I think I like Brisbane

May 24, 2017

The winter weather certainly is better

The Flight

The plane was scheduled to leave at 10:30 pm, but was delayed two hours. Virgin had no problems with the bike in a bag and it arrived with less wear and tear than my previous bike in a box efforts. I went to the Post Office yesterday and sent the bag (Ground Effects Tardis) home. For those of you who are interested in such things, the flight allowance is one checked bag (23 kg) and 7 kg carry on. The bike in the bag (or a box) counts as the one piece of luggage. An extra bag (another 23 kg) cost me $35 AUD. By world standards, that's a bargain.

Bike reassembly was slow and tedious and completed in a quiet corner of the baggage pick-up area. It all fit back together nicely. I built this bike (Turtle/Tortuga because I ride it very slowly) from the naked frame and have rebuilt her after every major ride, so it's all fairly familiar. Had some breakfast at the adjacent food outlet and a short nap on their comfortable sofa.

There were no problems with me taking over a quiet corner of the baggage pick up area to rebuild the bike. A kind cleanup lady disposed of my rubbish and was suitably impressed that it all fit together in the end.

The City

Then I typed my Airbnb accommodation into Google Maps and tootled along mostly quiet backroads, suburbs and bike paths. It's about 16 km from the airport to downtown. You can also put the bike on the local commuter trains - no charge; but not during peak commute hours. It looks as if city planners have put a fair effort into their cycling infrastructure. There are cycleways into the heart of the city from all compass directions and there are plenty of people using them, too. I'm impressed...

A fantastic cycleway follows along both sides of the river with many crossover points for ease of access. There's a great cycle hire set up too, with numerous pickup/dropoff stations.

Tomorow I'm catching the train to Rosewood to avoid the city traffic and start cycling west.

It was cold, windy and wet when I left Perth. Weather here is fantastic - a sunny 25 degrees during the day and down to about 14 at night.

Unlike Perth where they've trashed all of the grand old building and replaced them with soulless glass and concrete monoliths, they've kept many of their old heritage buildings. And many of the the suburbs are dominated by lovingly restored 100+ year old "Queenslander" wooden homes.

Bought a Spot, with recovery insurance. I tend to step out alone into wild remote places and that gets the Friendly Local a bit worried. And I guess it makes good sense, not just for my personal safety and wellbeing, but also for the costs that would be incurred rescuing/recovering me. Not that I ever plan on using it for that. The rule is: if I get myself into trouble, then I have to get myself out of it.

Today's ride: 16 km (10 miles)
Total: 16 km (10 miles)

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