Last weekend I hopped on a train bound for Brisbane to visit Mandy, a friend from the intarwebs who I had never met in person before, and Tish, a friend from back in the Tunisia days. The train going to Brisbane was a night run. I purchased a last-minute promotional economy class fare. However, when I got to the platform I found that I had been bumped up to a very nice first class seat in the handicapped-accessible car. In fact, I had a singleton seat with no neighbors.
Leaving Sydney Central.
A CityLink train speeding by.
Planes and trains. If there was an automobile, this photo would be complete.
At about 11pm the train came to an abrupt stop at a station in the middle of woop woop (nowhere). Shortly before, a window on a carriage one or two ahead of mine had been blown out by a rock that was thrown from the side of the tracks. One or two people appeared to be being taken off the train for medical attention while the railway workers went about patching the window with plywood. The heavily armed guards that accompanied our train (several groups of railway police roamed through the cars) seemed to think the whole incident was a non-incident. Evidently the night train to Brisbane can be a rough affair and trouble of this sort often happens. I also noticed someone from the economy class cars being led away in handcuffs, visibly stumbling. He appeared to be being kicked off the train for public intoxication. While others didn’t fare so well on the train, I made it safe and sound to Brisbane.
The Brisbane Roma Street Station where the CountryLink train from Sydney terminates.
An old church near the Town Hall Square.
Town Hall in Brisbane.
This artwork is entitled: “Death of an Astronaut.”
The Queensland ANZAC memorial.
The eternal flame.
Central Train Station.
A plaque commemorating both World War I and World War II.
A statue commemorating campaigns in Korea, Malaya, and Borneo.
This statue is dedicated to Australia’s involvement in Vietnam.
This is one side of a two-sided statue.
The other side of the statue. It is dedicated to the South Pacific Campaign of World War II.
A memorial for the South African (Second Boer) War.
Can’t quite recall what this is memorializing.
An important military man who also was important for other reasons.
The old post office still in use as a post office today.
I’ve never seen an internal building structure quite like this before. From what I could discern, the red beams are the main support columns. The building is still under construction. I wonder if it will remain standing once it’s done.
Suck it, Queensland! The Bank of New South Wales is in town.
The old treasury building that is now a casino.
Queen Victoria.
An important guy.
So important that someone gave him a shawl.
The parliament building.
In the Royal Botanic Garden.
A palm rosary with palm trees from Cuba.
Cool roots hanging down from a tree.
Looking out at the bridge over the river.
People were actually living on that yellow rust-bucket. Brave people to be sure.
An old public fountain now preserved for posterity.
At the University of Queensland.
Some old ships at the Maritime Museum.
An old warship in the dry dock.
I believe the red boat in the back is a floating lighthouse.
Random statue of an important Chinese guy.
A cool foot bridge that I later crossed.
The river and the ocean aren’t safe to swim in. Instead, man-made “oceans” pop up here and there around Australia. One would think that they could do something about the sharks and jellyfish.
Small shrine left behind from some world exposition.
After I crossed the bridge, I walked down to the train station and hopped a train to go see Mandy. Onward to more adventure!
