So Jacqui took Zach and I up to Brisbane (about 2 hours North from where I'm staying) to watch her son play Rugby and show us around. I've attached all of the photos we took in the beautiful city! We went to the Brisbane Museum first and checked out all of the exhibits. There was cool stuff about the marine life as well as some of the awesome paleontology finds in Australia. After the quick trip through the museum we went to the rugby game. Jacqui's son Jake plays Rugby Union, which is one of 3 kinds of rugby (or football) played in Australia. The game was really fun to watch, although I had to turn to Jacqui and ask questions every time the ref blew the whistle.
Rugby Union and Rugby League are played all over the world, and are basically what you think of when you think of rugby. The third is called Australian Rules Football, or just "footie", and it is exclusive to Australia (I think New Zealand might have a team or two). I won't bother trying to explain how that game works, but it is my favorite from what I've watched so far. Union is a good game as well, but I think Aussie Rules Footie is top-notch and it a very Aussie sport.
Anyway after the game we walked through Brisbane and checked out some of the buildings in different parts of the city. We also went into the Brisbane City Hall where they had another museum about Brisbane on the 3rd floor. The Brisbane river (which the city is named after) has been crucial to commerce and daily life in Brisbane for over 150 years and so the museum highlighted the different important features of the river. We learned that Brisbane flood quite often, the most recent in 2011, and some of the floods have been up to the second story of the buildings.
After walking through town we walked through the shops and markets on South Bank. We finally wrapped up our evening in the Valley (or Chinatown) with some delicious Chinese food. Overall is was a great time in Brisbane and it was nice to get to know Jacqui a little bit better in the process. I'm looking forward to checking out Australia's other major cities later during my stay here!
Rugby Union and Rugby League are played all over the world, and are basically what you think of when you think of rugby. The third is called Australian Rules Football, or just "footie", and it is exclusive to Australia (I think New Zealand might have a team or two). I won't bother trying to explain how that game works, but it is my favorite from what I've watched so far. Union is a good game as well, but I think Aussie Rules Footie is top-notch and it a very Aussie sport.
Anyway after the game we walked through Brisbane and checked out some of the buildings in different parts of the city. We also went into the Brisbane City Hall where they had another museum about Brisbane on the 3rd floor. The Brisbane river (which the city is named after) has been crucial to commerce and daily life in Brisbane for over 150 years and so the museum highlighted the different important features of the river. We learned that Brisbane flood quite often, the most recent in 2011, and some of the floods have been up to the second story of the buildings.
After walking through town we walked through the shops and markets on South Bank. We finally wrapped up our evening in the Valley (or Chinatown) with some delicious Chinese food. Overall is was a great time in Brisbane and it was nice to get to know Jacqui a little bit better in the process. I'm looking forward to checking out Australia's other major cities later during my stay here!