24 hours in...Brisbane!

6:00am It’s Mark’s birthday today! We’ve got a busy day ahead (just like on my birthday in September), so there’s no time off, but there’s some fun stuff ahead.

Our limo comes to Pethers Rainforest Retreat to take us into Brisbane city. The resort has packed us some breakfast and luckily we packed our suitcases the night before because I’m seriously not a morning person. I’m a bit bleary eyed and Mark tries to get some last minute filming before we leave. I’m being a bit of a grumpy bum and refusing to cooperate – what a diva I’m turning into!

I’ve never spent much time in Brisbane, so I was keen to check it out. I was born in Sydney and we’ve got an understandable pride in our city but after 24 hours in Brisbane we were both seriously impressed. It’s got a very fun and relaxed vibe with some great cosmopolitan touches – film festivals, great dining and lots of attractions. We’d definitely consider living here some day.

7:00am We arrived at the Story Bridge Adventure Climb, one of the most popular new attractions in Brisbane. There are only three bridges you can climb in the world and Australia has two of them. It’s a brilliant way to see the city from a different perspective, and we were really looking forward to our private climb with Mish Lockington from Tourism Queensland.

It’s a two and a half hour journey up to a highest point of 80 metres above the Brisbane River with a spectacular view of the city. It’s completely safe as you’re attached to a static line the whole time, and the bridge has been customised specifically for the climbing route.

After we got kitted out in very sexy grey jumpsuits and climbing accessories we’re given an alcohol breath test, just to make sure the previous day’s Tamborine distillery experience hadn't affected us too much.

The total climb is about one kilometre in length but the tour pretty slow going, giving you plenty of time to stop and look out and appreciate the view. Bradley our tour guide pointed out many of Brisbane’s beautiful features; the cliffs and mountains, botanic gardens, the floating pontoon walkway, and the famous landmarks dating back 200 years or more when the first settlers and immigrants came here.

It’s a definite must-do for visitors to Brisbane, it really gives you the flavour of the city. We were really impressed with the whole experience and the photo souvenirs taken on the top are a really nice reminder. Loved it.

11:00am We jumped into our wedding outfits and waved good-bye from the limo as we headed to our next appointment. Unfortunately the rainy weather had dampened our plans somewhat.

The original plan this morning was to get married at the top of Kangaroo Point Cliffs and then abseil down the cliffs. Media had been invited and were presumably going to film from the bottom, so I had shorts under my wedding dress to avoid my own personal Bridget Jones upskirt moment. I’m not a huge fan of heights, but being on camera has a funny way of making me forget these things.

With that plan scuppered, Tourism Queensland moved into Plan B, this one scarier for Mark… getting married on rollerblades!

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The one and only time Mark has rollerbladed, he broke his wrist. Although most people would consider it a pretty safe and easy activity, Mark seems to become extremely uncoordinated on things like ice-skates, so he was dreading it!

Something we were really looking forward to though was finally meeting Ben Southall, winner of Tourism Queensland’s Best Job in the World competition. It was the original competition which really captured people’s imagination and spawned lots of copycats (including ours)!

For six months, Ben was an island caretaker in the beautiful Whitsundays and spent his days exploring probably the most gorgeous and unspoilt places in the world. We’ve been communicating with Ben via Twitter during our whole trip and it was so surreal to finally meet him for the first time.

Ben got into one of his famous blue shirts (he has hundreds of them by now) and all three of us got kitted out with helmets, elbow and knee pads. While we got ready, I asked Ben a bit about the competition and how life is like now. He has really loved living in Queensland and has really cool plans for the future. Can't wait to hear what's next.

12:00am Wedding time! Ben was to escort me down the aisle, so we skated arm in arm down a small incline towards Mark as the TV cameras rolled. No major mishaps and we got married while giggling nervously. We even stuck my fascinator hairpiece to my helmet to really get the wedding look.

Reporters from Channel 7 and 9 were there and interviewed us after the wedding. The photographer got us to skate around hand in hand until basically Mark fell on his butt – I think that’s the shot he wanted after all!

Thanks to River Life for organising our roller blade wedding! We’d love to come back and do the proper skate around the river – a fabulous activity.

2:00pm Wedding over, we say goodbye to Ben and check into our suite at Quay West, an absolutely incredible location situated right on the Botanic Gardens and with a fabulous view of the Brisbane River. Our two bedroom apartment was very stylish, completely kitted out with a fully stocked kitchen and laundry. It’s Brisbane’s most luxurious 5 star all-suite hotel, which makes it a very popular accommodation option. It’s a huge two-bedroom just for us, but we always have so much crap with us so we soon fill it up with dirty laundry, wedding paraphernalia and laptops.

4:00pm We headed out to Brisbane’s famous shopping area Queens Street Mall on the hunt for white swimming costumes for an upcoming photo shoot in the Whitsundays – not as easy as you’d think.

The city was a hive of activity and with really great shops and good café culture. Brisbane is just impressing us more and more. We can’t wait to come back with more time (and our credit card) to do some serious shopping.

6:00pm We put on our dressing gowns and watched the sun going down sitting on the huge wrap around balcony and breathed in the gorgeous view of Brisbane. The apartment is really stylish, it feels like our own personal (and glamorous) home for the night. This is living - if only it was ours!

We caught ourselves on the news before heading out to dinner. It’s always weird seeing ourselves on camera. We decided to walk through the city rather than take a cab, since it was only twenty minutes to the popular West End part of town, full of cute restaurants and bars.

The city was gorgeous at night, a really balmy 20 degrees and we walked past the Gallery of Modern Art, South Bank (Brisbane’s entertainment hub) and past some great looking restaurants. We were told that Brisbanites tend to eat quite early and lead quite healthy lives, waking up at 5am to go jogging, so we have to find somewhere to eat by around 8:30pm.

7:00pm We found a vegan café in town recommended by TQ which looked really great. We were starving so ordered practically everything on the menu, including a veg samosa, dahl and veggie stew and then quite simply the best veggie burger I’ve ever had. I’d move to Brisbane purely to have this burger again, it was that good. We finished it off with some banana, mango and wheatgrass juice and a shared slice of chocolate cake.

9:00pm We met up with Ben and a few other Tourism Queensland people in the Melbourne Bar for a quick drink. Ben is a very charming guy – full of personality and really easy going. It was fun to trade a few stories about the ups and downs of being a competition winner and to have a casual chat about what’s next for both of us.

10:00pm A quick cab home to our usual nightly activities – namely blogging, editing, packing our bags and reading up on our next destination. An early start tomorrow, another 6am so I need my beauty sleep!

Wow what a day! Brisbane is a seriously lovely city, and we can’t wait to spend more time there. There’s so much to do and see, and it’s just got the best vibe. We’re huge fans already.

Thank you to Quay West for an incredible stay and for looking after us. We’ll definitely come back to Brisbane just for that view.

Runaway Bride and Groom have arranged our Queensland honeymoon with Tourism Queensland. Australia is an amazing place for a honeymoon or stunning destination wedding, and Runaway Bride and Groom can help you organise every detail. Find out more.

Links

Climb: The Story Bridge Adventure Climb www.storybridgeadventureclimb.com.au

Stay: The Quay West Hotel www.mirvachotels.com.au

Eat: The Forest Cafe www.theforest.com.au

Do: River Life Activities Centre http://www.riverlife.com.au/rollerblading/

Comments

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Posted by: Discount Jordan Shoes | April 19, 2011 at 08:36 AM

Thanks for coming up the bridge. So how's married life treating you both.
We have updated our Facebook page and also plan to start the Abseil Climb later this year. Just fan us on the FB page for updates.
Thanks again guys.

Posted by: Paul Lewin | April 21, 2011 at 03:51 AM

Looks like you had fun! Pity you didn't have enough time to visit Stradbroke Island, it's not far from Brisbane.

Posted by: Daydream Island | May 01, 2011 at 07:11 AM

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Posted by: wedding | September 05, 2011 at 08:38 AM