Brisbane

The air is clean in Brisbane. In a City that bears comparison to London, the most noticeable thing to me was the freshness of the air.  The temperature is comfortable - about 20C. The buildings have stylish modern architecture and are garnished generously with trees and plants - the streets are very clean.

There's a wide river through the Brisbane called the river Brisbane. I feel embarrassed that I'd never heard of it. A timetable of free ferries takes the tourists and locals to various points along the banks. The river seemed wider than the Thames in London, but the tide doesn't go up and down as much. In 2011 there was a serious flood and I'm not surprised because the city is quite flat to the river. The riverside walk on the south side was destroyed, so we walked along the replacement. It's fantastic! there was a rainforest section with lush plantings providing shade, and a water play park, with many pop-up fountains, splashers, paddling places, relief maps, a free swimming pool and a sandy beach. If you're going to create a man-made environment, this is how to do it. there were children playing but no adults swimming, though it was warm enough - apparently this weather is not considered warm.

Went to the Gallery of modern art. such a beautiful building; such beautiful spaces. they are rich in space but poor in good paintings; there are about ten good ones.  Two Australian artists I remembered I loved were Arthur Boyd, who painted the scenery, and Grace Cossington-Smith who painted interiors. There was an exhibition of Japanese contemporary art which was interesting.

There was a noodle festival in the public gardens - lots of different kinds of Asian food sold from stalls, and live music from various traditions - the people were mainly young, with groups of friends or young families, some Chinese grandmas. there are as many East Asian young people as there are Australian. Brisbane seems to have a very bright future ahead of it, with an Institute of Technology to set the tone of cutting edge utility, and tall new apartment buildings- the sort that Koreans are used to.