Brisbane

In 2004, I went on a trip to Europe with a tour company called Contiki. On that trip, I saw beautiful sites and also formed friendships with several amazing people. In 2007, two of those people, Joe and Dave, were able to make it alllllllllll the way to the US of A from Australia to watch Erik and I get married. This past weekend, I only had to fly two hours to partake in the wedding celebrations of one of my greatest tourmates, Dave. Dave is affectionately known as "Super Dave" due to a trash bag party, a phone booth, and a pair of Superman underwear.

Antibes, France. May 2004. Trash Bag Party.

Erik and I arrived in Brisbane, also affectionately known as "Brissie" and/or "BrisVegas", late Friday evening and were met at the airport by Dave, Joe, and another great tourmate, Pete. One of the lovely things about traveling interstate in Oz is that security is minimal. They were able to just go through security to wait for us at the gate. No boarding pass necessary. No need to show ID several times. No taking off shoes or jackets before going through metal detectors. It's fantastic! Once organized, we headed to a pub for a few beers and enjoyed catching up that evening.

Dave, Joe, me, Pete, and Erik's finger. :)

Unfortunately it was raining on Friday night and it continued to rain all day Saturday and into Saturday night. Because of the weather, Erik and I didn't get the chance to do much exploring of Brisbane, though we did make a trek in the rain down to the waterfront. Much like in Sydney, but on a smaller scale, there is a ferry service that runs up and down the river that many people use for commuting purposes. The waterfront was flooded about a year ago and it appears to have made an amazing recovery in a short period of time. 

Erik getting soaked so that I could get a picture of the Story Bridge

Our hotel, the Novotel, was right in the CBD and was in an outstanding location for the weekend. It's not often that Erik and I splurge for a nice hotel, but I found a package that included the all you can eat breakfast buffet. We also got upgraded, I think, to a "premier floor", which had really nice amenities. I wish I had pictures of the brekkie (Aussie slang for breakfast) to share with you, because my mouth is watering just thinking about all of the delicious food. The hotel gym was really nice as well, complete with a squat rack and a hip sled, two pieces of equipment that are a rare find in hotel gyms.

The wedding was at The Brisbane Club, a beautiful venue in the CBD. The ceremony was on one floor, the cocktail hour on another floor, and the reception on yet another floor. The food was delicious, the DJ was great (lots of classic American wedding songs were heard), and Erik and I even got a shout out in the father of the groom's speech! Overall it was an absolutely amazing night and I was so happy to have the chance to be a part of it.

Contiki friends reunited! Dave, Smash, Jemal (aka Marley), Joe, and Pete

With the beautiful bride and handsome groom!

My handsome husband of almost 5 years!

On Sunday morning, Erik and I hit the road towards the Sunshine Coast, which I'll blog about next. We came back into Brisbane on Tuesday night to meet the newlyweds for dinner, and we were able to see the waterfront in a bit more of it's glory since it was not raining! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. The newly married couple was also kind enough to take us to the airport for our trip back to non-tropical Melbourne. We had a great stay in Brisbane surrounded by wonderful people and surely this will not be our last trip to the state of Queensland.

Not my picture, but wanted to add a shot of non-rainy Brissie!