Brisbane

The people of Brisbane are nice. They are most probably the nicest bunch of people ever gathered in a big city. We already wrote that on Sydney, but that's about the same everywhere we went. In Brisbane you feel as if one surfer told his friends: "Dudes, let's build a city and let anyone who is nice come live with us!". And indeed, a lot came. Being a city of 1.8 million people, it can't be regarded as an easy going town, but something from the famous "No worries, mate" atmosphere of a small surfer's costal town can be found in the DNA of this city.
We decided to spoil ourselves so we stayed at a backpackers hostel. It was only a short walking distance from the small but beautiful city center. We went touring the main streets and especially the Queen street mall. We found a nice place for dinner (though the food was too expansive for it's quality) and finished with a beer in a nice Irish pub.
On the next day we did the classical Brisbane tourist tour. We went through all the small squares to the river bank, passing on the way a coffee shop that offered a free coffee if you guess a coin flip. We didn't guessed correctly, so we had to pay, but the coffee was dissent enough. Later we took the city ferry to the "South Bank" the trendy promenade that is surrounded by restaurants, culture centers and museums. Being a city on a river, in a state known for its great coasts, Brisbane has built itself a small city beach in the middle of the boardwalk. It has true sea sand, water and even lifeguard tower to complete the picture. The interesting attraction of the South Bank is probably the Brisbane Eye - the great wheel that overlooks the river. However, it looked quite boring to us so we skipped it.
Later at night we took the city train to "Brisbane's party area", as it is often the name of Fortitude Valley. The "party area" turned out to be two streets with 5 pubs, non of which had a kitchen open in such late hours (9pm). Eventually, we found one that served Guinness and continued our evening there.
The third day was dedicated to final arrangements before starting the drive north.

Tip 1: Go to the Parks and wildlife service on 400 George street, if you are planning to go hiking in Queensland. They can give you lots of information and they are very helpful.