And yet, another beautiful and clean Australian town. It is shocking in some respects, that these Australians have so many wonderful towns with wonderful people, with streets mostly without garbage, fine pubs and clubs, and beautiful exotic parks in their centres. Brisbane is a city that will not disappoint, but will entice, with its winding river that runs down the middle and modernistic skyline.

You can tell the Brisbaners aren't too keen on cold weather, though - here, in "winter", as it is now, you can buy "winter warmup drinks" that are advertised everywhere; even though the temperature is a comfortable 22 degrees Celcius.

Sights are plenty in the city: an old cathedral, some good museums, its central park is wonderful, and it has some trendy upscale areas which are nice to wander around. And it's also a good town to grab a beer.

A perfect place to wind down after an interesting journey to one of the world's largest islands, split down the middle by colonial politics ever so long ago. Geographically it may be one, but both sides have diverged from themselves so surely one must wonder if 'unification' is even desirable.





I caught a flight back to Tokyo after a full day in Brisbane, back north from Australasia and into Asia proper. Was the lengthy journey worth it? Hard to say. However, PNG has always been a country I've wanted to see, and now I've seen it. It would be wise, though, to avoid both Papua New Guinea and Indonesia until I obtain a new passport, as their bureaucracies may someday realize that I skipped both countries without the proper stamps - and in the case of Papua New Guinea, without a proper visa at all.

But, indeed, it was a journey well worth taking. And so until next time, do take care my fellow readers.





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