Castlemaine Perkins - XXXX beer

1878 -The first brew produced in the Castlemaine Milton Brewery was made to the same formula as the Castlemaine Brewery in Victoria. It was called Castlemaine XXX Sparkling Ale and was ready for sale on Friday 13 September. The then "Brisbane Courier" described the brew as a "delicious ale of the brightest amber, pleasant to taste, with a peculiarity of flavour not easily described and an aroma of an appetising nature by itself".

The X's date back to medieval times when brewing was confined mainly to monasteries. The monks used X (the sign of the cross) as a standard symbol of quality for alcoholic beverages. The number of X's represented the strength and quality of the brew.

1880 - Queensland's first telephone is installed linking the Castlemaine Brewery with its head office in the City, some 5km away.

1924 - The new XXXX Bitter Ale became available for sale. Yeast cultures had been
imported from Europe to experiment with many types of beer. "XXXX Bitter Ale" proved to be the most popular, and has remained a winning formula to this day.

1999 - Major production milestone reached with the 5 Billionth XXXX stubbie rolling off the P3 packaging line.

Tie in

Just thought I would take this oppertunity to (loosely) tie in with Melbourne Daily Photo. He has a picture of the HMAS Castlemaine ship and I have a photo of Castlemaine Perkins.

More on this Brisbane Icon tomorrow.

Customs House

Customs House, one of Brisbane’s heritage icons, is located on the river in the Central Business District. Behind the grand Corinthian columns you will find exquisite boardrooms, a stunning ballroom, seminar rooms and a Licensed Restaurant.

Dwarfed by modern towers of glass and steel, the Customs House still shines like a beacon on the banks of the Brisbane River. With work commencing in 1886, this imposing and rare surviving masterpiece of the Colonial architects Office took three years and 38,346 pounds to build. It is actually older than both City Hall and the houses with direct river frontage. Opened in 1889, this stately land mark served as the city's Customs House for almost a century before the gradual shift of port activities closer to the river mouth undermined its role. Regular guided tours capture the building's historic flavour while a display of memorabilia from those bygone years still stirs the imagination of visitors.

Customs House finally closed in April 1988 and for a while the building's future was uncertain. Then in late 1991 the University of Queensland took over the lease and launched a major restoration program to return the heritage-listed building to its former glory. Three years and $7.5 million later the original style had been faithfully recaptured - but this time subtly blended into a modern, highly functional, multipurpose building for educational and cultural activities. The Customs House is once more a major Brisbane asset.

For the love of beer

We have an ad on TV here which shows why this man is doing this.

It starts with several trebuchet (catapults) firing large quantities of various ingredients (like hops & malt) into the clouds as people look on. They even fire 2 barmaids up there. Then they hear lift doors open and their is a stag in the lift.

Everybody goes quiet as they stare. Then you see the stag in the trebuchet getting fired into the clouds. Next you hear thunder and the sky turns amber. Next it starts raining beer as all the ingredients have mixed together in the sky. Everybody starts dancing and try to catch the beer like the man on the billboard.

Art of the City

This is some of the artwork in King George Square in the middle (sort of) of the city. The City Hall is at the other end of this square.

I don't have any idea what this piece of art represents.

The IBM Building

Beard Papa Sweets

This shop caught my eye as I was walking through Brisbane near Central Station.

I haven't eaten here yet, but they sell cream puffs. It is a crunchy puff with whipped cream custard inside. There are stores in Japan (240), Asia (40) and America including Hawaii.

Victoria Bridge

Over the other side of the Brisbane river is the Queensland Performing arts centre.

Big Tree

Bottle trees (Brachychiton rupestris)

Walk north along Ann Street to take the steps at the Shrine of Remembrance down to Anzac Square to some unusual bottle trees (Brachychiton rupestris).

Their common name comes from their unusual habit of developing a swollen trunk. The trees are related to the popular flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolius).

Anzac Square is a national war memorial, dedicated on Remembrance Day of 11 November 1930. It has three pathways that converge - one each for the air force, army and navy.

Colonel Cameron, a light horseman from the Boer War, donated these trees to the square in honour of the Queensland contingents who fought in the war. It's believed that he took the trees from his Roma property.

At least three of the bottle trees have been replaced over the years:

* one in the middle of the walkway in the 1970s
* a second in the 1980s, replaced with a tree donated from private land at Wynnum
* a tree from Roma was planted in recent years to replace a third tree lost from wound decay

Peace on Earth and an end to Terrorism.

Brisbane River

Approaching the dock on the city cat ferry. This is looking out the front over the bow of the boat.

Construction

Fig tree reserve

Go south along Eagle Street to the corner of Eagle, Elizabeth and Creek Streets. You'll come to an oasis of trees in the financial district.

This fig tree reserve consists of two white figs (Ficus virens) and one banyan (Ficus banghalensis) with their curtains of aerial roots.

The white fig is the same species as the trees in King Edward Park. This large native fig is deciduous (sheds its leaves annually).

The banyan tree is native to India and is sacred in the Hindu religion. The tree produces aerial roots that develop into curtains of prop roots when they reach the ground. Aerial roots are kept trimmed in the park.

It's likely that Brisbane's first curator of botanic gardens, Walter Hill, planted these trees in the mid 1800s. The two clues to his involvement at this site are:

* a photo of the figs taken in 1889 showing them to be eight to 10 metres high
* a statement in his annual report in 1874 (15 years earlier than the photo) where he said, "the two reserves for shade trees and ornamental shrubs at the corners of Queen, Eagle and Creek Streets are making good progress in the growth of their vegetation"

In 1889, Queen Victoria granted the area where the trees stand to the then North Brisbane Council.

The Story Bridge

The construction of the Story Bridge was not one of logistical convenience or necessity. In fact its precence did not justify itself by the relief of traffic congestion but rather as a means for boosting morale and creating employment. The Story Bridge made its appearence during an era in which Brisbane was striving through a period of economic hardship and world wide political unrest. This period was otherwise known as the great depression. During the 1930's, as a consequence of the depression, a world wide romance with bridges took form. A prime reason for this was the fact that a structure of such jingoistic beauty, could be created in a time of such despair.

Parkinson - End of a series

I finish off my Parkinson series with a view over Parkinson.

Parkinson - Show Off

Parkinson - Little visitor

I wonder what this little birdie came down to the water to see?

Answer tomorrow.

Parkinson - New Homes

There are quite a few new homes getting built higher up on the hill in Parkinson.

Parkinson - Rotunda

Parkinson - More ducks

This is a park that runs right through from one end of Parkinson to the other.

Parkinson - Local shops

This is the local shops at the main street entrance into Parkinson. On the right hidden behind the tree is Planet Pizza. I should try it out one day.

Parkinson - Hidden Oasis

There is a bridge down the lower end of Parkinson that marks where the environmental park is. They have information on plaques on the bridge about the conservation done in the area. Just near the bridge is a pond you can see from the road.

You then have to walk down a path, go behind some tables with a roof overhead, go under some bushes to find this little oasis. I'm sure you would miss it if you wern't out looking for places to take photos of. I only caught a glimpse of a part of it as I was ready to turn around and go back.

Parkinson - Edge of the park

In answer to a previous question - I found the information on Forest Lake here.

Parkinson - Unusual sight

When I first arrived in Parkinson and stopped to take photos, these 2 ducks were just sitting on the road.

When I got out of the car they started moving off so I quickly had to snap a photo.

In answer to a previous question - The National Australia Bank building is somewhere near the joining of Queen Street and Eagle Street near Customs House. I am pleased to know that my photo inspired someones art (even if they were just bored).

Parkinson - Typical street

Parkinson - Hidden treasure

On the edge of the park is this lagoon hidden behind a lot of shrubbery.

Parkinson - Park and Street names

This is a kids play area in a park the closest to the Brisbane border. The very colourful stepping timber blocks would draw the eye. Also notice down the bottom that they have added colourful bands on the path to "jazz" it up a bit.



Friday's Post - Many of the streets here have these large wooden street name signs. They still have proper street signs, but these add more prestige to the area.

Start of a Series - Welcome to Parkinson

Parkinson is located on the fringe of Brisbane City. There is a small forest separating the end of Parkinson and the border of Logan City.

It took me three attempts to photograph this as both times a bus was waiting and I had to come back. This is the main road into the Parkinson suburb.

Some information on Parkinson - Parkinson is roughly 19km from Brisbane’s Central Business District (CBD). Over 62% of households in the area are couples with children, 28% are couples without children and 8% are single parent households. 96% of the dwellings in this area are stand-alone houses. The houses are mainly modern, brick and tile houses on reasonable sized blocks.

For a map, please click here.

End of a Series - Medieval Fayre - Dinners Ready

The fayre runs over 2 days and many of the people who set up a display encampment, stay the night. It is still quite cold at night and they would look forward to a hot piping dinner.

Performers

At every fayre of this type, you get your performers. They draw you in with crazy acts and then ask for a small donation for the honour of seeing their show.

His arm isn't on fire, the camera caught some of the flame that was left behind by the torches.

In answer to a previous question, acording to the 2001 census (we just did our 2006 census) 540,046 or 2.9% of Australia's population were of Scottish Ancestry.

Links have been updated.

Scottish dancers

The skill of the scottish dancers was a highlight of the Medieval Fayre and the colorful clothing added to the scene.

Parkinson photos in 3 days.

Brisbane City History - 1974, 26-30 JANUARY - Australia Day weekend flood. 14,000 homes flooded.

The sword bearer

Walking in front of warriors, this youth carries the sword of the armies champion.