I flew to Brisbane to present at the inaugural meeting of Queensland government’s Electric Vehicles Network, with the Minister of Energy introducing me. About 1/4 of the size of Sydney or Melbourne, Brisbane reminded me of Vancouver. People in the bigger cities who hadn’t been to Brisbane in years still saw it as a ‘dive’ but with 3 farmers markets, lofts and other dense housing, cool use of alleyways, public beach at the end of the street and stunning public art, this city is a great place to live.
For Aussies in 2011, their favourite topic seemed to be the price of bananas (or bah nah nahs). Due to severe floods in Queensland in January 2011, many bananas were destroyed and others imported (rare). The price of bananas went to $15/kg. By the end of 2011, the price was back down to $2/kg.
As a Canadian travelling abroad, I get mixed feelings about seeing the sign on the right. I’m delighted a Canadian company is doing so well; I’m disappointed there isn’t more work for them to build trains for inside Canada.
Love bikes on trains, too! - even if there are boundaries sometimes. Melbourne, Dec 2011.
I thought this sign alerting all to ‘new parking technology’ was clear and a good idea. However the new technology was harder to find; it was across the street. Melbourne, December, 2011.
The rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne is so similar to the one between Toronto and Vancouver. Yet Syd (4.6M) and ‘Melbun’ (4.1M) have similar populations. Even so, Sydneysiders were kind enough to warn me that Melbourne would have friendlier people and tastier food. They were right. Melbourne has a lot of trams/street cars so the traffic is calmer. Cycling therefore feels safer - plus it’s flatter there so easier to bike all around. A particular frozen drink was celebrating its day of invention - hence the ads on the tram.
I’m in a taxi in Sydney on way to airport behind a truck loaded with cardboard, etc. for recycling. The top picture shows that lanes-closed-for-no-frickin’-apparent-reason exists in Oz, too. December 1, 2011.
The Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace part III:
This is the inside of one of the theatres - and not the grandest one. The coloured lighting gradually changes colours and then subtly dissipates right before the film begins and just watching the gracefully slow raising of the fancy curtains is almost worth the price of admission.
Base By: Jahrenesis
