Pre-Gabbattoir 8th July 2006
Right on the dot.
The Virgin Blue flight from Melbourne to Brisbane arrived spot on time. I made my way to baggage collection. The madly packed bag of mine was 3rd off the carosel and I was in the Car Rental queue by 10:08am. Not bad as the plane arrived in Brisbane at 10:00am. I was in a great mood and ready for a doosie of a weekend.
Why was I here? The mighty Brisbane Lions of course. For many years my bud Big Pat and I had been saying we would venture up to Brisbane to see our beloved Lions play at the Gabbatoir (The Gabba or Brisbane Cricket Ground for those not in the know)
Having arrived at 10am gave me time to grab the hire car, drop my bags off in the boot, grab a bite to eat, visit the gentlemans and have a bit of shut eye before Big Pat and his lovely wife, PK, arrived at 11am.
They arrived about 11:30, hence why I flew Virgin Blue instead of Qantas. Plus the air hostesses are better on Virgin Blue. They are so much more efficient and hard working. ;-)
They arrived we jumped in our Commodore which was a free upgrade from an Astra (thanks Avis), and made out way to the hotel, Pacific Apartments in Queen Street Brisbane. The map said it was one direct road from the airport, and it was if you didnt mind turing a couple of times. :)
It was all going nicely thought until we got within eye sight of the towering hotel complex. We were in a three lane one way street in the far right (fast) lane. But were we going at a speed of 0km/h, which was an exageration. Car were passing on our left, so why wasnt our lane moving??? Finally the guy in front merged out into the centre lane. It was then we realised that the car in front of him was actaully a parked car and had been for quite a while it seemed. Man I felt stupid.
Finally we got to the hotel after doing a few laps around it looking for the hidden entrance. It looked nice and Pat went to get the key while we waited in the car.
He came back and said, "The car park entrance is in the wall just there." I replied with a confused look stating, "Pat that is just a wall, how can we get the car into that?"
But as we approached we saw the card swip pole and gave it a shot. Surprisingly the wall opened up, the entrace was steep and narrow but we made it up, just!!
We looked for the closest stop but most of the spots were blocked by 1 metre wide concrete support beams. In fact, every spot seemed the be blocked by these beams. It was the most rediculous car park I had ever seen. The support beams were all over the place, sorry I lie, the support beams were everywhere the car would normally drive through. It was like a maze, I am shocked we never hit the car.
Finally we parked the car and made our way to our Level 24 penthouse. Ok it wasnt a penthouse but it was up high which was cool. First stop, toilet, second stop balcony. Hey you can see the Gabbatoir from here!!!
"Whoa look how long it takes for spit to hit the ground from up here" PK said as she dropped a big wet one off the side of the balcony. (ok it was me not PK but it is more of a story if she did it) SPLAT!!
Tonight we had a game to go to, so this afternoon was tourist time. Was Brisbane ready for us?? Well I hope so cause we arent exactly difficult to handle.
We went to Fortitude Valley after some recommendations. There was a market on and lots of people around but overall it wasnt too impressive. The place was full of some good looking people but a fair amount of them were feral inbreds to put it nicely. Maybe we went on a bad day, cause I know Brisbane has some really sexy people living there. We grabbed some lunch just near China town which was good to fill the hole in the belly. Lunch was followed by a trip back to the room to grab some final goodies before making our way to the Gabbatoir.
PK was looking forward to doing some shopping, but Big Pat and I were keen on going to the game early. We compromised and walked slowly to the ground via the Botanical Gardens (more not too pretty people) and back to the city. We thought we would check out the casino, what was it called again, Treasury Casino I think. Any help here readers???
Here we had a few cold drinks to prepare us for the big match. Nobody had a gamble as it seemed a waste to bet in such a small casino. Seriously I have seen bigger pokie venues, much like the Brisbane Lions home in Melbourne, the Manningham.
It was nice to chat and enjoy a drink, I really did enjoy those drinks, they went down a treat. (It was Jim Beam and Cola in a bottle for those interested)
It was now getting late in the day and it was time to make our way to the ground, but where was the Gabbatoir............
The Virgin Blue flight from Melbourne to Brisbane arrived spot on time. I made my way to baggage collection. The madly packed bag of mine was 3rd off the carosel and I was in the Car Rental queue by 10:08am. Not bad as the plane arrived in Brisbane at 10:00am. I was in a great mood and ready for a doosie of a weekend.
Why was I here? The mighty Brisbane Lions of course. For many years my bud Big Pat and I had been saying we would venture up to Brisbane to see our beloved Lions play at the Gabbatoir (The Gabba or Brisbane Cricket Ground for those not in the know)
Having arrived at 10am gave me time to grab the hire car, drop my bags off in the boot, grab a bite to eat, visit the gentlemans and have a bit of shut eye before Big Pat and his lovely wife, PK, arrived at 11am.
They arrived about 11:30, hence why I flew Virgin Blue instead of Qantas. Plus the air hostesses are better on Virgin Blue. They are so much more efficient and hard working. ;-)
They arrived we jumped in our Commodore which was a free upgrade from an Astra (thanks Avis), and made out way to the hotel, Pacific Apartments in Queen Street Brisbane. The map said it was one direct road from the airport, and it was if you didnt mind turing a couple of times. :)
It was all going nicely thought until we got within eye sight of the towering hotel complex. We were in a three lane one way street in the far right (fast) lane. But were we going at a speed of 0km/h, which was an exageration. Car were passing on our left, so why wasnt our lane moving??? Finally the guy in front merged out into the centre lane. It was then we realised that the car in front of him was actaully a parked car and had been for quite a while it seemed. Man I felt stupid.
Finally we got to the hotel after doing a few laps around it looking for the hidden entrance. It looked nice and Pat went to get the key while we waited in the car.
He came back and said, "The car park entrance is in the wall just there." I replied with a confused look stating, "Pat that is just a wall, how can we get the car into that?"
But as we approached we saw the card swip pole and gave it a shot. Surprisingly the wall opened up, the entrace was steep and narrow but we made it up, just!!
We looked for the closest stop but most of the spots were blocked by 1 metre wide concrete support beams. In fact, every spot seemed the be blocked by these beams. It was the most rediculous car park I had ever seen. The support beams were all over the place, sorry I lie, the support beams were everywhere the car would normally drive through. It was like a maze, I am shocked we never hit the car.
Finally we parked the car and made our way to our Level 24 penthouse. Ok it wasnt a penthouse but it was up high which was cool. First stop, toilet, second stop balcony. Hey you can see the Gabbatoir from here!!!
"Whoa look how long it takes for spit to hit the ground from up here" PK said as she dropped a big wet one off the side of the balcony. (ok it was me not PK but it is more of a story if she did it) SPLAT!!
Tonight we had a game to go to, so this afternoon was tourist time. Was Brisbane ready for us?? Well I hope so cause we arent exactly difficult to handle.
We went to Fortitude Valley after some recommendations. There was a market on and lots of people around but overall it wasnt too impressive. The place was full of some good looking people but a fair amount of them were feral inbreds to put it nicely. Maybe we went on a bad day, cause I know Brisbane has some really sexy people living there. We grabbed some lunch just near China town which was good to fill the hole in the belly. Lunch was followed by a trip back to the room to grab some final goodies before making our way to the Gabbatoir.
PK was looking forward to doing some shopping, but Big Pat and I were keen on going to the game early. We compromised and walked slowly to the ground via the Botanical Gardens (more not too pretty people) and back to the city. We thought we would check out the casino, what was it called again, Treasury Casino I think. Any help here readers???
Here we had a few cold drinks to prepare us for the big match. Nobody had a gamble as it seemed a waste to bet in such a small casino. Seriously I have seen bigger pokie venues, much like the Brisbane Lions home in Melbourne, the Manningham.
It was nice to chat and enjoy a drink, I really did enjoy those drinks, they went down a treat. (It was Jim Beam and Cola in a bottle for those interested)
It was now getting late in the day and it was time to make our way to the ground, but where was the Gabbatoir............
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