BRISBANE

Brisbane is situated at the mouth of a very winding river near the southern edge of Queensland, about midway on the eastern coast of Australia. Hosting the world’s fair in 1988 transformed it from a sleepy provincial capital to a big bustling city. My friend Syed tells me that it has only about 300,000 people, but can that be right? The river is lined with huge modern buildings and highways connect the many suburbs in a sprawl reminiscent of Los Angeles -- on a more human scale. Piers dot the river for a ferry called “the City Cat” that runs up and down the river not unlike the vaporetti of Venice. I was quickly corrected in the pronunciation of the city's name. It's "BRIS-bun" not the same as California's Brisbane ("BRIS-bayne") just south of San Francisco.

Getting away from the modern office towers and condos that line the river there are many houses built in the Queenslander style – derived from a basic Victorian look, these houses are elevated to catch the wind and have verandahs that appear to surround the entire house. Light, narrow boards criss-cross into screens that block the view of nosey tourists, but allow the wind and a fair bit of light. My first full day in Brisbane was very rainy so after a rather late start we got down to the city’s museum and spent most of the day there. Taking the City Cat down the river to the stop nearest the museum we enjoyed a stroll along the river, stopping briefly at a Nepalese pagoda left over from Expo 88.

In the evenings one can see huge bats flitting around near the river. By day it belongs to the birds. On a ramp winding up from the river towards the museum a tree is filled with parrots. A ramp winding up from the river to the Museum wraps around a tree filled with parrots noisy even in the rain. It appeared to be a pyrocantha tree loaded with berries. In San Francisco runaway parrots love these berries which over-ripen and ferment on the tree, the natural sugars breaking down into alcohol. I can’t be sure yet that these Brisbane birds were as drunk as their San Francisco cousins, but loud and boisterous as they were they seemed not at all bothered by the rain! The museum is a great place for kids and the admission is free. Lots of animal exhibits stressing bio-diversity and species preservation displayed in taxidermy and photos quite a few beasties I’d never seen or heard of. Some light and breezy – suitable for all ages – exhibits showed some of the history of the state of Queensland.

One floor, devoted to history and culture of the aboriginals, made a good effort at giving a fair hearing to a much oppressed people. (Photos were forbidden, in respect for the aboriginal cultures.) When the Brits first arrived they declared Australia “terra nulla” an empty and uninhabited land. Officially designated as a land without a people the British claimed the territory and started moving in with no regard for the black-skinned folk who were here with many different nations and languages. Aboriginal children were taken from their parents through much of the 20th century, placed in institutions where they were taught Christianity and English, torn from their native cultures, and some were placed in white homes, frequently treated more as house slaves than as adopted children. The Australian government has yet to apologize for this atrocity, and while this policy of kidnapping aboriginal children and trying to destroy their culture is no longer in effect, there is still a lot of discrimination. Children are often taken out of poor families on citation of abuse and neglect. With timing similar to that of the US civil rights struggle, Aboriginals and supporters marched and demonstrated in the 1960’s and 70’s for equal rights, and as in the US the black folks have gained legal equality on paper, but still face a lot of prejudice. In the real world of housing, jobs, and opportunity, equality is still a long way off. Only recently did an Australian court overturn the founding concept of “terra nulla” in favor of an aboriginal land claim. The new Prime Minister had made a campaign promise to deliver a long awaited apology for the kidnapping of entire generations. The Aboriginals are still waiting…

Syed’s friend, Marco, insisted on throwing a party for me, and he whipped together a fabulous barbeque – yes, shrimps on the barbie, but the way they joked it seems to be not so much a thing Aussies do, but to make fun of the Paul Hogan commercials that they know are shown all over the US. Although rain forced the party indoors and it was a tad crowded, it was a wonderful time with lovely people and great food. Another day was spent with Syed and Sy Scholfield a gay astrologer in Brisbane who maintains the Astro-Queer website, a terrific resource! We went up into Mt. Coot-tha and followed the aboriginal art trail which offered a rather simple introduction to some of the elements of aboriginal art. Three days in Brisbane was not nearly enough, but I’ve since found out that the next FAA conference will be in Brisbane so I can hope to spend a much longer visit there in 2010.

Australia

Melbourne * Sydney * The FAA Conference

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