Brisbane!

It took two flights over two days to get here, but I  made it.  I got into Cairns about 7:00 pm last night and had to fly out again this morning at 5:30.  I had just enough time to get a meal and just a few hours of sleep before the alarm went off at 3:15 to start getting ready.  I got really lucky by getting an exit row seat today, making this flight the most comfortable one of the trip so far.  The extra legroom was extremely welcomed!
Once in the city I had a few hours to kill before my hosts would be home to let me in at the B&B.  They are a nice young couple, originally from Chile, and their apartment is nice and in a great location.  I look forward to exploring the city from here and from what I've seen so far, there is a lot of very cool old architecture.  I didn't get a lot of exploring done today, due to needing to get a nap this afternoon, followed by rain later in the afternoon and evening, but I had to go out for dinner and stumbled across the Museum of Brisbane (housed in City Hall).  It was still open for a little over an hour so I went in and looked around.  It's not a real big space, but was very informative.
Everybody knows that Australia was a penal colony when the Europeans first came, but I found out that Brisbane was founded as another penal outpost for the worst offenders, the ones that committed more crimes once they were already in Australia.  From 1824 to 1842 it's European population was only prisoners and guards.  In 1842, free settlers were allowed to come here to homestead.  It was a very rugged and harsh place where prisoners were in shackles, often for the entirety of their sentences, and beatings and floggings were commonplace.
I didn't take  my camera with me due to the weather this evening, but I did snap a few shots with my phone, so those are what I'll be posting tonight.  I have a plan to do some serious walking tomorrow to see some museums, etc., and I'm sure I will be shooting a lot more shots of the cool buildings I happen across.   Stay tuned.  G'day Mates!