{"id":197,"date":"2011-05-21T19:06:12","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T09:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fractalthoughts.com\/blog\/?p=197"},"modified":"2011-05-21T19:06:36","modified_gmt":"2011-05-21T09:06:36","slug":"brisbane-wheel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fractalthoughts.com\/blog\/?p=197","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane Wheel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we planned a pleasant afternoon out in the city, given that the weather looked like rain might be on the way sometime soon. A civilised ferry ride to South Bank, maybe a restrained beer or two in several establishments, home. That was the plan. So how did we end up on top of Brisbane’s major tourist attraction?<\/p>\n

Ambling aimlessly through South Bank after our ferry ride we found our favourite ice cream shop: M\u00c3\u00b6venpick. An obligatory ice-cream made the sun come out. Then we ran into a “lifestyle market”. This is the sort of thing I love looking through, without actually buying anything. It was coincidentally right next to a pub, so a beer suggested itself. The weather improved further, including a rainbow, situated right next to the Brisbane Wheel. A thought occurred to Someone Who Shall Remain Nameless<\/a>: “Want to go up?”<\/p>\n

“Erm,” I say. But, the weather is, for the moment, nice. There is no queue. What the hell. We fork over some beer tokens that amazingly are also accepted for non-beer purchases. The amount is clearly aimed at fleecing the tourist market segment. We got a gondola to ourselves, and up we go. The views were awesome over three or four revolutions of the wheel (or, 15 minutes) and we had an excellent time!<\/p>\n

On the way back the heavens opened and we watched the expected major squall come in, sitting safely and dry in the Bavarian Beer Cafe. And a nice afternoon was had by all.<\/p>\n