Thursday, October 09, 2008

Brisbane.

I’m back from my trip to Brisbane. I spent nearly 6 days in the state capital. The plan was to attend a big rally on Saturday, and then to go to the first few days of a trial on Monday and Tuesday. Some unexpected events came up... but I’ll get to them. First, though, I had a nice day off on Thursday and Friday (not that I needed a day off. I’d just taken a few days off to spend with Andy who had just come home from PNG). Thursday was my travel day, and after getting in to the house I was staying at, I did some grocery shopping and then went into West End for some chocolate cake from The Forest Café.

On Friday I walked to uni, did a little bit of stuff in the library there, and then took the ferry into the city. I strolled around South Bank, the super-landscaped space just across the river from the city centre. This is the place where they held the (much protested) Expo 88. Leftover from that event is this Nepalese Peace Pagoda.

In the background is a BIG ferris wheel. I’m pretty sure that’s not usually there. Maybe it’s to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Expo 88?

The pagoda is set in a mini rainforest walk with a creek. When I walked through here, I saw ducks and a big lizard. That’s pretty cool, considering how urban it is.

After settling down near the river with a book for a little while, I made my way through a few art galleries, and then slowly headed towards New Farm, via the Brunswick Street Mall which has a very Chinatown feel to it.

In New Farm, I was meeting Amy, Cam, and some other Brisbane vegans for dinner. The plan was for vegan pizza, but the bar was packed so we opted for yummy asian food instead. Good vegan food and good company... what more could you ask for?

That was the good part of my trip.

On Saturday morning I put my red, black and gold shirt on, made myself a sandwich and headed in to the rally nice and early. The rally was in support of Lex Wotton, charged with inciting a riot on Palm Island following a death in custody. He is on trial as we speak (I'll talk about the trial soon). I walked through Musgrave Park, then went for a coffee with some other rally-goers. When we came back to the park just before the start of the rally to find police taping off a crime scene. There had been a murder in the park. And the location of the murder was the same place where I'd passed some people sleeping (at least I thought they were sleeping) earlier that morning. So I ended up completely missing the rally because I spent the afternoon in the police station giving a statement about details that I only vaguely noticed in the first place.

That was the bad part of my trip.

The rest was mostly good, but tiring, and really productive. Monday was the first day of Lex's trial, so there was a fairly large group of outspoken people with banners and signs.

We showed our support for Lex, who seemed to appreciate our presence.

I stayed for the first two days of the trial. We chanted and held placards in the morning and at lunch time, and in between we snuck into the court room to listen to the case. The trial is expected to last 3 weeks (up to 17 witnesses!), and we're all holding our breath and crossing our fingers that all goes well.

So anyways, I'm back now. Still exhausted from the trip, and still digesting everything that happened while I was there! Which is why this post is far less succinct and logical than I would like! But I'm getting my head back together, slowly but surely...

14 comments:

the little one said...

Sounds like you're doing amazing things!

Amy said...

My goodness! Theresa, how terrifying for you! I'm sorry you missed the rally though :( But glad you had a good time around the scary event (and WAY jealous you got to meet Amy and Cam!).

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Welcome back!! Thank goodness you're safe, AND had fun :0)

Amy said...

Wow. I'm glad you're safe!!!!! (Next time call me!).

Glad to see you got to support Lex's trial. It's awesome to see people out there! I doubt he'll get a fair trial (not that I've really done Criminal law yet).....

Anonymous said...

Theresa, thank you for all the great work you do!

Bianca said...

OMG! I can't believe you saw dead people in the park! That would totally creep me out to realize later that they were murder victims!

But good work on this rally stuff! You're always out making a statement about injustice! That rocks!

x said...

Good work on the rally and sory to hear you had a bad part to your trip regarding the murder.

Also, yay for meeting vegan bloggers! xox

Groover said...

I can't believe all this happened here. Living in the suburbs is like living in another part of the world. I hardly ever go into the city (just ride through in the very early morning hours now and then). The ferris wheel is apparently going to be there for a while. Which exhibition did you go to?

Monika K said...

What a crazy experience! Do you find yourself constantly replaying the scene in your mind, trying to remember any new detail you might have forgotten? I stumbled across a similar scene once and haven't forgotten it some 10 years later. But I'm glad that it was mostly a terrific trip - I always enjoy hearing about the various protests/projects that you're involved in. Have a great weekend!

Vaala ◪ said...

Sounds like one full on trip. I hope the trial goes how you guys would like.

Good food, good company and lovely scenery are all good though.

Theresa said...

Groover--I went to QPAC, which had an exhibition about Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival with some really great photos and a video. Then I went into GOMA, where there was Eastern and Western desert Aboriginal art, an architecture exhibit, the Xstrata Indigenous art awards, and some random Modern Art.

Monika--I have tried to remember as much as I can, and tried wherever possible to validate my memory. Like, I checked the time as I walked through the park and then made a phone call. I thought I remembered it was 9:26 am, so I had to go through and check my call register on my phone (I was right).

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

My best friend in high school was from Brisbane!

You rock, Theresa, for all the good work you do in the world!!!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

P.S. I'm so glad you are safe! YIKES!

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

That's crazy! I'm glad you're OK. I loved getting a glimpse into Brisbane through your photographs.