xenith | Brisbane photos

You are invited on a quick tour of Brisbane city.

Soon after arriving in Brisbane, having walked up the street from the transit centre, I noted there's a certain sameness about the Australian state capitals, at least in the east, except for Canberra, which was dropped by aliens.

It was the next day that I realised why.

Brisbane has this image of being a modern, trendy city.

The postcards all seem to show tanned girls running around white beaches in bikinis or tall, modern buildings from the river. But even a quick examination of that view, shows there's a bit more to the city.

Like the other cities, Brisbane has an understorey of older buildings. The big public buildings,

the old shops

and other interesting buildings.

That's what the capital cities, other than Canberra, have in common. Most of the central part of Canberra was built about the same time (1970s from memory, that might be a bit out though). Whereas the other cities are the result of 150-200 years of buildings being erected, used, demolished, replaced. Places that have evolved over the centuries and still reflect what has gone before. How much of that before you get to see obviously varies. Sometime the past is very evident, right back to the earlier decades. Sometimes it has been carefully wiped away. Brisbane is more an example of the latter, although there are two buildings remaining from the original settlement period.

The lower two storeys of the Commissariat Store were built in 1829, part of the Moreton Bay penal colony, a place for secondary offenders from Sydney. Similar to Sarah Island (if you remember the trip to the west coast last year) and Port Arthur.

You can see this building in the second photo from the top (at the front, in the middle, partly hidden by a bridge)

The windmill, built 1828, is the other building from that era.

When the area was opened to free settlement in the 1840s, most traces of its previous history were erased.

Most of the old buildings are from the 1880s & later.

Like this hotel (1884)

The combination of large older buildings and gardens makes for an attractive city centre.

As in most cities, you only really see the interesting architecture when you look up.

An arcade leading to the mall.

Central Station

Across from Central Station, and connected by a tunnel, is this.

We can guess what it is, yes?

This building is interesting because of the figures on the corners

The Town Hall is too big to fit in one photo.

The details on the building are fascinating though. I love the windows.

Sometimes shops are interesting because of their names.

Ths is a shoe shop.

And there are always the old churches.

The treasury building, now a casino, is a bit hard to miss, especially as it blue at night.

This place fascinated me. I walked past it on the first day on my way to the hotel (which you can see in the very left of the photo). It didn't make the area look very appealing, until I realised it was a construction site.

View from the hotel room. The building, which is for sale, is empty inside. Gutted.

I guess if I ever get back to Brisbane, this place will be gone or turned into something unrecognisable.

This is view you won't find on a postcard (I looked). You won't find many photos of it either. The only way to get it is from a train bridge, and then you have to be quick to take it through the side bars of the bridge.