Tag: Brisbane

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What is Christmas like in Brisbane, Australia? I’ll share my experience with you.

Hello Readers,

In the spirit of Christmas I thought I would do a quick post around the festive season here in Brisbane, Australia.

As a child, I was raised in England, UK, where Christmas is cold and wintry, everyone rugs up in a coat with a hat and scarf, and there is a traditional roast dinner spent with family. The Christmas cards have pictures of snowmen, vendors on street corners sell roasted chestnuts from wood-fired, oil-drums under the Christmas lights of Oxford Street, and if you are really lucky… it snows.

As an adult, I moved to Brisbane, Australia, where Christmas no longer felt like Christmas. December falls in the peak of summer here and it is hot! Along side the traditional snow pictured Christmas cards, there are those with Santa in sun-glasses and board-shorts, riding a surfboard. Christmas dinner is a barbecue with king prawns, steak, salad and a cold beer. And much of my family are still in the UK.

Well it has taken many years, but I must say that this year feels more like Christmas than any other year I have spent in Australia. I now live in an inner city suburb, and yesterday I went to the theatre to see ‘A Christmas Carol’. It was a great production and I thoroughly enjoyed it (here is a photo of the set before the show started).

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A five minute bus ride took me to the Arts Centre in the heart of Brisbane where the festivities are everywhere. Just look at these photos of the decorated bus I caught (apologies in advance for the poor picture quality).

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When the sun goes down the Christmas spirit continues with things to do and see – like the stories projected onto the Town Hall and the Solar Christmas Tree at King George Square (incidentally, a short story by an author friend of mine was turned into a light show for this years Town Hall projection – Well done Mel).

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Then there is the street parade among the decorations and Christmas lights along Queen Street Mall, that unfortunately I do not have photos of… yet! And I mustn’t forget the Enchanted Garden at Roma street that is on my list of things to see this year.

So for those of you whose lives have changed this Yule, those experiencing a different world this silly season, those who are missing family and friends, or struggling at this time when everyone is meant to be having fun. Hang in there. It may take a little time, but things will change. The things we appreciate… the things you do today… they will shape the things to be.

And for those who have it all and are loving life right now, don’t be a scrooge – why not do something nice for someone less fortunate and spread the Christmas cheer.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

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The things you stumble upon in Brisbane City.

I am a fantasy/horror writer and do not usually stray from these genres when I read. I still appreciate authors in other genres though, and when I went for a stroll around Brisbane city today and stumbled across this.

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A Matthew Riley book signing. The queue was at least 500 meters long and wound its way down the mall. This gives me something to strive towards.

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What Does This Writer Do When He’s Not Writing? A weekend of fun in Brisbane City.

Brisbane City
Hello Readers,

It is a long weekend here in sunny Queensland as we have a public holiday for Labour Day, a celebration of the 8 hour working day. And what a weekend it has been. It started off a bit lacklustre with some cleaning up around the house, washing down the deck out back, filling and sanding some small cracks in the walls and stuff like that as we prepare our house for sale – but then we moved onto the fun stuff; my amazing woman had organized an amazing weekend.
We began on Saturday night. Myself, my partner, and a small group of friends had dinner out at a local burger joint called Miss May’s, and it was packed! There was literally a queue out of the door from the time we arrived right through until we left about an hour later. The venue was nice, the food was good and the bar had quick service with numerous beers on tap. Something you don’t usually find around here.
The following day I forewent my monthly writer’s group session and spent the day at a festival called Cinco De Mayo (which translates to 5th of May). A Mexican festival celebrating the day that Mexico gained independence from Spain. It was a fantastic day out on the Brisbane riverside, and while it was colourful and vibrant, there was a very chilled and relaxing atmosphere. They had live music, dancing, Mexican street food, and of course, I had some great company. That night we stayed in the city at an apartment with a view that overlooked the Brisbane river.
The next morning we treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast and made our way down to the museum to check out the Egyptian mummy exhibit. Six mummies on loan from the British Museum that have been scanned and reveal what is inside the mummifications. It really was pretty interesting stuff. Then it was off to the arts museum to admire some true works of art (and a few I reckon they picked up from the local kinder-garden. Art really is very subjective). After walking around for a couple of hours our feet were starting to tire, so we made our way to the Munich Brau House at Southbank for a hearty meal, a well-earned beverage and some Bavarian entertainment with some family members.
And now the fun ends. It’s back to work tomorrow to earn back some of the cash we spent on an awesome weekend, but it was well worth it, after all – life is for living!
So how about you? What did you do over the weekend?

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries. 

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