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BRISBANE

It may be Australia’s third-largest city, but for a very long time Brisbane was seen as something of a poor cousin to Sydney and Melbourne: a sleepy country town hiding behind a big city façade.  More recently, however, Brisbane has stirred from its slumber and is very casually emerging as one of the most desirable places to live in Australia with some estimates indicating 1000 people packing their bags and moving every week!

Naturally, locals have always known that ‘Brissie’ (also known as ‘Brisvegas’) offers the perfect lifestyle, and it doesn’t take visitors long to understand why. Despite the transformation into a sleek, cosmopolitan city complete with world-class art galleries, an incredible live music scene and a fabulous café culture that even Melbournians take notice of, Brisbane still retains its laid-back, easy attitude and a tight knit community feel.

There is no doubt that the lazy, subtropical climate, gently curving Brisbane River and rich cultural flavours of its many neighbourhoods also have something to do with Brisbane’s appeal. But most of the time people fall in love with Brisbane because it’s a big city with a down-to-earth attitude and home to some of the friendliest locals in Oz.

Getting there and back

Bus

Brisbane’s main terminus and booking office for all long-distance buses and trains is the Roma Street Transit Centre (Roma St, Brisbane), about 500m west of the city centre. The centre has an accommodation booking service and a backpackers employment service.

You’ll find booking desks for the bus companies on the third level of the centre. Greyhound Australia (13 14 99, 3236 3035; www.greyhound.com.au ) is the main company on the Sydney–Brisbane run ($116, 16 hours), but Premier Motor Service (13 34 10; www.premierms.com.au ) often has cheaper deals on this route. You can also travel between Brisbane and Melbourne ($170, 24 to 28 hours) or Adelaide ($250, 40 hours), although competitive airfares may enable you to fly for the same price or less.

Train

The Roma St Transit Centre is Brisbane’s main station for long-distance trains. For any information and reservations, call into the Queensland Rail Travel Centre (13 16 17; www.qr.com.au ; 3235 1323; Ground fl, Central Station, 305 Edward St, Brisbane; 7am-5pm Mon-Fri; Roma St Transit Centre; 3235 1331; Roma St, Brisbane; 7am-5pm Mon-Fri). It is also possible to make reservations online or over the phone.

CountryLink (13 22 32; www.countrylink.nsw.gov.au ; economy/1st class/sleeper $125/165/255) has a daily XPT (express passenger train) service between Sydney and Brisbane. The northbound service runs overnight, and the southbound service runs during the day. Each takes 14 hours.

Services within Queensland:

Spirit of the Outback Brisbane to Longreach via Rockhampton twice weekly (economy seat/economy sleeper/1st-class sleeper $185/240/370, 26 hours).

Sunlander Brisbane to Cairns via Townsville (economy seat/economy sleeper/1st-class sleeper/Queenslander class $205/265/410/725, 30 hours). The exclusive Queenslander class includes restaurant meals and historical commentary.

Tilt Train Brisbane to Cairns (business seat only $305, 25 hours) and Brisbane to Rockhampton (economy seat/business seat $100/150, eight hours).

Westlander Brisbane to Charleville via Roma (economy seat/economy sleeper/1st-class sleeper $100/160/240, 17 hours).

Concessions are available for children under 16 years, students with a valid ISIC card and senior citizens.

Air

Brisbane’s main airport is about 16km northeast of the city centre at Eagle Farm and has separate international and domestic terminals about 2km apart, linked by the Airtrain (3215 5000; www.airtrain.com.au ; per person $14; every 30min, 5am-7.30pm). It’s well serviced and there are frequent flights to Asia, Europe, Pacific Islands, North America, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Domestic airlines servicing Brisbane include Qantas (13 13 13; www.qantas.com.au ; 247 Adelaide St, Brisbane; 8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat), Virgin Blue (13 67 89; www.virginblue.com.au ), Jetstar (13 15 38; www.jetstar.com.au ), Macair (1800 622 247; www.macair.com.au ) and Sunshine Express (13 13 13; www.sunshineexpress.com.au ).

Getting Around 

Brisbane has one of the best public transport networks in Australia. Information on bus, train and ferry routes and connections can be obtained from the Trans-Info Service (13 12 30; www.transinfo.qld.gov.au ; 6am-9pm Mon-Thu, 24hr 6am Fri to 9pm Sun).

Bus and ferry information is available at the Brisbane Visitor Information Centre, the information centre at the Queen St Mall bus station (8.30am-5.30pm Mon-Thu, 8.30am-8pm Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun) and the Queensland Rail Travel Centres.

Fares on buses, trains and ferries operate on a zone system. There are 23 zones in total, but the city centre and most of the inner-city suburbs fall within Zone 1, which translates into a single fare of $2.20/1.10 per adult/child.

If you’re going to be using public transport more than once on any single day, it’s worth getting a daily ticket (per adult/child zone 1 $4.40/2.20, zone 2 $5.20/2.60, zone 3 $6/3), which allows you unlimited transport on all buses, trains and ferries.

You can also purchase off-peak daily tickets (per adult/child zone 1 $3.30/1.70, zone 2 $3.90/2, zone 3 $4.50/2.30), which allow unlimited transport but only between 9am and 3.30pm and after 7pm from Monday to Friday, and all weekend.

A Ten Trip Saver (per adult/child zone 1 $17.60/8.80, zone 2 $20.80/10.40, zone 3 $24/12) gives you 10 trips for the price of eight and is also valid on all buses, trains and ferries.

Boat

Brisbane’s nippy blue CityCat catamarans run every 20 to 30 minutes, between 5.50am and 10.30pm, from the University of Queensland in the southwest to Bretts Wharf in the northeast, and back. Stops along the way include North Quay (for the Queen St Mall), South Bank, Riverside (for the CBD) and New Farm Park. The CityCats are wheelchair accessible at the University of Queensland, Guyatt Park, North Quay, South Bank 1 and 2, and Hawthorne.

Also useful are the Inner City Ferries, which zigzag back and forth across the river between North Quay, near the Victoria Bridge, and Mowbray Park. Services start at 6am and run till about 11pm. There are also several cross-river ferries; most useful is the Eagle St Pier to Thornton St (Kangaroo Point) service.

Like all public transport, fares are based on zones. Most stops you’ll need will be city-based and will therefore cost $2.20/1.10 per adult/child for one trip.

Bus

The Loop, a free bus service that circles the city area – stopping at QUT, Queen St Mall, City Botanic Gardens, Central Station and Riverside – runs every 10 minutes on weekdays between 7am and 6pm.

The main stop for local buses is in the underground Queen St Mall bus station, where there’s an information centre. You can also pick up many buses from the colour-coded stops along Adelaide St, between George and Edward Sts.

Buses run every 10 to 20 minutes Monday to Friday, from 5am till about 6pm, and with the same frequency on Saturday morning (starting at 6am). Services are less frequent at other times, and cease at 9pm Sunday and midnight on other days.

Train

The fast Citytrain network has seven lines, which run as far as Gympie North in the north (for the Sunshine Coast) and Robina in the south (for the Gold Coast). All trains go through Roma St, Central and Brunswick St Stations

Car

There is free two-hour parking on many streets in the CBD and in the inner suburbs, but the major thoroughfares become clearways (ie parking is prohibited) during the morning and afternoon peak hours. If you do park in the street, pay close attention to the times on the parking signs, as Brisbane’s parking inspectors take no prisoners. Parking is cheaper around the South Bank than the city centre but is free in the CBD during the evening.

Taxi

It’s easy to find a cab in Brisbane, particularly around the city centre, and there are taxi ranks at the transit centre and at the top end of Edward St, by the junction with Adelaide St.

The two major taxi companies here are Black & White (13 10 08) and Yellow Cab Co (13 19 24).