If you can’t do that at Christmas, when can you? Today, I have decided to treat myself to some “girlfriend time”, to be spoilt and reconnect with places that never seem to change. The new 10.2 kilometre rail line from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, with 5.9 kilometres of twin tunnels under the Brisbane River and CBD, includes a new Albert Street station.īut looking a little further afield, I soon realise the once awkward ugly duckling of an “overgrown country town” I grew up with has turned into the elegant white swan of cosmopolitan cities, with 2.4 million souls, 6000sq km of space and almost unrecognisable exterior. The Cross River Rail Link is already making its mark – set to transform Brisbane and its transport options in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games.

More pictures below in the photo galleryĪnd who could forget Brisbane Festival Hall, bringing out the “fangirl” for Rod Stewart, Dire Straits and Powderfinger (the inner-city music, boxing and performance venue that had served Brisbane for more than 40 years closed on August 29, 2003, and was demolished, with the site now home to the Festival Towers apartments).Ĭapri By Fraser in Albert Street, Brisbane.Īll these memories bring a smile to my face as I hit the switch on the bedhead of my 11th floor Studio Premier room at Capri By Fraser Hotel Residences at 80 Albert Street, automatically pulling back the curtains to reveal a whole new Brisbane city.This was my old stomping ground as a girl – the scene of many a Saturday afternoon excursion to the Albert Street Cinemas (now Event Cinemas in The Myer Centre) or Forum Theatre (then at the corner of Albert Street and Elizabeth Street), shopping in the swish historic Brisbane Arcade or Queen and Adelaide street boutiques and department stores, bicycle riding through the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, and even school choir eisteddfods in City Hall’s magnificent auditorium.

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