Hi All - I am looking for some advice for this weekend. I have recently arrived on a three month contract in Brisbane staying in Astral Towers and later moving to the South Bank. I plan to travel back to Sydney most weekends but have got hubby visiting this weekend from Thursday night to Monday morning.

What would be your list of do not miss in terms of food and attractions and possibly something for him to do alone on Friday as I work. We will not have private transport and need to do it all on public.

I am pretty open to most suggestions and if there is enough we might get hubby back for a further weekend later on or lend out the partment to some other Sydney based BEs to experience this very laid back city!

Cheers for all advice

Funny you should ask!

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/...012671,00.html

Excellent Ta

I very much like the idea of the Kayak trip - much cheaper than bringing my own up on the plane

Will check out some of the others too

If hubby does not fancy the kayaking (though the Hann dry trip might persuade him) I think the Jazz club will be on his agenda.

Does anybody have any other ideas on evening plans for a sad lonely sod for those night hubby is not around?

Top nosh...I'm pretty sure you need to book tho'

http://www.jadebuddha.com.au/

Mt-Cootha Botanical Gardens – 52 hectares of subtropical and exotic plants
South Bank Parklands
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Brisbane River – Citycat and foreshore walks
Moreton Bay – bike and walking tracks
City Botanic Gardens with walking and bike tracks
Roma St Parklands
Story Bridge Adventure Climb
Fishing – lots of places along the rivers
Australia Zoo - you can go up by Australia Zoo bus
Moreton Island
Stradbroke Island
Queensland Musueum
Queensland Art Gallery
Queensland Performing Arts Centre

go for a meal at Isis and a few drinks at the bowery bar, that'll make a nice evening.

Give me a yell sometime and I'm sure we can manage to share a drink or two.....

Didn't know you had come up this way.

Gosh you are on!!!!!

I am only on my second week and I was only told the Friday before the Monday I started a ticket was booked for me and I was staying for approximately 6?,12?,18? weeks. I actually have no clue as to how long it may last but did not have enough time to do any planning but get here and see how the land lies. I have a nice apartment in the City and a so far pretty easy contract job.

I would love a night out with yourself.....I know we have a few people in common and also that need to flee every year

I will PM you and send contact details for whatever night suits you in the coming weeks.

I will obviously not exclude other evenings with expats if you have catch ups in this area on week day evenings

All the advice on here has been great as usual and I am sending emails to Hubby with all these wonderful things to entertain him this weekend (I should be enough of course) we have never spent any time in Brisbane and are eagerly looking forward to some exploring. I will update you all on how it goes and what we do. I will also be picking up information at the Tourist centre on the things you recommend so I can take back some stuff for my mate Kim who I am hoping I can lend the apartment to for a weekend of enjoying all this too. She and Hubby Kayak as well so I will defintely be doing that at some point.

cheers

I'm sure we'll find time to share a drink or two - geen talking on and off for so long that we really ought to meet at last, didn't we!

Ok Folks here is what we managed

I was staying in two apartments during the weekend - first one in Aurora towers and then moved Saturday and Sunday to an apartment on the South Bank.

Friday we went to Miro's - a Spanish restaurant in New Farm which was recommended by work colleagues and had fantastic food though we had been warned the decor was not top notch, it did not matter the food was the focus of our attention. I highly recommend this place.

Saturday before moving apartments we had a roof top spa in the sunshine, it was heaven. We walked around South Bank and did the markets and bars and watched people on the Beach and parks.

Saturday Night we went tourist and took a quick hop o the ferry to the Casino (not overly impressed and possibly will not visit again) bit spoilt with Reno, Sydney and Melbourne casino visits - funny we do not gamble that much just love the sights and sounds but to be honest did not hear much above the pokies and the larger louts shouting F**K every other word.

We left and spent time in one of the street cafes/bars sipping wine and chatting.

Sunday saw us early morning spa in the sunshine on ground level this time but just as pleasant. I needed hubby to help me shop to I could carry large amounts back and up to apartment for the coming weeks. We walked into the CBD centre through the south bank park - very pleasant and I persuaded hubby to do Tiffany's along with Woollies - I was a lucky girl! After some basic shopping and a cooked chicken on our balcony we took the ferry to The Jazz Club - it was big band night and we enjoyed it immensely the oldies put us to shame with their dancing - we managed a couple of shuffles. The boat back and fro added to the ambience of the evening as we were sernaded by two very drunk chinese students singing the same song over and over again. I captured most of it unintentionally while videoing the Brisbane Skyline. They were harmless so it will be something to laugh at if I ever remove any of my filming to DVD - which I have not done in 7 years of taking Vidoes.

Anyway it was a great trip and very sucessful time in terms of being relaxed and enjoying ourselves.

We aim to repeat the occasion next month and do some different things. Can't say I know anything about Brisbane from one weekend, I know I prefer Sydney because it is bigger and bustling but I needed a laid back weekend and will enjoy more of this city when I get the chance.

I plan to do the Kayaking next week on my own - anyone out there fancy a mid week paddle let me know.

Thanks all for the recommendations - I appreciated the effort.

I'll try it sometime

I've only done the casino once, when I first arrived, in my limited experience of them it reminded me more of the arcade on Brighton Pier, but I know a lot of people rave about the Brisbane one......

Puts me to shame, more in a weekend than I have got the Bloke to do in 5 years......

Any night mate! In fact, we could become the Martini girls, anytime any place, anywhere!

Fantastic night, I really enjoyed myself. The Bloke said "what did you talk about?" I said it was more like "What DIDN'T we talk about!"
The purple witchy hat survived another BE night in Gilhooleys, the Guinness didn't run out, but it seems I drank all the cider
And WTF.......Last orders please.....9.27pm we were sure they were kidding, but nope, flipping Qlders must have wanted their usual early night

Can't wait for next time

Hello Sandra! I was in Miro's on Sunday night guzzling sangria (mmmmm), it gets my vote too

Bustling Sydney? Or chilled-out Brisbane? Are you sure you won't be tempted to stay?

Hope she does, I have just found a superb drinking partner

Maybe we should try and do a threesome (so to speak?!!) What d'you reckon?