Commonwealth will now be saving our 'millions' $$$ Our first expense was the phone number and prepaid recharge. The Red Sim (Vodafone) is on a -10% sale at Woolworths. And they have this pretty good offer where you pay $49 and get a $230 phone credit to be spent in 30 days, which also includes 20 minutes of international calls wherever in the world. Go Vodafone! :) My new phone number is +61420454305. Our shopping continued on Queen Street Mall, which is a pedestrian area in the heart of the city with plenty of shops and restaurants. That's where we found the take-away sushi that is only $1.80 per each, and you get enough of two sushi rolls that are so big. We even brought some home for dinner :P Yummie! Yeah, and the fashion is pretty nice as well over here, or maybe it was just great to see all these bright colored summer clothes and bikini for a change. Forget about the boots and hats, rollnecks and winter coats back home! It's a summer time!!

Saturday morning we slept in and got up at noon. I love weekends! It was a really beautiful day, and Ash & Arpi took us on a little drive around the city. It was great because we got to see the different suburbs and residental areas of Brisbane, so we know where to look for rent. The funny thing here is the river that curves a lot and makes it really confusing to understand on which side of the river you currently are. I guess I'm gonna take this River Cat (city water transport) in one of these days to have a little boat trip along the tricky river. The other thing I like about Brisbane are the parks where people go for bbq's. If you ever have a chance to live in Milan where almost all you can see are buildings (nice and historical - true, but still just stone), you realise how essential are the green areas in big cities. Brisbane's full of them. New Farm Park, City Botanic Gardens, South Bank, Roma Street Parkland, etc. In the corner of the New Farm Park there's the old Powerhouse which is now been used as an art center for different exhibitions. They currently have one by Henri van Noordenburg, a photo exhibition of different towns. And the very first picture right when you get in is of Tallinn!! Coincidence? Our city tour finished on top of the Mount Coot-tha where you get the best view over the entire city with the Moreton Bay on the background on one side and the Great Dividing Range on the other side. It's amazing how big this city actually is. The CBD is just a tiny little center area where the skyscrapers tower high. The rest of the city stretches out on both sides of the curvy river and goes as far as the eye can see. The thing that makes Brisbane a nice place to live in is that there are almost no huge apartment blocks, but most of the people live in smaller houses that form the many suburbs of the city. It's not one big flat city, but a city of different suburbs, some of them located on little hills in the river-bed. Lovable! :) And there's enough space for more than 1.5 million people - which is more than the whole population of Estonia.

Oh! And I also made a great purchase from the Indooroopilly shopping center. My lovely little Canon Digital Ixus i7 Zoom. The price at Harvey Norman was initially $449, but Ash said they would come down on price if you say you've seen it cheaper somewhere else. So we tried that and I got my camera for $360! Unbelievable country!! :) Gives you an idea how high the actual mark-up price is. Anyways, a camera is a must travelling in this country, and I'm addicted to my Canon with a 2 GB memory card :D