In spite of my last "feral"-fuelled post (which now adorned with some pretty pictures for you to look at), I'm not a massive fan of using local slang when I'm travelling - I can't help thinking that you sound like a bit of a pratt (imagine an American saying "let's have a butcher's"... it just doesn't work). In particular, I cannot bring myself to join the entire nation and the company itself by calling McDonald's "Macca's". Maccy D's is stupid, but Macca's? Really?
Anyway, up here in the Queensland you find the Aussie "strine" slang used a lot more than I did further south - with everyone's yakking on about "sheelas" (women) "chooks" (chicken) and "fair dinkum" the whole time you really feel like you're in the Australia of Steve Irwin and all the other stereotypes. Brisbane, of course, is "Brizzy".
My first taste of Brisbane was a half an hour walk at 11.30 at night from the Transit Centre in the CBD over here to Fortitude Valley ("the Valley"), where my hostel, "Bunk", resides in the heart of the city's "entertainment precinct". Having not slept on a bed since the 29th December, I was out like a log on the mattress, emerging at about 10.30 yesterday to take on the town.
Brisbane's transport system is excellent - like London you can buy a simple day travelcard for just $6 and get unlimited travel on the buses, metro or river ferries in the "Zone 1" (city centre) area. Interestingly, Brisbane has 23 zones - concentric circles spreading further and further out of the city all the way up and down the Queensland coast - confirming the words of a random motorcyclist I got talking to in Byron Bay: "everywhere you go in Queensland will have a train to Brisbane".
Once in the CBD, I did my usual walking tour covering as much of the town as possible, including the impressive Town Hall (above) that, unfortunately, closed on the 31st December for 3 years to undergo major renovation works. Before then, you could go right up to the top of the bell tower for free... . The old General Post Office that's still in use (right) is another impressive bit of architecture, but the thing that really stood out fore me is what is now quite possibly my favourite cathedral in the world.
St Stephen's Cathedral is by European standards pretty new, but by Australian standards is positively ancient. Indeed, the chapel to the side of the main cathedral is the first church in Queensland, built in 1850, although was superceded by the cathedral a couple of decades later when it became obvious that the growing city was going to need something far more substantial. Unsurprisingly, most of the inside is similar to any other Catholic church, but it is the way in which it has been done in St Stephen's that stood out for me. The stations of the cross, for example, are small, colourful oil paintings by an artist called Lawrence Dawes that veer away from the very traditional imagery of classical churches. The crucifix above the altar (which can be seen behind the nativity crib in the photo to the above-right) is also different - made of solid bronze, it is solely a horizontal bar - a move that literally gives the symbol an extra dimension that is not normally seen. Best of all is the baptismal font (below) in a modern new transcept behind the altar - a stream of holy water flows from it in a semi circle around the back of the church. It is truly serene. 
The day also included a tour of Queensland's Parliament building, which happily follows a great many of the Westminster formalities that make us feel right at home - including maces, ridiculous clothing, and all sorts of Royal conventions. As is traditional in the Westminster system, the lower house (below) is green and the upper house is red - but Queensland has the distinction of being the only Parliament in Australia, and one of the few in the whole world (New Zealand being the only other to spring to mind) to operate a unicameral legislative system, following the abolition of the upper house in 1921 after the in-power Australian Labor Party filled it with members sympathetic to their view of it as undemocratic (or, alternatively, as limited their ability to pass whatever they wanted into law).
More walking around took be to The Gabba - Brisbane Cricket Ground - and onto a ferry trip across the Brisbane River a couple of times, and by the time I'd caught the bus back up to Fortitude Valley I was in time to snag a fairly decent sunset photo looking across Brisbane's most famous landmark - the Story Bridge, designed by the same man who designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Incidentally, I decided against visiting the renowned Australia Zoo just north of Brizzy - Steve Irwin's turf is widely said to be the best zoo in the country, but having already seen many an animal and zoo already, it felt leaving this for my next trip (whenever that might be) would prevent zoos in Oz going the same way as temples in India and churches in Europe in terms of diminishing marginal utility... once you've seen one, you've seen them all!
P.S. I've finally managed to upload the photos to allow me to publish a post about the menagerie of animals at my cousin's place. Check it out here
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