Brisbane Riverfest

On earlier trips into Brisbane, several people mentioned that we had to come back for Riverfire. They described it as being the best fireworks display anywhere. Given the fact we have been spoiled with world class fireworks displays in Vancouver, our curiousity was piqued! We booked a room and headed for Brizzie.

Our trip into Brisbane was uneventful. Hannah kept her breakfast down and Jodi and I managed to find our way into the city and to our hotel with ease. Jodi had experienced difficulty booking a room for us due to the popularity of the fireworks. We weren't prepared to spend two to three hundred dollars on a room that we wouldn't be spending much time in. Hotel rooms with views of the Brisbane River and city were booked months in advance at much inflated prices. Our lodgings were decidedly frugal in comparision to some of our accommodation on earlier trips. We had an awesome view of the Warrego Highway and local Subway franchise from our window. The fact our hotel was hosting a snake wrangling seminar during our visit made us feel very secure. We rested easy with the knowledge that should a poisonous viper climb two flights of stairs and slide under our door, there would be thirty or forty wranglers that we could call on. It could happen. This is Australia.

We spent the early part of the afternoon walking along the south side of the river. This part of Brisbane hosted the World's Fair in 1988. You can take the City Cat the length of the river or enjoy a swim at Streets Beach, a man-made inland beach. By one in the afternoon there were already thousands of people camped out at prime viewing points along the river. Australians know how to recreate here. People brought coolers, barbecues, music and one large group even brought several old couches to sit on. We wandered along the river for a while, stopping for an obligatory ice cream. The Cold Rock Ice Cream Company's profits will take a substantial hit after the MacQuarries return home to Canada.

We met up with a school friend of Hannah's that we knew were down for the fireworks. Our plan was to joing them later that night and watch the fireworks together. We enjoyed a snack in the restaurant of their hotel before going out to look at some of the displays and performances that are all part of Riverfest. At one point Hannah and her friend were having fun inspecting an Army personnel carrier that was part of a recruiting drive when they decided to visit another vehicle without letting us know. After a few anxious moments we found the two girls. We spoke to Hannah about being more responsible and after some careful consideration decided it would be in her best interest for us to enlist her in the military. We felt that three or four years of strict discipline would help prepare her for life. Unfortunately the recruiting officer didn't take us seriously.

With each of us holding one of Hannah's hands we headed back to the hotel. By now it was almost three o'clock and the crowds of people were increasing. We realized that we would probably have a difficult time finding a viewing spot later that night if we didn't stake one out in the next hour or so. We decided to go back to the hotel and let Hannah have a rest. On our way we found a great spot near our hotel that afforded us views of the entire river and skyline. We spoke to some people and they saved us a spot while we went back to the hotel for a while to let Hannah rest.

By five o'clock we were sitting with thousands of other people waiting for seven o'clock to arrive. Given the huge amounts of alchohol being drunk, the large crowds, and the lack of any visible police presence, we were amazed that no problems occurred, save the water balloons being tossed from our cliffs high atop Kangaroo Point down to the unsuspecting couch sitters below. About an hour before the fireworks were scheduled to begin, an acrobatic flying squadron flew an amazing routine above us.

The fireworks commenced with a flyby of two F111 fighter jets. The planes' afterburners lit up the night sky and you could feel the heat from the engines. The noise was incredible and the planes certainly focussed the crowd's attention on the sky. Unlike Vancouver's Celebration of Light, the fireworks in Brisbane are positioned at twenty-five different sites. Fireworks choreographed to music were launched from barges on the river, the bridges, and from the roofs of building across the city. The fireworks lasted for approximately thirty-five minutes. An awesome finale followed in which fireworks were detontated from each of the sites used during the show. The two F111 jets came back one more time for a second "dump and burn". The whole skyline of the city and the river were lit up as the jets roared by and disappeared into the night sky.

The incorporation of aircraft and the use of multiple launch sites made the fireworks at Riverfest truly one of the best outdoor fireworks performances we have ever seen. The entire show, including the aircraft, apparently contributed sixty-eight tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The organizers of the show will plant over three hundred trees in and around Brisbane in order to negate the harmful levels of the show's pollutants. I wonder if the show's producers factored in the emissions eminating from the thousands of beer-drinking and sausage-eating spectators? There probably aren't enough seedlings in Australia!