Lori's Blog : Looking for the Seedier Side of Brisbane ...

Went for a walk this Tuesday morning. A sense of urgency has fallen over me - for no reason whatsoever - I have until Friday and we fly to Melbourne to get the 'Brisbane' out of my system. I also will be back for the most of May - so why such a sense of urgency?

Probably because the end is in sight. Can I see the end? Can Gary see the end? No, and what comes after is a bit hazy, but it is out there - just out of my grasp. When I know what comes next, and can talk about it ... I'll let you know. But for now - we are still living on two continents ... separate, but somehow together.

As I leave my building I slip through the 'secret passage' on my way to Queen Street (having no destination in mind - it is a good 'jumping off point'). And spy the air ferns growing all along the wall. They amaze me - their tenacity, their ability to grow ... well ... out of thin air!

Small statues dot the landscape as I veer off Queen Street and away from our apartment. New, untrodden territory for me. They are all over ... just to make the city that much more beautiful. But today ... today I am on a mission - to see the seedier part of Brisbane - I think it just might be a wee bit hard to do - everything is so nice and spiffy and clean!

I arrive at Anzac Square. A place I have been before and have taken pictures of before. ANZAC - standing for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and this park is a monument to them. I have included statues that dot the park, but I don't know if I have ever added this monument:

I didn't realize until today what it was. The top of the circle is lined with great battles fought, and in the center is a flame:

I am assuming a flame that never goes out.

It seems like hallowed ground today, people seem to not be speaking around me, just standing, quietly, reverently, looking ...I notice for the first time the beautiful trees in the park:

I can't believe that I have not noticed these beauties before. My 'seedier' part of Brisbane tour is failing miserably.

I sit down on a bench by Anzac Square and just enjoy the crisp fall weather, and notice movement to my right. A performance artist has been added to the bus benches that I have seen all over town - they have grown flowers and shrubbery since the last time I was here - they were just, well, bus benches last time I was in Brisbane. I am still unsure what they are advertising for - but she was new. Try as she might - she didn't get a single taker for her beautiful flowers.

I spotted this absolutely beautifully shaped tree and snapped some photos - still not finding my seedier Brisbane. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, maybe I didn't need to see it?

Passed St. James Cathedral - which I have included before and I am trying not to duplicate (that is ... for everything EXCEPT my flowers and Story Bridge). I spy its beautiful spires surrounded by skyscrapers reflected in a set of windows and snap a shot:

Frangipani flower trees surround me in this new park I am cutting through to find me a seedy part of town (close, though, my feet hurt and I don't want to get lost ...)

And down an alley I go ... and I find it! The wee part of Brisbane that would, maybe be classified as 'seedy'. I fell in LOVE with this flower. Growing straight out of the brick dust of a crumbling building:

The tenacity! What does it take for a seed to germinate, take root and grow to this size in just a small bit of brick dust? LOVE IT!

And as seedy as I am going to get of Brisbane on foot:

Almost home - and I guess this sign is pretty seedy - I don't believe any of the items listed on the sign are actually available right here:

Home! My feet are tired, and I have pretty much failed in my quest to find the ugly. Why did I want to find it in the first place, I wonder as a kind gentleman runs back to the elevator he just exited to hold the door for me.