Doing the Trendy in Milton

I must admit that when I first moved to Brisbane, I was shocked at what rates as a ‘trendy cafe spot’. I heard about Park Rd in Milton and expected… umm, lots of nice-looking, trendy cafes and restaurants. Instead, I found 4 cafes (one of them a Coffee Club, for crying out loud!) and a miniature Eiffel Tower. Oh, and some highly-priced stores selling truly hideous clothes.

Ten years later, I’ve acclimatised a bit. The Eiffel Tower is kinda cute, especially at night. And night’s when this little street starts popping. Loud music, fairy lights… the grime and faded paint are hidden and it all looks almost classy.

If you come here in the early morning, you’ll be dodging cyclists galore. I’m not sure where they come from, but they all end their pre-work rides at one or two cafes, lounging around sipping coffee with their padded groins prominently displayed.

During the day, this area seems incredibly popular with mothers of small children. Presumably fairly cashed-up mums, as they’re typically pushing a Bugaboo or top-of-the-line jogger pram. I think they’re a little nuts – trying to walk along the footpath is hard enough without pushing a pram. Not to mention the parking issues – but each to their own, eh?

Parking

If I could make one recommendation that you’d listen to, it’d be – don’t. Don’t even try. There’s a bare minimum of street parking, which is usually filled by 8am. The streets are filled with people maundering around the block for ‘one last try’ and driving like absolute imbeciles because they’re so flipping bored and stressed. It’s only a matter of time before car insurers start inserting ‘not valid in Milton’ into the fine print. It’s that bad. If you can possibly bring yourself to it, do us all a favour and take public transport. Milton train station is a very short walk, and buses stop on Coronation Drive (river end of Park Rd) and Milton Rd (other end).

The Coffee

I’ll admit it right now – when it comes to Milton I’m a Hot Mocha fan. Mostly because they’re really, really hard to stuff up. But my more adventurous friends assure me that all the cafes in this strip do a nice coffee. I wouldn’t consider them top of the line, by any means – but they’re nice, not burnt, not bitter. The Coffee Club probably rates somewhere near the bottom in this category. Surprisingly, one of the best coffees I’ve had in Milton came from a little sandwich shop down Railway Street called Niftys. Go figure.

The Hot Chocolate

One of these cafes – La Dolce Vita – does a reputedly fantastic italian hot chocolate. I say ‘reputedly’, because I don’t drink milk. And these babies are made the proper way, with chocolate melted into milk. Full of fat, but frankly, if you’re watching your weight that much you shouldn’t be drinking hot chocolate anyhow. Right?

The Food

I’m a vegetarian. No apologies or shame. So if you’re looking for steak recommendations, you’ve come to the wrong damn blog.

For a vegetarian, the choices aren’t too bad. Even if you don’t like cheese. Here are my recommendations:

The Taste of Kashmir. This is a fairly new addition, and I hope it’ll survive. While its food is tasty and well-priced, it’s located in the bad-luck-central building where nothing seems to do well. The Aloo Patak is to die for.

The Coffee Club do a very nice Roast Pumpkin and Spinach salad.

Arrivederci Pizza across the road have some vegetarian options. Fairly boring and predictable ones. They’re pricey, but then so is most of the street.

The sushi place has the standard vegetarian options – avocado rolls, inari, spring rolls. Uninspired, but relatively cheap.

Wander across Milton Rd and down to the Spice Market. Yes, they do sell spices. They also sell big, filling asian dishes. Their food is the sort you eat when you want something decent and fairly cheap. Nowhere near top nosh, but good for the price. The service is possibly the best in Milton.

Niftys do down-to-earth, standard Aussie lunch type tucker. That means sandwiches, burgers (including a vegie burger) and fried food. For the area, they’re cheap. And the sandwich proportions are generous – you don’t get the impression that the slices of various foods are audited at the end of the day and staff warned if they’ve been ‘overly generous’. Four slices of tomato on a sandwich, for example.

Unexpected Sights

For the history buffs amongst us, there’s a historic building nestled away between Coronation Drive and Park Rd. John McDougall – who at one point owned most of the inner western suburbs (Indooroopilly etc) – bought the house from a chemist who’d had it built the year before. This is a gorgeous old house, but I’m yet to discover if the public can actually get into it. See its heritage listing for more information.

Milton House can be found at 52 McDougall St. Right next to the tennis court is a path through the garden, created by the many people who work in the complex (King’s Row). Unless there’s a function on, visiting is unlikely to be a problem.

Map

Ordering Groceries Online

You may have noticed that Coles and Woolworths, despite having had booming business via online ordering for years in Sydney and Melbourne, don’t offer the same service in Brisbane. Sigh.

But don’t despair! There are decently-priced alternatives – and frankly, the service is probably a lot better.

Farm Fresh Organics and Ipswich Organics

We’ve been ordering through this Manly-based company for years. They’ve recently started their latest venture – Ipswich Organics. Greengrocer delivery companies have abounded over the last few years, but these guys have remained on top, in my opinion. The produce is always of the highest quality, carefully picked from the Farmers Markets. If they can’t find a particular product that meets their standards, they won’t provide it. Their quality never, ever slips.

Farm Fresh Organics’ customer service is friendly, efficient and flexible. None of the ‘we’ll assume you want a delivery unless you tell us otherwise’ malarky from this mob – they’ll treat you fairly and do their best to make sure you’re happy. Delivery is available all over Brisbane and surrounding areas. Give them a go, you won’t be disappointed.

Only Australian Groceries

This company sells (see if you can guess!) non-perishable products made in Australia, and/or made by Australian companies. Their prices are competitive, and they usually have at least a couple of products on offer as giveaways with each order. Customer service is great, the website is easy to navigate, and the delivery costs are low. They do some great-looking gift hampers, too. Some of their brands I’d never even heard of – but apart from the bikkies, everything’s been fantastic. And I suspect I’m just really picky about my bikkies! Packaging was another nice feature – they use biodegradable corn-based packing beads. We’ve had two minor issues come up with deliveries, and they were both fixed quickly and without fuss. Only Australian don’t sell perishables, probably in part because they deliver worldwide. So if you’re not in Brisbane and have just heaved a sigh of anguish because there’s nothing like this where you are – unheave it and check them out!

Mum’s Happy Nappies

If they paid someone to design their website, they got ripped off bigtime. I hate it. I hate the whole page refreshing when I order one item. I hate the complete lack of login security. But I love the range, the delivery area, the free delivery, and the delivery times. What they lack in website savvy they make up for in quick, pain-free service. Mum’s Happy Nappies sell nappies (duh) and a big variety of other baby products. They stock a great range of eco-friendly and sensitive-skin products, too. Their prices are on the pricey end of comparable, if that makes sense. We put in regular orders with this company, and we haven’t had a single problem.

FoodDirect

FoodDirect are a family-owned, long-running Brisbane company with a lot of satisfied customers. With a range and prices similar to an IGA store, they’re pricier than Coles or Woolies but a lot more convenient. They have a great range of products, including meats, pastries and cakes, frozen and dairy goods. Their website is quite well set out, their customer service is friendly, and their delivery staff are polite and reliable. My one big beef with them is perhaps a little unfair – when we moved to Ipswich, we were suddenly out of their delivery area, and they showed no interest in helping us find a solution. Since I was majorly ill with a heart condition at the time and couldn’t get to the shops, it was an extra hassle I didn’t need. But our fault for moving, right? Anyhow, if you do happen to be in their delivery area, give them a try.

Public Transport – Mobility Issues

How does Brisbane’s public transport stack up for people with mobility issues?

Better than it used to. There, that’s good enough, right?

I got a taste of dealing with some of these issues last year, when I had serious heart problems combined with a new baby. It meant that I:

• Needed to take public transport rather than walking
• Couldn’t walk up hills
• Was frequently pushing a pram
• Couldn’t lift much

All of which equalled huge pain in backside when trying to go anywhere. Here’s what I learnt.

Buses

Many, but nowhere near most, Brisbane City Council buses are disabled-access-friendly. This includes either a ramp (old ones only) or rather nifty suspension which allows the side of the bus to lower to the kerb, wheelchair/pram spaces, and special seating for those less mobile.If you require a disabled-access bus, you can (theoretically) order one 24 hours in advance, for a specific route, time and place. And we wonder why we see so few wheelchairs on our buses! What they may not tell you is that one route is almost always serviced by disabled-access buses. The Great Circle line (598 and 599) goes in a huge circle around the city, via all the shopping centres. For those who can actually use it, it’s unreliable time-wise but fairly certain to have full disabled access.

Other bus companies (in outer suburbs) vary. They all provide at least a few disabled-access buses. Procedures and policies vary. For example, Westside Bus Company (Ipswich) doesn’t permit unfolded prams on its buses – despite most of them being wheelchair-friendly. The reason? A baby might go through the windscreen if the driver slams on the brakes. Yeah, right – like they’re so much safer squirming round in Mum’s arms! Not to mention falling out of the bus while Mum’s trying to get the pram folded and onto the bus. The drivers are, of course, forbidden to help with this process. On the bright side, you probably don’t want to catch one of their buses anyway. Half of the drivers are surly, rude and screaming at fellow road-users. And chronically late, if they bother actually driving all of their route.

Trains

All suburban and intercity trains are disabled-access – meaning you should be able to get on, although there may not be a specific area to park. That’s the good news! The bad news is – nowhere near all the stations are. If you already know what stations you want to travel between, have a look at the CityRail station information to see if they’re disabled-friendly. But beware the phrases ‘assisted wheelchair access’ and ‘no wheelchair access between platforms’. At my local train station this means that you must wait in a specific area and that access is only available from one side. If you happen to live on the other side of the station, tough bikkies. Have a go on the stairs or risk ticket inspector wrath by catching a train going the wrong way to a station with lifts, then get off, change platforms and catch a train going the way you actually want to go. See Citytrain – Accessible Services for what little information they provide.

Ferries

Huh. Good luck. Give my love to the fishies.

Hunting Books in Brisbane

Love books?

Low on cash and storage space?

Aren’t we all.

The solution? Get involved in my latest favourite activity.

Now, books have been criticised over the centuries as causing bum-spread and laziness. No longer! Now you can get some exercise, have some fun, and then read your reward – a book.

Step 1. Sort out your books into ‘keep’ and ‘give away’

Step 2. Visit BookCrossing.com, sign up, and download book labels to print out.

Step 3. Register your ‘give away’ books, stick labels in them and enter their unique BookCrossing ID.

Step 4. Set them free!

Step 5. Go to Books in the Wild – Brisbane to hunt down some new books.

Public Transport – Buying a Ticket

Sadly, that whole signage issue that I was talking about in the how to get there entry applies to ticketing, too. The attitude I frequently see is – “If you don’t know what you’re doing, get a bloody taxi!” God forbid they should put ticket price lists on bus shelters.

It’s not really that hard, though. Walk through it with me and you’ll be buying tickets like a pro in no time.

Integrated Ticketing

The first thing you need to know is that Brisbane public transport ticketing is integrated. That means you can travel on a bus, train and/or ferry on a single ticket. This includes private bus companies contracted by TransLink to provide services in surrounding councils, such as Ipswich, Caboolture and Redcliffe.

Types of Tickets

If you’re a casual public transport user, then there are only four types of tickets that you’ll be interested in.

Single – this allows you to travel on as many services as you need to in order to take the shortest route from one location to another. So, no trips from Toowong to Milton via the Gold Coast, OK?

Daily - this allows you to travel all day in the zones specified, as many times as you want. If you have a zones 1-7, for example, you could travel from Ipswich to Brisbane City to Redcliffe and back.

Off-Peak Daily – exactly the same as a daily, but only valid on weekends, or on weekdays from 9am to 3:30pm and after 7pm.

Ten Trip – unsurprisingly, this allows you ten trips within the zones specified. In theory, it allows you to transfer from one service to another as part of your trip without charging you for another trip. But they seem to be keyed to direction of travel. If the first service you get on is travelling toward the city, and you get off in the city and catch one away from the city, you may find yourself overcharged. Keep an eye out. These tickets are valid for Brisbane City Council buses and ferries only – not for trains or private bus companies.

There are also weekly and monthly tickets, and the new SmartCard tickets. But we’ll go there another day.

Zones

The ticketing is based on zones. You’ll need to work out which zone you’ll be starting in, and which zones you’ll travel through. Bus drivers and rail workers should be able to provide this information, but beware! Train and bus zones vary slightly.

For example – if you want to catch a bus from Toowong to Milton, you’ll need a ticket for zone 2, because Toowong and Milton are both in bus zone 2. However, if you want to catch a train from Toowong to Milton, you’ll need a ticket for zone 1, because both Toowong and Milton are in train zone 1 (Toowong is also in train zone 2, because it’s the (train) zone boundary).

If you’re shaking your head and looking horribly confused, I’m sorry. It’s TransLink’s fault. Just make sure that you carefully quiz the person you buy a ticket from if you’re planning to travel by more than one type of public transport, OK?

These zone maps might give you an idea of how many zones you’ll be travelling in, and how much it might cost you. Be aware that the ticket prices may be out of date by the time you see this, though. Click on a map to see a larger version.

Translink Zones – Brisbane

Translink Zones – South East Queensland

Andy Warhol

First, my confession – I went to the Gallery of Modern Art, and I didn’t go to the Andy Warhol exhibit. I wanted to, I promise. That was the whole point of going. But I got there and discovered that entry is $20. Ow. Just a bit too rich for a poor lil blogger.

The Free Stuff

Enough of the whining. Despite not seeing the proper exhibition, I did see something absolutely fantastic. A big, high room filled with huge silver balloons, drifting around on the breeze. Babies loved it (at least mine did). Children loved it. Adults laid down on the floor and just relaxed. It was like watching shiny, friendly clouds that came down to visit you. Fittingly, it’s called Silver Clouds. My hat goes off to Andy Warhol. Words are not enough.

Another fun activity was the Photobooth Portrait. Try and tell me that this isn’t awesome:

Hehe.

On to the next unusual and fun activity:

‘IN THE FUTURE EVERYBODY WILL BE WORLD FAMOUS FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES’

A seat and a video camera are set up ready for whoever dares. You can record a 15 second ‘Screen Test’ and then watch yourself on a huge screen. Umm… fun for the less camera-shy among us!

There were other activities to suit various aged children and children-at-heart… boxes to play with, pictures to draw, quizzes to take.

Conclusion

Even if you don’t pay to see the proper exhibit – and I bet it’s fantastic – the Silver Factory kids’ section is worth a visit. With or without kids. But if you can, go on a weekday. On weekends, things can get a little nuts over there.

Getting There

If you’re driving, it’s easy – check your street directory. Parking on site, decently priced.

If you’re taking public transport, there are a few options:

• some buses stop at the Gallery itself – irritatingly, I can’t find any information on the TransInfo website. I guess the only way to find out is to get there, then catch a bus leaving from the right stop.
• catch a train to South Brisbane and walk
• catch a bus to the Cultural Centre stop, walk up some stairs, and wander over

Finding the Cultural precinct is easy. Just look for the big concrete blocks. However, navigating to the GoMA is a bit more tricky – especially with a pram. Read the signposts. All of them. Or if that sounds like too much work, get a map here.

Activities at Home

Can’t get to the Gallery of Modern Art? No worries. Here are some activities to make you feel arty and involved:

The Warholizer (upload a digital photo and turn it into pop art) – thanks to Thalex for bringing this to my attention.

Play Warhol’s World (quiz game) online

Print an Activity Booklet

Public Transport – How the Hell to Get There

When I came to Brisbane, I was astounded at the sheer lack of decent signage – both for drivers and those catching public transport. The road signage seems to have improved, but public transport information is still often dismal at best.

Research

If you’re travelling an unfamiliar route, always find out how to get where you’re going before you leave. Otherwise you run a high risk of wandering around looking confused while people busily ignore you. Translink (the entity at least nominally in charge of the city’s public transport) have a fairly decent journey planner. The planner does, however, have a couple of peccadilloes. Firstly, if you’re travelling out of Brisbane metro to an adjoining council – say, Ipswich or Cleveland – you’ll want to select all available services from the very bottom drop down list or risk being told you can’t go there. Secondly, the default Advanced Options (walk distance and priority in particular) can cause the journey planner to tell you that your journey is impossible and you might as well stay at home. Often if you’re willing to walk an extra few metres, you’ll find that it’s not so impossible after all.

Other Ways to Find Out

If you’re in the middle of Brisbane city and not sure which one of the102 bus stops is yours, you have two options. The first – wander around peering at bus stop signs hoping that the map will look familiar. You can cover kilometres with this option. The second – find the Myer Centre. It’s between the Queen St Mall and Elizabeth St. Right at the bottom of this shopping centre, tucked away behind the eateries, is the main bus information kiosk for the entire city. Why there? Don’t ask. They do, at least, have extremely helpful staff with a heap of information at their fingertips.

Railway stations typically have some information about rail (obviously) and bus services operating in the area. It’s well worth asking railway staff, as they’re usually fairly polite and often take public transport themselves.