Weekend in Brisbane

It’s school holidays once again, and Ella and I hit the ground running with a long weekend in Brisbane. On the Saturday morning we left the house early and headed up to Brisbane to meet with my friend from Melbourne, Jo, and her daughter Elsa. The main purpose was to see the Australian electronic group Pnau playing as a part of the Night at the Parklands series that week. Ella knows Pnau through the songs Chameleon and Go Bang, which were on regular rotation during Covid for us. I thought it would be a good one for her very first concert experience as there music is very dance-y and upbeat. (Fun fact: Nick Littlemore of Pnau is also in the group Empire of the Sun - which those of you not in Australia might know through the song Walking on a Dream).

Jo insisted on a hotel with a good pool, and I'm so glad she did. We stayed at The Westin, and the pool was absolutely divine. Best of all it had a swim up bar, and that, combined with the fact that it was very warm all weekend, made it feel at times that we were staying somewhere much more tropical than the middle of a city.

We arrived mid-morning and after dropping off our luggage, went to find a place for coffee and a snack. Jo had never been to Brisbane before and was surprised at how big it is. There is a feeling in Australia that Melbourne and Sydney are the only  real big, diverse cities, but I think you could add Brisbane to that list. To me, there isn't much that Melbourne has that Brisbane doesn't - except for the Australian Open and the Grand Prix (two huge events, to be fair and Aussies would add the AFL Grand Final to that list), but day-to-day you could get everything you need in Brisbane that you could get in Melbourne. (Ok, now that I've thought about it a bit more, Melbourne does have a fantastic range of ethnic restaurants that I'm not sure Brisbane matches - though I don't know the city well enough to accurately comment on that one yet!)

Once finished our snacks we headed back to the hotel. Our room was ready so we quickly changed into our swimsuits and headed down to the pool. Ella was desperate to order a mocktail from the swim up bar, and at $18 a pop (more than my glass of bubbles!) I had to make it clear that the mocktail was a one time thing. She did enjoy it though!

Ella and Elsa have met once before, during the last school holidays when they were here in the Gold Coast. Jo and I thought they would hang out and occupy each other while we had lots of time to sit by the pool and catch up. Unfortunately, that did not really work out. They are a year apart, which doesn't seem like much, but they are both in very different stages of their lives. Ella very much still wants to play all the time, while Elsa is a bit further into the tween years, and less inclined to want to play - or probably just in that stage where you just feel self-conscious about lots of things and she didn't really know Ella and me well enough to let down her guard. So really it was like Jo and I were both on a mother daughter weekend and occasionally got moments to hang out. But that ended up being ok, as it was a nice bonding experience for me with Ella. 

After the pool we went back to our rooms to get ready for the evening. We figured we'd walk to Roma Parklands, where the concert was, and find a place to eat along the way. We probably should have pre-planned this as we ended up at an average pub near the parklands which was fine, but there are so many good food options that we could have had. Oh well! 

Ella was desperate to go to the playground at Roma Parklands before entering the concert, but because a big part of the area was fenced off for the concert we would have had to walk a very long way around - and even Ella didn't think this would be worth it. We promised a playground visit the next morning for her instead. 

When we got in the first supporting act was just finishing, and it wasn't yet very busy. The set-up was a small amphitheatre which was the 'premium' section at the front. I hadn't bothered with premium tickets as I assumed that section was standing only, and was worried it might be too claustrophobic, but on seeing the set up I would definitely pay for this next time. It was a pretty small area with seating, but there weren't specific 'seats', it was just first come first served, and rows of seating rather than individual seats. And then there was a small section in front of the stage where people got up to dance, which never got too crazy and would have been fun. Good to know for next time!

Behind the amphitheatre was a grassy standing room section, and the far back was designated the 'picnic blanket' section. All in all it was a pretty good set-up. They had some free beanbag seating in the picnic blanket section and we managed to find two free ones, so we set up camp there for the remainder of the first supporting act and the second one - Australian electronic musician and producer Alice Ivy. I had never heard of her, but really liked her music. Jo rightly commented that she kind of looked like Raygun, the infamous Australian breakdancer from the last Olympics. I have to say I agreed, and once she pointed that out it was a little distracting. Nevertheless, good music, and I have added the songs 'Feels Like' and 'Forgetaboutyou' by Alice Ivy to my current playlists.

During Alice Ivy we decided to move closer to the stage, and hilariously Ella tried to drag her bean bag with her. I didn't think it was allowed to leave the picnic blanket area, but I let her drag it down to the back of the standing section as it wasn't too busy and people were sat down on the grass. Jo and Elsa went right up to the barrier behind the amphitheatre section, so I spent my time going back and forth between them and Ella. Ella was loving life in her bean bag, drinking her Sprite and cozied up with her (fake) fur jacket (wearing my leather jacket... somehow she ended up with both jackets). Some women even stopped and told her 'honey, that's the best setup we've seen all day'.

And finally it was time for Pnau! Ella left the coziness of her bean bag to join us and we had a great view of the stage. She seemed transfixed for a lot of it - the girl who never stops moving had her eyes glued to the stage. They started off with a few new songs, Chemistry is one I really like (and very much reminds me of UK artist Example), and early on they played Go Bang. They slowed it down for a bit with the song 'Cold Heart' a remix of the Elton John classic (Elton John mentored them according to Jo - have not fact checked this!) and then played the song 'The Feeling', a collaboration with Rudimental and a new song for me, but an absolute banger - I do also love Rudimental. The energy was very high - everyone was up and dancing and at times it felt like we could have been in a nightclub. It was pretty upbeat throughout the entire set, and they saved Chameleon to the very end for a brilliant finale. I didn't know what to expect with Pnau, but it was a fabulous concert - just so much fun from start to finish. It was a pretty short set, just under 90 minutes, but probably pretty perfect for the girls. It's been a while since I've seen live music, and it is something I used to absolutely love, and now I'm committed to trying to go to more gigs. I've bought Andy and I tickets to Fatboy Slim in March - now that's a real throwback to our London days! This one is an 18+ event, but I'm keen to find another similar type of concert for Ella and maybe even Ollie.  

The next morning both girls had a sleep in after their late night. Once they were up we headed out to breakfast. Across the road was an excellent cafe called Fika (throw back to Sweden for me - this word means something like 'let's take a break and have a coffee'. There is no exact English equivalent word unfortunately). Fika had some of the best looking pastries I've seen and their actual menu was also delicious, as we returned here the following day.

Awake and refuelled, we then headed over to the nearby Botanical Gardens for the promised playgound visit for Ella. 

There was also a cute market on that we wandered around for a bit. Ella is obsessed with getting her nails done, and she found a stall selling reusable fake nails. We managed to find a small set with French tips which actually look quite nice on - maybe I should have got myself a pair?

We walked back through the Botanical Gardens, stopping at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Art Gallery. We had a quick wander through, though this was something that was more up Elsa's alley than Ella's. A cool textiles exhibition was on though, and it did give us a chance to cool off - the whole weekend was pretty hot with blue skies and temperatures reaching 30 degrees.

 

We spent the afternoon at the pool again - glorious while the sun was on the pool, and then all of the sudden turning a bit cool after 3pm once the pool was in the shade. We loved hanging around in our hotel bathrobes at the pool - wearing a hotel bathrobe is pure holiday vibes.

We then headed up to our rooms to chill and get ready for dinner, Ella loving the Google Chromecast function on the TV that allowed her to have YouTube videos of gymnastics on the big TV. Also, probably loving that I allowed some YouTube, which is normally banned or highly restricted in our household. (For the kids anyway. I love YouTube for my yoga and workout videos.) 

Jo found a very cool hidden laneway bar for us to check out before dinner. We had to pass by some smelly bins to get there (part of the appeal??? No, not really) but was very cool once we found it. We were pretty early and the only people there at the time, which, again good for when you are dragging your kids along to adult activities. Jo and I had excellent cocktails, and the owner very kindly made the girls some handcrafted sodas out of his homemade strawberry and passionfruit syrup - he suggested this after only having Coke (ahhh! another forbidden thing for my kids!) and Ginger Ale as non-alcoholic options. We were very pleasantly surprised when we got the bill and say he had only charged us $2 each for the sodas - really lovely considering I was expecting something along the $10 mark!

We then took a ferry ride, just because it's a nice thing to do in Brisbane (and only costs 50 cents as it is a part of the public transport network) and then a walk along South Bank to the Brisbane festival. 

We also found two playgrounds along the way so Ella had her fill of playing, and got some (mediocre yet expensive) dinner from the food trucks. There were a few things going on for the festival including a cool light and water show. We ended up on the Ferris wheel which Ella always begs to do when we are in Brisbane. I am always such a grinch about stuff like that - unless you're on the London Eye I'm not sure when a Ferris wheel is actually worth it - but lucky for Ella we were with other people so I relented. She quickly realised that it was fun for about five minutes, and then it was a case of 'when can we get off this thing?' At least she has now got that out of her system!

After that it was getting late, so we headed back to the hotel, stopping for an ice cream on the way.

The next morning I got up early and went for a walk in the Botanic Gardens and along the river while Ella was still asleep. I love an early morning walk, especially when it is a place I don't normally get to go.

She was still pretty sleepy when I got back, so I headed down to the hotel gym for a workout while she stayed in bed. Ella is absolutely loving these little moments of independence, like staying in the hotel room alone for a little bit, or walking herself from the hotel to the cafe as she did one time. It is cute to see her feeling confident in herself to be able to do some of these things independently. 

That morning Andy and Ollie headed up to Brisbane to meet us and make use of the pool for the afternoon. Ollie immediately jumped into the huge hotel bed for a snuggle.

Ella was happy to have her playmate back, and the two of them had a fabulous time in the pool all afternoon. I think their highlight was ordering what I think ended up being virgin mango and strawberry daiquiris (so much for my one mocktail limit!) at the pool bar. 

We ended up staying until around 4pm, and then packed up to go home, tired but happy from a very fun filled start to the school holidays!