Brisbane

Brisbane is a relaxing place to visit for us.  Just a short flight.  It is a reasonably large but still manageable city.  I do suggest that you rent a car and don't restrict yourself to the CBD.  Brisbane is the capital of the state of Queensland in Australia.

The city is situated around the river so one must do is to go on a boat trip down the river.

There's good shopping in Brisbane although the biggest shopping centres are in the suburbs – we stayed close to the biggest one in Chermside last time we were in Brisbane and it certainly made shopping a breeze.

Brisbane's climate is just great – it is warm enough even as early as August – although the locals will still be wearing their woollies.  High summer is between December and February – a great time to visit if you can take the heat.

With a car you can visit Mt Coot-ha which has a nice view over the city.

And you can drive to Bribie Island for a nice day trip when you get shopped out.  There's a cute bridge out to the island.  Dolphins were playing around the bridge while we were there but it was very difficult to get a good shot!