I am visiting Australia for a couple of months for a collaboration at a University. I was not sure I was going to make it (since I also have a 9-5 job besides my PhD) but it seems that I am! I'll be leaving in less than 24 hours. I have all my stuff laid out on my bed waiting to be packed in my suitcase and then I am off for a quick 26 hours long trip to the other side of the world! I am really excited about this! I'll be in Brisbane. Any suggestions for sightseeing or other activities?
When he was in Brisbane my son enjoyed going to the Lone Pine Koala Santuary and the Sciencentre (he took the Behind the Scene tour).
I'm a bit jelly. Australia is one of the places I really want to visit. Good luck, be safe, and have fun! And long live the Men at Work!
Brisbane is lovely. Definitely check out Great Keppel Island. It's gorgeous (outside the very touristy parts). There is an underwater observatory (or at least there used to be) toward the Middle Island, which was quite breathtaking. Have a great time. My year in Australia was incredible. One of the best decisions of my life. Have a XXXX on me!!
Wow that's great!!! I haven't been to Brisbane but I hear it's quite nice looking, lots of cafes on water. Small but you'll probably love it!! Middle of the summer, you'll have a shock! I'm sure you will get some feedback from people who've been there in this thread eventually. I hope you have a great time! Please post all about it!
Of course, we Aussies have a saying... Queenslanders only call it XXXX because they can't spell beer.
You know I've probably tried 200+ beers in my life, it's a bit of a hobby.. but I've never actually had 4X. I actually forgot it existed.
Please bear in mind that Australia has most of the worlds top ten venomous snakes. Same again for spiders. The rivers are full of crocodiles and the sea is full of sharks. Pretty much everything in Australia wants to kill you ! Also, having spent several weeks in a house full of them in London, I can confirm that Australians are pretty deranged ! You'll have a great time - enjoy
When I was there, there was a jingle running I can still remember today: "I can feel a 4X...coming on!" I had a great time in Tasmania. I spent 4 days in Hobart. It's quite lovely.
Australians loathe Foster's lager, don't they? IIRC, there's absolutely nothing about it that's actually Australian, nor was there ever (the Aussie angle was just a marketing gimmick), and they hate it when tourists come down there expecting to order it.
My experience was that Foster's is their Budwesier. It's relatively cheap and sells a lot, but no one considers it to be "good beer". I remember drinking a lot of Victoria Bitter when I was there. Remember, I was there a long time ago, so my experience may not be valid now. That reminds of a joke I heard in Australia: Q: Why is American Beer like making love in a canoe? A: Because it's fucking close to water!
But it is, in fact, Australian? I didn't know that. I thought the whole thing was faked. Did you hear that before, or after, Eric Idle said it in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl?
Well, it was 1987. And I've never seen that film, so.... I think Fosters is licensed for brewing all over the place, but originally from Australia. I could be wrong on that, though.
They don't sell Fosters in a lot of places, the bottle shop and supermarket nearest me don't have it. And I have not seen anyone drink it in decades. Cafes and restaurants don't carry it. I think it exists mostly as export. We do have MANY wonderful beers, including mainstream commercial ones. Oh and as to cheap, taxes make sure beer is not cheap here compared to the US. There''s no super cheap ones. Cheapest you could possibly go would be 12.00 for a sixpack of not great beer on super sale, most of the time expect to pay several dollars more than that for non-craft beer.
QLDers are sports crazy so you should consider going see a game of something. Cricket is the main sport at the moment and the football (soccer) professional club comp also going on, but in the next two months Rugby Union. Rugby League, and AFL (the main three football codes) professional club seasons will start. You probably wouldn't want to go on your own, not for safety so much as it is always more fun to go with someone who knows the game and is a fan. Oh, and it is Australian law that if you are staying for over a month you must come to love Vegemite.
You MUST love it, yes. You must. Spread it thinly, with butter. Very thinly. Eventually you may work your way up to slathering it on with a trowel but thin is still good Also, don't look at the Picture thread for a few days. Wait until the horror has passed and it's back to people's cats.