Day Trip to Brisbane

Day 30 - Sunday 27 July 2014

27.07.2014

Forecast for both Brisbane and the Gold Coast was fine and clear with a temperature of 23 degrees.

We left camp at 10:00 am this morning and drove to Varsity Lakes Railway Station to catch the train into Brisbane for the day. Varsity Lakes is the end of the line on the Gold Coast and the train runs to Brisbane Airport via Brisbane City. Known as the Airtrain the service is privately operated, but integrated with Queensland Rail, and commenced operations in 2001. The train makes about 6 stops between Varsity Lakes and Beenleigh, then operates as an express with only 2 stops on the way into the Brisbane CBD. The train operates a 15 minute service during peak periods and a 30 minute service during weekends and off peak periods. The trip from Varsity Lakes to Brisbane Central took one hour and 20 minutes and is very relaxing. It cost us $5.96 each way on a seniors Go Card - a bargain compared to about 30 litres of diesel and parking charges in Brisbane if we had driven ourselves.

Waiting for the train at Varsity Lakes Station

Gold Coast train arrives from Brisbane

We left the train at Brisbane Central and made our way to the Queen Street Mall where we found the Information Centre for a Map of the City area. It was only a short walk through the Mall to the Victoria Bridge which took us across the Brisbane River to Southbank where we made our way to the Plough Inn for lunch. For lunch Di had a baby Barra while David had Wagyu beef fillet - an excellent lunch. After lunch we wandered through the Collectives Market before walking up to Southbank Station for the return trip to Varsity Lakes.

Queen Street Mall in Brisbane