:: Royal Show - The Ekka ::

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this here, but I love carnivals (called 'shows' down here). I'm a huge fan. Last year I couldn't go to our yearly Royal Show because I was holed up in hospital, so this year I was determined to go. Mr LG and I had an awesome time, we ate bad (delicious) food, patted llamas and alpacas, saw day old lambs, bought traditional Bertie Beetle show bags, and spent a lot of time in Sideshow Alley at night to watch all the lights of the rides.

Oh, and to take photos. Obviously.

:: Exploring Brisbane - Part One ::

At the beginning of January one of my closest friends flew up from Sydney to hang out with me for a few days. She had only been to Brisbane once before and had spent most of her time in a place called The Valley (full name is Fortitude Valley). Now, there's nothing wrong with the Valley, but it is geared towards a certain demographic - there is a lot of cool cafes, clubs, trendy bars etc, so it's perfect if you like that sort of thing. But, she had never actually been to Brisbane, the city (even though it's literally a ten minute walk from the Valley).

So in light of her last visit, I decided that we would do some exploring while she was here. It was fun to view my home town through the eyes of a 'tourist'. Gracie came along on one of the days (see her post here) and we went to South Bank, which is a parkland across the river from the city. South Bank has markets, food stalls, a man-made beach that overlooks the city, parklands (obviously), cafes and restaurants.

View of Brisbane city from Mt Coot-tha

View of Brisbane city from Bartley's Lookout in Hamilton

Playing with bokeh at Bartley's Lookout

View of Brisbane city from Kangaroo Point

One of the cool buildings in Brisbane city and the iconic bougainvillea walkways at South Bank

The Wheel of Brisbane and another reflective building in Brisbane city

View of the Valley end of Brisbane city with part of the Botanical Gardens to the left

Gracie on the City Cat (the name of our ferries)

Ducks at South Bank

More bougainvillea and the Brisbane Conservatory of Music ("the Con")

View of Brisbane city from near the top of the Wheel of Brisbane

Gracie and I have actually been talking a lot about what Brisbane has to offer lately and we have decided that we need to be a bit kinder to our home town and really start to enjoy what it has to offer. If you were to look through my photos you would see hundreds of photos of the beach, Melbourne, Perth ... anywhere but here. It's a little sad because Brisbane really does have a lot of amazing things to see and do. We went out on Friday night and walked through the city taking photos of all the pretty buildings and South Bank all lit up at night. I can't wait to show you those photos! We plan to get together once a month to see something new in Brisbane!

Are you like us? Do you forget to really 'see' your home town? If you have a post about where you live I'd love to read it! Leave a link so I can check it out. It'll be like a little tour around the world, from the comfort of my home :)

:: Finders Keepers Markets ::

Late last year Gracie and I went to the Finders Keepers markets together. I love these markets - they're basically etsy in real life! I always set myself a budget (with cash in hand) so that I don't go overboard and buy one of everything. Every year I'm amazed at how creative people are. I'm pretty sure I walk around repeating the phrases, "Oh, that's clever!", "I love that!", "Look! How do people come up with this?", "I wish I could do that." And yeah, you get the idea.