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Brisbane. A pleasant town quite close to Caboolture

Chris Paine

by Chris Paine

04 Sep 11:10am

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Filed under: Brisbane, Cities, Interstate Rivalry, Satire

95 comments

Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland, Australia. It’s the third largest city in Australia. You don’t need this Wikipedia history lesson to understand, know, appreciate, or in my case, love Brisbane.

A sleek modern craft plies the pristine azure waters of the city one spot below Ibadan, Nigeria, on the list of the world's largest cities

Thomas Brisbane was in NSW when he decided to look north for new digs. My life was much the same: my parents moved our family to Brisbane from Sydney in 1988. It was the year of Expo ’88 and the allure of Stefan’s sky needle, which still resides in South Brisbane, was probably too great to ignore.

My arrival in Brisbane marked the first of several terrific early childhood memories: the warmth of a good shower; an unyielding (and as yet unresolved) infatuation with Freddo Frogs and an obsession with the Fat Controller in Thomas the Tank Engine.

And so it is, in the eighth sentence, that I get to the point (Breaking Bad takes at least eight episodes to grow on you, and it’s a fine television program). Brisbane doesn’t require an iconic landmark or self-indulgent advertising (*cough*MELBOURNE*cough) to make a name for itself.

I don’t actually have a cough at the moment but consider this: the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge don’t make Sydney a great city. Sydney makes Sydney a great city. You don’t write home from Melbourne for the Yarra.

Brisbane, to be sure, has some nice landmarks of its own: the Story Bridge (don’t laugh), the Gabba (I said don’t laugh), Southbank (bite your tongue. Bite it) and Suncorp Stadium - the home of world rugby league (and soccer, which I call football, and a few concerts, including one featuring Robbie Williams, which I regrettably did not attend).

Sights don’t define Brisbane, though it’s a beautiful place. It’s not a town, it’s a city. A great city, too.

And it is, despite its outdated reputation, far from culturally inept; one of Brisbane’s many new points of interest is GOMA, a world-class gallery of art (then, if you’re one to whet the old whistle, it’s a short stroll to a lovely craft beer house in West End called Archive Bar, which famously hosted Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale on a bit of an off night).

I’ve lost track of the sentence count, but Brisbane’s cache - its edge, its chutzpah - is easily described in some dot points. Here are four I prepared earlier:

1. Steve Renouf scored a length-of-the-field try to help the Brisbane Broncos to their maiden rugby league premiership in 1992, the first of consecutive grand final wins over St George. Renouf’s nickname is The Pearl, which is more than can be said for either Sydney or Melbourne;

2. Two of Brisbane’s great institutions - council ferries and relationships blogger Katherine Feeney - share the name CityKat. One of them is a reliable public transport option that’s fantastic for tourists (STOP. LAUGHING.); the other’s name is Katherine;

3. I knew people who lived on Sydney St, Brisbane and Adelaide St, Brisbane and I went to a pub on Melbourne St, Brisbane a few times, and I read about Hobart in social studies; so, I’ve seen things;

4. Since moving to Sydney (full disclosure and that) I’ve been to six different beaches - that’s if you’re counting Clovelly, which I am - and none of them compare to the beaches on Brisbane’s doorstep. And when I say doorstep, I don’t mean the egregious promise of a beach at Brisbane’s Nudgee Beach.

I mean the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast, and Byron Bay, which, despite being in NSW, is naturally far more Brisbane than it’ll ever be Sydney. And Caboolture - which is so close to Brisbane it is, for all intents and purposes, Brisbane - produced Keith Urban, and more importantly TEAM Keith.

Brisbane doesn’t need a landmark. We’re doing great. Plus we’ve already got that wonderful replica of the London Eye at Southbank.

Please tell @christoforpaine how he’s a great example of what’s wrong with Brisbane.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST

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95 comments

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    • nihonin says:

      11:13am | 04/09/12

      Love the heading hahaha

      Bout right too wink

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      01:58pm | 04/09/12

      I left Brisbane for Sydney many years ago. Brisboring is a nice place to visit - wait. No it’s not. I go there to see my elderly parents. Period. nothing changes except the traffic gets worse and it’s harder to pakr. Brisbane was nice in the 80s when you could park for free in little laneways in the CBD and pubs shut at 10pm. Nowadays it’s all a bit bland and same same as everywhere else in Australia - though perhaps not as inbred and inundated with bogans as Adelaide.
      I don’t like Sydney all that much either. Hawaii is nice.

    • iansand says:

      11:33am | 04/09/12

      The photo caught the river on a day when it had a relatively attractive colour.  It makes the Yarra look good.

      Reply

    • Sarahh says:

      12:02pm | 04/09/12

      Yeah I think that might be the ugliest photo of Brisbane I’ve ever seen.

    • Chris L says:

      12:37pm | 04/09/12

      Don’t swallow, and you’ll be fine.

      PS. on the odd occasion there’s a shark so don’t swim there all day.

    • stephen says:

      05:41pm | 04/09/12

      The floods last year would have damaged severely the river bed - hence the murky colour.
      Takes a couple of years to clear a bit, but the ‘74 floods were worse, and it took 10 years for the water to clear up.

    • Levi of Bris says:

      11:40am | 04/09/12

      I’m not sure whether this article is a dig a Brisbane or cute admiration. Either way we will leave the ethnic enclaves and gang-related stabbings and shootings to our southern brethren.

      It’s got good bars, good restaurants, good everything, without aspiring to be pretentiously chic as is the case with the perennial Sydney-Melbourne rivalry.

      Anecdotally, most people in Brisbane couldn’t really care what the rest of the country thinks of it. It really is a great city, and is the capital of the most spectacular and most environmentally, socially and regionally diverse state in Australia. Coral reefs off the coast for the marority of its length, tropical rainforests in the north like the daintree, tropical islands in the whitsundays and beyond, vast open plains in the outback full of history and industry, subtropical paradises on the sunshine coast and gold coast.

      Brisbane is the icing on the cake really. Bigger than backwards Perth and Adelaide, smaller than sprawling and overcrowded Sydney and self-important and snobbish Melbourne.

      The irony is that while people bag Brisbane in particular and Queensland in general, the amount of southern number plates I see up here on the road proudly claiming Victoria as “The place to be” is getting ridiculous. Must be something good about Queensland considering the bulk of Australia’s internal migration ends up here.

      Reply

    • xnl says:

      12:12pm | 04/09/12

      Just so our “southern brethren” know, not all Brisbanites are as stuck-up as Levi.  Most of us can appreciate Brisbane as well as other states and their cities and their people without needing to resort to name-calling and sledging.

    • Levi of Bris says:

      01:11pm | 04/09/12

      Just giving them back a bit of their own medicine xnl, how is that stuck up? It’s just some banter mate lighten up, since when did you need to volunteer yourself out to defending people who can defend themselves. And just so our southern brethren know, not all Brisbanites are as contrarian and precious as xnl. See comments below from Colin and SimonofLakemba the Anglo champion for Australian ethnic balkanisation, pretty sure i’m allowed a bit of a piss take.

    • the cynic says:

      02:34pm | 04/09/12

      Best thing about Brisbane are the roads pointing North South and West. Especially as you look in the rear view mirror. Or for us well heeled types know, as the landing gear goes thump on its way up after lift off, splashing a little champers ion the carpet in first class.

    • Ando says:

      03:07pm | 04/09/12

      Xnl,
      And some of us even have a sense of humor

    • Loxy says:

      03:29pm | 04/09/12

      Levi, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest you have never lived anywhere other than Brisbane? There are many lovely things about Brisbane and the strides the city has made in culture, food, art etc in the last 5 years are highly commendable. However, to bag out other cities for being ‘backward’ is a bit of a laugh. QLD is, and probably always will be, one of the least progressive cities in the country. Examples include its supermarkets closing ridiculously early on weekends, no DLS, it’s civil unions and surrogacy laws just to name a few.

      I’ve lived in quite a few cities in Oz as well as overseas and while there are many things I love about living in Brisbane (which I think of as home), I am always hoping that the conservative, resistant to change, bogan attitudes that are far too prevalent here are eventually breed out.

    • Levi of Bris says:

      05:12pm | 04/09/12

      Loxy, if you want groceries on the weekend, get out of bed earlier and get them…Don’t wait until 9pm Sunday night to do your grocery shopping. But that’s an argument I don’t care for, I’ve lived in Perth which is about as bad as it gets. If you have trouble buying things in Brisbane on a Saturday and Sunday i suggest you hire a carer to wipe the dribble from the corner of your mouth.

      What have civil unions got to do with the character of a city? Personally, I don’t care what homosexuals of either gender do as I have friends and realtives of that persuasion, but whats to stop them making up a completely new word to define their life commitment to each other? Like Chozwazza, or abrulominax? Last time I checked “marriage” was between a man and a woman and has been defined as such for thousands of years. Let them have the same rights for all I care, just leave the word marriage alone. Surrogacy? Don’t care. Take it up with Campbell.

      What exactly do you mean by culture? I’m sure if you are interested and that way inclined there are numerous cultural activites to be a part of in Brisbane. I wouldn’t know, i’m too busy enjoying my life to be pretentious by pretending to be interested in the latest Peruvian flute band taking the left-wing trendies by storm. Last I checked theres plenty of restaurants in Brisbane serving delicious and wholesome food, and there is at least one restuarant of virtually any ethnicity you can name in Brisbane so I don’t see what the issue is that you are having? If you want overpriced and exclusive fine dining experiences, Noosa and Maleny/Montville are overflowing with choices.

      Furthermore, not everybody is interested in “art”. I assume Melbourne has a much more vibrant art scene than Brisbane? But I also assume Florence > Melbourne. Does that necessarily make a city better than another to live in for people who are right brain dominant and have no interest in art? No.

      As for conservative, resistant to change, bogan attitudes, somebody below already summed it up better than I could:

      Chucker says:01:21pm | 04/09/12

      Nothing amuses me more than an intellectual giant paying out on the perceived inferior masses.

      You may have an opinion on peoples values and beliefs, but believing you are superior is what ironically links you to the so called bogan masses.

    • Bec says:

      05:33pm | 04/09/12

      “We will leave the ethnic enclaves and gang-related stabbings and shootings to our southern bretheren” - that is correct is you are referring to your bretheren on Brisbane’s southside! Have you ever been to Inala, Logan, Coopers Plains, Sunnybank or Moorooka, Levi?

    • colin says:

      11:45am | 04/09/12

      What’s the time in Brisbane?

      Oh, it’s about 11.45am…........and the year is still 1962

      Reply

    • DocBud says:

      12:30pm | 04/09/12

      Don’t give up your day job, Colin, though your recycling efforts are commendable. We could all cut our carbon footprints if we recycled tired jokes that weren’t ever funny instead of trying to come up with originals.

    • Chris L says:

      12:38pm | 04/09/12

      If you’re starting the daylight savings argument early this year, just remember than fiddling with your clock turns you blind!

    • colin says:

      12:59pm | 04/09/12

      @DocBud 12:30pm | 04/09/12

      Speaking of unoriginal; following people about on blogs dissing them ‘cos their views got up your nose is puerile.

      Have a nice day now grin

    • QLD Health says:

      01:23pm | 04/09/12

      This is hilarious. Thanks Colin best laugh I’ve had all time.

    • DocBud says:

      01:53pm | 04/09/12

      This is, if memory serves, the third time I’ve replied to a comment of yours so don’t flatter yourself (more than once in the same thread only counts as a single occasion). However, if you demonstrate yourself to be a total ass again in the future I’ll not refrain from pointing it out.

      I suppose we can all be thankful that at least on this occasion you’re not trying to insult people by calling them disabled or mocking a disability, that’s a definite improvement.

    • colin says:

      02:52pm | 04/09/12

      @DocBud 01:53pm | 04/09/12

      Sigh. Strawman, anyone..?

    • Testfest says:

      04:44pm | 04/09/12

      Colin, you’re the last person on this website who can complain about strawmen.

      And the year in Queensland is 2002. They are only 10 years behind at most… but in a good way! I actually love Queensland, it’s my favourite state to visit.

    • Levi of Bris says:

      04:45pm | 04/09/12

      Or just accept the fact that you’re a bore Colin?

    • colin says:

      06:01pm | 04/09/12

      @DocBud 04:26pm | 04/09/12

      Me being the name-calling “creep” that you say I am (hypocrisy, anyone?), you would scarce believe that I was using the term “Micro-cephalic” in the metaphorical sense. As in, “Doc, you are a micro-cephalic moron” and NOT in the literal, human tragedy sense…But you full-well know that, don’t you?

      —-

      @Levi of Bris 04:45pm | 04/09/12

      “Or just accept the fact that you’re a bore Colin?”

      Oh, Levi, I accepted that fact years ago. Though I really don’t know why my posts to “Doc” have gotten up your nose…Anger by Proxy, perhaps..? grin

    • simonfromlakemba says:

      11:45am | 04/09/12

      Went to Brisbane once and hated it. Reminded me of Church St in Parramatta, a throwback from the 80s complete with the dirty brown river.

      Had to deal with Brisbane solicitors a lot and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. In QLD the buyers agent can make up the contract! couldn’t believe it when I found out, also good luck getting a hold of them after 4pm, they are usually at the pub pissed and no one picks up phones. We can also thank the cowboys in Gold Coast for all the forms that have to be filled out when selling a property - 30c, 27c, BCCM 14, 20a.

      Reply

    • year of the dragon says:

      12:29pm | 04/09/12

      simonfromlakemba says:11:45am | 04/09/12

      “good luck getting a hold of them after 4pm, they are usually at the pub pissed and no one picks up phones”

      You say this like it’s a bad thing. Sadly it’s untrue.

      “We can also thank the cowboys in Gold Coast for all the forms that have to be filled out when selling a property - 30c, 27c, BCCM 14, 20a”

      Sadly this probably does have an element of truth.

    • glenm says:

      01:12pm | 04/09/12

      @ Simonfromlakemba,
      “We can also thank the cowboys in Gold Coast for all the forms that have to be filled out when selling a property - 30c, 27c, BCCM 14, 20a”

      The rules had to change to save all those stupid southerners buying property at inflated prices after seeing them from the plane window.

    • Levi of Bris says:

      01:22pm | 04/09/12

      Wow you went to Brisbane once and because you had a bad experience you write it off and generalise?

      Here I’ll have a go. I went to Sydney once, drove out to Lakemba where I saw gang-raping, drive-by shooting fundamentalists peddling ekkies on every corner. I estimate the population to be 20% arab, 20% asian, 20% islander, 10% tax paying hard working anglo saxons, 30% green voting chardonnay sipping enclave supporting apologists named Simon on centrelink.

      I can envision your response already “blah blah proved my point about rednecks from Queensland, uncultured, backwards etc..”.

    • Chris L says:

      01:34pm | 04/09/12

      Levi, what’s to say those Arabs, Asians and green voting chardonnay sipping enclave supporting apologists weren’t also tax paying hard working people?

    • M says:

      02:16pm | 04/09/12

      Levi, that’s not as far from the truth as you’d imagine.

    • Ando says:

      03:11pm | 04/09/12

      Watch out Simon or people might start generalizing about Lakemba.

    • simonfromLakemba says:

      04:45pm | 04/09/12

      Wouldn’t want that to happen would we Ando wink

    • CJ Johnson says:

      11:46am | 04/09/12

      Laughing so hard right now. As a Brisbanite borne-and-bred, I can say without hyperbole that this article was witty, insightful, and such utter crap that it made me cough out a lung.

      And I love it.

      Reply

    • Michael says:

      12:01pm | 04/09/12

      You missed the biggest one: Brisbanites are nice, fun, genuine people who don’t judge you on where you work, what school you went to or how much money you appear to have.  Refreshingly, they prefer to deal with the real you, not the fake socialite you pretend to be.  At least, that is what I have experienced, having moved here from other cities.

      Reply

    • Chopper knows says:

      12:47pm | 04/09/12

      They just judge you on the colour of your skin and what beers you drink. XXXX is ok and VB your an idiot.

    • year of the dragon says:

      01:04pm | 04/09/12

      Chopper knows says:12:47pm | 04/09/12

      “They just judge you on the colour of your skin and what beers you drink”

      An actual bigoted generalisation to damn a presumed one.

      Nice one Chopper.

    • Tchom says:

      01:30pm | 04/09/12

      @Chopper

      As a Brisbanite, I take offence to your comment. I never drink XXXX, and neither do any of my friends.

      However, we are all racists - you are correct on that account

    • M says:

      01:50pm | 04/09/12

      There’s less tossers in Brisbane than there is in Sydney.

    • D says:

      03:24pm | 04/09/12

      I think M just captured my feelings on Brisbane right there.

      Living in Sydney currently, and having lived in many cities previously (Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Auckland, Chicago, Dublin, London & Hamburg) - there’s just lots of little, mostly personal reasons… but I love Brisbane. If I had to give a definitive answer in a single sentence on why my preference would be Brisbane, though, less tossers than Sydney (or Melbourne) would just about do it - and I’ve yet to find a better place to live than Australia’s East Coast.

    • Chopper Knows says:

      05:06pm | 04/09/12

      I guess it comes down to what a definition of what a tosser is. To some it means progressive cultured worldly educated down to earth human being and to others it means backwards, racist and close minded.  I know which tosser I would prefer to be.

    • Chopper Knows says:

      05:08pm | 04/09/12

      I guess it comes down to what a definition of what a tosser is. To some it means progressive cultured worldly educated down to earth human being and to others it means backwards, racist and close minded.  I know which tosser I would prefer to be.

    • Michael says:

      12:01pm | 04/09/12

      You missed the biggest one: Brisbanites are nice, fun, genuine people who don’t judge you on where you work, what school you went to or how much money you appear to have.  Refreshingly, they prefer to deal with the real you, not the fake socialite you pretend to be.  At least, that is what I have experienced, having moved here from other cities.

      Reply

    • William says:

      02:40pm | 04/09/12

      No, I didn’t miss it…read it the first time around.

    • LJ Dots says:

      07:17pm | 04/09/12

      William, damnit man, don’t be so insensitive, Michael put it here for the Taswegians. Geez.

    • TheRealDave says:

      12:01pm | 04/09/12

      As someone who also was moved up here in the early 80’s by family escaping from a Sydernee fast turning into a 3rd world ghetto, I wouldn’t live anywhere else. The only thing wrong with Brisbane is the over-prepondance of whinging Broncos/Queensland supporters who rival Seth Efricans for whiny woe is me arrogance (no matter how much music it is to my ears…well…it used to be 7 years ago when we were wining SOO and the Courier Mail was bemoaning the death of Origin…but I digress….) - oh and all the filthy kiwis moving up here in numbers that make Bondi look like the most Ocker place on the planet…..apart from that, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else wink

      Reply

    • Two Sugars says:

      12:52pm | 04/09/12

      Good comment, Dave.
      I often say, the worst thing about living in Queensland, is that it’s full of Queenslanders…
      They even make Victorians look rational, and considerate.

    • Mahhrat says:

      12:08pm | 04/09/12

      I’ve never been to Brisbane so I’m talking out my arse (Oi.  OP said stop laughing), but I’ve always got the impression that Brisbanites pretty much embody the piss-taking culture everyone south of them spends most of their lives trying to emulate.

      Is a wonderful thing.

      Reply

    • Chris L says:

      12:42pm | 04/09/12

      Tassie’s not so bad either. I have a friend from there who came to Brisbane with her brother on their honeymoon wink

    • M says:

      12:11pm | 04/09/12

      Brisbane is better than rAdelaide, Perth and Canberra.

      As for Sydney, I don’t know if I’ve been up here long enough to make the call as to which is better, but so far I’m favouring Brisbane.

      Reply

    • Rose says:

      05:31pm | 04/09/12

      I just went to Brisbane and while I loved my time there I couldn’t wait to get back to Adelaide, for me Adelaide is a much more liveable city. I’ve been to all except Perth and Tasmania but they are on my soon to visit list.
      I’m really sick of all the state by state pissing contests though, every state has it’s own charms and faults, I prefer to live in Adelaide but can see why others may prefer other states. Right now we’re really lucky because it’s affordable for just about anyone on a decent income to watch for specials and get cheap flights and accommodation packages to just about anywhere in the country, giving a lot of us the best of both worlds!!

    • roarr says:

      12:32pm | 04/09/12

      It’s definitely a city on the improve, especially the last 5-10 years. Major issues are the diabolical quality of the Courier Mail, the Upside-down river, and the Normanby on a sunday afternoon.

      At least we don’t spend our entire budget telling everyone we are the best city or the “sporting capital”.

      Reply

    • Chopper knows says:

      12:41pm | 04/09/12

      With Melb being rated the most liveable city in the world two years in a row according to Global Liveability Survey, and even Adelaide and Sydney being in the top 10 but not Brisbane. Brisbane will always try and justify they are better but Melb people don’t need to say a thing. And for all those anti-culturalist, I’d rather be working in Melb and doing business or talking to Sydney or Adelaide workers then trying to communicate with those backwater Brisbanites that winge and winge and winge about how advanced everything is and all they want is to be able to plug and plug their work lives and not go round and round in circles in getting a computer to work or knowing how to use a simple GPS to get them to their destinations. If its up North, its nothing but backwards, backwards and backwards in technology, art, style and liveability.

      Reply

    • Sarahh says:

      01:02pm | 04/09/12

      Goodness gracious, if that’s how good grammar works in Melbourne I’m pleased I don’t live there, I wouldn’t be able to understand a thing.

    • Levi of Bris says:

      01:14pm | 04/09/12

      Hence why you’re all moving up here hey Chopper? And of course having met all 2 million or so Brisbanite you would know hey?

    • Chucker says:

      01:21pm | 04/09/12

      Nothing amuses me more than an intellectual giant paying out on the perceived inferior masses.  Of course, Victoria is the centre of the universe -just ask the Victorians.  Or maybe, I am just a backwater non-communicating Brisbanite having a “winge” -  or was that whinge???

    • Cynicised says:

      01:35pm | 04/09/12

      Nasty stutter you have there, Chopper Knows. Ha!

      Melbourne FTW. BrisVegas is an ugly, characterless city, with no trace of it’s history left to speak of and it’s mostly inhabited by QLDers. Nuff said. wink

    • Sarahh says:

      01:37pm | 04/09/12

      Goodness gracious, if that’s what good grammar looks like in Melbourne I’m pleased I don’t live there, I wouldn’t be able to understand a thing.

    • Sarahh says:

      01:53pm | 04/09/12

      Oops for the double post, couldn’t get my computer in Brisbane to work…

    • Chopper knows says:

      02:01pm | 04/09/12

      The only good thing in QLD is Cairns and the GBR. Those spectacular Coral reefs are amazing. However, it’s not something the Brisbane people should be proud of due to the fact it was not something they physically created.

    • Peter says:

      03:36pm | 04/09/12

      Melbourne is a cold, windy town with a long street of shops down the middle filled with euro-styled clothes that look ridiculous in Australia.

      Sounds like shit to me.

    • Sickemrex says:

      05:47pm | 04/09/12

      Hope you enjoy Kabulsure grin

    • iMitchy says:

      12:42pm | 04/09/12

      Moving to Caboolture next year to work in Brissy. Can’t wait. Been in Perth for six years and it sucks. I long to be back on the east coast.

      Reply

    • M says:

      01:02pm | 04/09/12

      The price of beer in Perth is nothing short of extortion.

    • colin says:

      01:07pm | 04/09/12

      @iMitchy 12:42pm | 04/09/12

      Perth to “Brissy” (sic)?

      Meh; same lack of culture, different bucket…

    • MD says:

      02:00pm | 04/09/12

      Sadly, Caboolture won’t be much of an improvement over Perth.

    • Little Joe says:

      03:44pm | 04/09/12

      iMitchy

      I hope that you like commuting ..... the trains are getting so packed.

      I drove north to Noosa at around 7.00am last Friday for work. The south bound lane was backed up past the Redcliffe turn-off

    • Goffy says:

      12:51pm | 04/09/12

      “Brisbane is better than Adelaide”.

      Stick that in the brochure.

      Reply

    • M says:

      01:13pm | 04/09/12

      It’s not hard. Hell, newcastle is better than adelaide. What does adelaide have besides weed, unemployed bogans and churches?

    • Lily says:

      03:39pm | 04/09/12

      M:  murders? Lots of murders.

    • M says:

      03:51pm | 04/09/12

      It’s sounding better all the time.

    • M says:

      04:16pm | 04/09/12

      It just get’s better and better, doesn’t it?

    • Tubesteak says:

      01:09pm | 04/09/12

      “Breaking Bad takes at least eight episodes to grow on you, and it’s a fine television program”

      Considering the first season was 6 episodes you must have been waiting a while. I was hooked after about 3 episodes and can’t stop.

      Brisbane is a nice town. But I have cousins who moved there and say it’s a year behind. I say at least it’s not as expensive or as crowded as Sydney. It is a bit humid, though, but that’s a matter of preference.

      I think Powderfinger were from Brissie. They were good up until Internationalist. Still one of our better bands in their day, though.

      Reply

    • Phil says:

      01:50pm | 04/09/12

      “Breaking Bad takes at least eight episodes to grow on you, and it’s a fine television program”

      What on earth are you talking about?

      ” I was hooked after about 3 episodes and can’t stop”
      I got in to the credits and had to watch the rest, finished watching the first ep and was hooked bad, up until some silly time in the morning watching all of season 1.

      As for Brisbane, i wouldn’t be bragging that its close to Caboolture, thats nothing to be proud of, its not a selling point.

    • Testfest says:

      01:53pm | 04/09/12

      Actually I think the first season had 7 episodes…

    • Testfest says:

      01:54pm | 04/09/12

      Actually I think the first season had 7 episodes…

    • Shannon says:

      01:12pm | 04/09/12

      I grew up in Melbourne, have lived in Sydney and spent most of my adult life in Brisbane although I’m a few weeks away from returning to Melbourne for work reasons and I’d agree with many of the posters above that the silly pitting cities against cities argument is useless. I personally love Brisbane. I love getting the City Cat to work, I love the bars, restaurants, theatres, cafes, GOMA, Brisbane Festival and the many great days out and weekends away within easy reach (Springbrook and Lamington National Parks, Moreton and Stradbroke Island, Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Byron, Noosa and even Fraser Island). I also know I won’t be able to afford a new apartment with riverfront views in Melbourne as I have in Brisbane the last few years. But I’m excited about going to a busy, bustling city again with loads of interesting districts each with their own flavour (Melbourne really nails this and Brisbane is slowly catching up). The people calling it backwards however have got it really wrong. Genuine people, great lifestyle, some great career opportunities, and a fantastic night life – live in Brisbane for a few months before you knock it!!! I’ve lived in all 3 of the majors and my experience is that they all have strengths and weaknesses though you couldn’t pay me to return to Sydney personally – too ‘socialite’ for me!

      Reply

    • Richard says:

      01:32pm | 04/09/12

      Brisbane’s a great place to be party, in a quintessentially lazy and laconic way. It’s really great place, for the long lazy parties in summer, and the gorgeous weather in the other 3 seasons. I love Brisbane’s, and but Sydney is better, of course. So is Melbourne, Australia but Brisbane’s a really great city, and better than Perth, Adelaide and Canberra for sure.

      Reply

    • Kerryn says:

      01:34pm | 04/09/12

      Still trying to get a transfer to Brisbane, but it looks like my dream of living in my favourite city in the world is just about over :-(

      Oh well…Visiting often sorta makes up for it…I guess…

      Reply

    • MD says:

      02:02pm | 04/09/12

      You forgot the best thing about Brisbane: no one gives a toss about AFL.

      Reply

    • Fred Cremin says:

      02:06pm | 04/09/12

      A bit of QLD myopia there, Chis ....

      Keith Urban (along with a host of “other famous Australians” - like Prof. Fred Hollows, the two leads in “Packed To The Rafters” & the hundreds strong gang that keeps Oz TV & Super 16 & NRL football alive) is actually a New Zealander. Yep - Born & bred in Northland’s Whangarei, I believe ...

      A lot of these live in Brisbane & the Gold Coast too.

      I think Kiwi Keith married some Aussie chick too - but I can never remember her name.

      Cheers

      Reply

    • Fred Cremin says:

      02:05pm | 04/09/12

      A bit of QLD myopia there, Chis ....

      Keith Urban (along with a host of “other famous Australians” - like Prof. Fred Hollows, the two leads in “Packed To The Rafters” & the hundreds strong gang that keeps Oz TV & Super 16 & NRL football alive) is actually a New Zealander. Yep - Born & bred in Northland’s Whangarei, I believe ...

      A lot of these live in Brisbane & the Gold Coast too.

      I think Kiwi Keith married some Aussie chick too - but I can never remember her name.

      Cheers

      Reply

    • Fred Cremin says:

      02:06pm | 04/09/12

      A bit of QLD myopia there, Chis ....

      Keith Urban (along with a host of “other famous Australians” - like Prof. Fred Hollows, the two leads in “Packed To The Rafters” & the hundreds strong gang that keeps Oz TV & Super 16 & NRL football alive) is actually a New Zealander. Yep - Born & bred in Northland’s Whangarei, I believe ...

      A lot of these live in Brisbane & the Gold Coast too.

      I think Kiwi Keith married some Aussie chick too - but I can never remember her name.

      Cheers

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      02:06pm | 04/09/12

      Pity that Brisbane has major floods every so often and the state of Queensland had no state insurance so the rest of Australia had to bail out Brisbane including all the flood fraudsters…....

      Reply

    • marley says:

      02:14pm | 04/09/12

      So far as I’m aware, the flood levy applied almost entirely to infrastructure.  Are you saying the Queensland government or the local councils committed fraud?

    • MD says:

      02:20pm | 04/09/12

      Could have something to do with the fact no one is prepared to offer flood and other natural disaster insurance to Queensland as it happens so often.

      Don’t let reality get in the way of your distorted world view though.

    • marley says:

      04:15pm | 04/09/12

      @MD - lots of states and nations self-insure against disaster.  If Queensland couldn’t get insurance, it should bloody well have built up a contingency fund.

    • I hate pies says:

      02:24pm | 04/09/12

      Blah blah, my city’s better than your city, blah blah…I hate ‘em all

      Reply

    • Andrew C says:

      03:12pm | 04/09/12

      I moved to Brisbane for uni then moved to Melbourne and Sydney for work over 6 or so years. I returned 4 years ago (with many southerners crying out “WHY”), and have loved every minute of it. Brisbane isn’t a place you can just visit, you need to live there and actively discover its goodness.

      It has its problems, but show me a city that doesn’t! Every Sydneysider will proclaim to live in the best city in the world and in the next breath be moaning about Parramatta rd traffic/George st violence/english tourists. Melbournites will pretend they don’t care until a Sydneysider takes a swipe at their fair city, oh and then it will rain and they’ll be hopping on a jetstar flight to the Gold Coast.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      05:52pm | 04/09/12

      Won’t be anyone around to fix things here soon as Campbell Newman is sacking everyone ... which reminds me, when is the City Council going to replace the riverwalk so cyclists can get into the City without riding along Ann street, which, by the way, is slowly sinking, cause you only have to check out the left hand gutters which have separated from the road surface.

      The officials here are thinking of either extending Queen street mall to Creek street, or building a lower level shopping precinct under the existing mall, but the better result I think would be to run a tram from the Valley along Queen, up Edward and left along Wickham Terrace where surely this last area needs development, and not so much congestion around this mall, which really has turned this town a bit tizzy.
      Fortitude Valley is dying, and the weekend markets will not save it.

      Reply

    • Sickemrex says:

      05:54pm | 04/09/12

      I live on the Sunshine Coast now, having lived in Ballarat, Melbourne, Cairns, Bundaberg and Rockhampton and the Sunshine Coast is definitely the most liveable of those places.  I really must comment on the OP’s plug for the Archive Bar in West End.  It is absolutely incredible, better than any bar I’ve been to anywhere.

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      06:05pm | 04/09/12

      Chris, shut UP! Brisbane sucks, it’s awful, everything everyone has ever said about it being backward and boring is absolutely TRUE!!*

      *the above statement is in no way a sponsored argument designed to discourage people moving to Brisbane and getting in on the great lifestyle the Brisbane-born author has enjoyed all her life.

      Reply

    • Adrian says:

      06:52pm | 04/09/12

      Brisbane needs to be lived in to appreciate how great it is, not visited. I love it here.

      Reply

    • Katherine says:

      07:20pm | 04/09/12

      I’ve visited Brisbane for holidays and I really enjoy the atmosphere and the the friendliness of the people.  I also love the tropical atmosphere and sitting by the river eating the best prawns I’ve ever tasted.  On top of all that, flying into Brisbane when it’s dark and after a thunderstorm, the view is absolutely breathtaking.

      Reply
 
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