track our trek

we spent 3 lovely days relaxing on the beach in coff's harbour. the views were beautiful, the weather perfect, and the water a bit chilly. (the tasman sea is not as warm as the south pacific.) then just when the rain arrived in coff's harbour, we decided to head north to brisbane. we found brisbane to be another charming city, though a bit sleepier than sydney. alas, we still can't get a break with prices here in australia...guess we'd better get used to it! one thing we really like about both sydney and brisbane is the public architecture. the south bank of the brisbane river is built up with art galleries, libraries, performing arts centers, public parks, and even a little artificial beach! we even watched a performance for the flipside childrens circus (what kid wouldn't want to join the circus if they had the chance?) we visited the gallery of modern art...our favorite exhibit was the indigenous art exhibit...our biggest regret this trip is that we don't have enough time or money to make it to the outback & see and learn more about aboriginal culture. the australian east coast is curiously devoid of it...in many ways it could be like moving from city to city and beach town to beach town at home. we've seen very few black people, and when we do, they are often either working menial jobs, or performing indigenous music or dance on the street...sound familiar? i'll tell you...the european culture of oppression is just the gift that keeps on giving...we're told we'll find that indigenous culture is much more prevalent in new zealand, so we're looking forard to that. unfortunately, this place is vast! a trip to ayers rock in the center of the country would either take 3 days each way by bus, or a $400+ for a roundtrip flight!...next time we'll come with a bigger budget!