Brissy

We have found that many words are shortened in Australia. For example, Australia is often called Aussie or Oz. Brisbane is called Brissy. The list goes on and on. It makes it difficult sometimes to figure out what folks are talking about, because they will use the proper name the first time they mention something and then the shortened form after that. You must keep on your toes in Oz, otherwise you will not be able to figure out what anything is.

Brissy is a fun little city on the eastern central coast of Aussie. It is built along a river, and there is a very cool man-made lagoon/swimming area. It was fun to walk along the riverfront and visit the coffee shops and retail areas and then have an opportunity to swim.

We also visited the Queen street mall, which is the main shopping/tourist area in the city. We even took in a movie to escape the heat (Babel may have won a Golden Globe, but we wouldn't recommend it).

The Brisbane museum was also quite informative about Aboriginal culture and history. Of course there were dinosaur exhibits, and information about the oceans too.