Maz NZ and Oz

I said goodbye to New Zealand (for now) at Christchurch airport on the 22nd of July 2006. Our flight left in the afternoon and we arrived in Brisbane at 4:30pm. As I was arriving on a working holiday visa with lots of terms and conditions attached, I was expecting to spend some time at immigration, but we sailed through without incident and then caught a shuttle bus to our accommodation in New Farm. We stayed at Bowen Terrace (www.bowentceaccommodation.com), a really nice, family run hostel where we could not have been made to feel more welcome. Our priority for the evening, however, was to find a pub where the All Blacks V Springboks Tri Nations match was on the TV. Our host at Bowen terrace, John, pointed the way, and we were shortly ensconsed in a local hotel with pub grub as an added bonus.
The following day, we took a wander around Brisbane, especially the South Bank area of the city where there is an artificial beach for Brisbane natives and visitors to cool down in the summer. We didn't take the plunge ourselves, but we did have a little paddle...
There were three lifeguards on duty, despite the fact that it was the middle of 'winter' and only two hardy children were swimming... you can never be too careful I guess.
This is the Story Bridge, spanning the Brisbane river. The spot where this picture was taken is very close to Bowen Terrace, where we were staying. The Brisbane river can be very disorienting as it meanders through the city centre in huge loops making navigation a challenge as you leave the river behind, only to encounter it again a few hundred yards later.