It’s about time to get out of Brisbane and to be fair I haven’t done all that much to see the rest of the parts of the city over the last month. I’ve decided to make my way to South Australia for a few weeks. So the last few days I’ve made a real effort to see some of the things I’d like to see before I leave.
On top of my list was the museums. There are three: The Gallery of Modern Art, The Queensland Art Gallery, and the Queensland Museum.
The last few days were extremely hot. It’s really feeling like summer here in Australia. So it was the perfect few days to go exploring the museums. Air conditioning on a hot day sounds lovely. Especially because the air conditioning at the hostel is dog poop.
First up on the list was the Modern Art museum. There were three exhibits. One featured objects that were either created by Aboriginal peoples (shields, boomerangs, etc.) or were influenced by Aboriginal culture. I really enjoyed the shields, as the patterns painted on them really tickled my fancy.
The second exhibit featured this artist named Gordon Bennett. He is Australian but he found out later in life that he actually is of Aboriginal ancestary. A lot of his art focuses on the struggle of Indigenous peoples in a European dominated culture. He also had a number of paintings that focused on the 9/11 terrorist attacks. So that hit close to home.
The last was focused on pop culture icons and images and how artists us them to create art. Nothing really noteworthy here.
After going to the museum I took a walk along the south bank of the river towards Kangaroo Point. One of the more popular lookout points in the city. It’s right by the Story Bridge, the largest bridge in the city.
It started raining and I ducked into a train station to escape getting soaked. I had nothing to do. So I pulled out the ukulele and started playing. Singing and all. It’s something I’ve been doing the last few days. Going to a public place and just practicing.
It has pushed me outside of my comfort zone which is what I’ve need lately, to be honest. I have been low on confidence and doing this along with making a few other changes has made a difference.
I’ve been surprised. People will sit by and listen. Or walk past and smile or wave at me. Some people have come up to me and complimented me on the way I am playing. It feels good to spread happiness in this way.
Kangaroo Point was nothing special to be honest. The view from the hostel roof top is actually much nicer. But it was nice to just check out a different part of town. I caught a free ferry (which I didn’t know existed – wish I had known about this before) back to the CBD and that was the end of my night.
The next day I went to the Queensland Museum which I understood was something akin to a natural history museum. And I wasn’t wrong. But again it was super small. Much smaller than I was expecting. There were three exhibits.
The first was an exhibit featuring dinosaur fossils found in Queensland. They also discussed some of the larger animals from the past that have gone extinct. Megafauna they call them. We’re talking large kangaroos and wombats. Way bigger than exist today.
The other exhibit touched on Aboriginal dress. But it was only a small room. Nothing to really talk about here.
The last was my favorite. It was basically just a taxidermist exhibit featuring most of the different animals you can find in Queensland today. Birds, insects, reptiles, mammals, and fish. All of it really. It was cool looking through everything and finding which animals I’ve spotted in the wild over the last few months.
It only took me an hour or so to see everything there. I was originally of the mind that there was only two museums in the area. But I realized when I walked out of the Queensland Museum that there was another art gallery near by. So I headed over there because I had nothing else to do with my afternoon.
I went out to the cafe first and sipped on an iced latte and just read from my Kindle (thanks Mom!). I’m reading two books right now. 1491 is about Native American history pre-Columbus. It’s pretty interesting because the book discusses a lot of things we don’t learn in school. The other is called The Brothers Karamazov. It’s a classical novel from Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. I like reading the classics, just to see what all the hype is about.
Anyway, I enjoyed the Queensland Art Gallery. Probably my favorite museum out of the three. It was the biggest and it had a variety (not a wide variety but a variety) of art types. Some modern art. Some classical art. It was just nice to walk around and be in the space.
Afterward, I went down by the river bank again and played some ukulele. I think I am getting quite good actually.