Akira on Eagle
And the soundtrack for this shoot was: St Germain’s “Tourist” album.
This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a bit, since it sort of fitted in with the current giveaway well... why not.
Oh, and yes: Akira’s being nice... she’s working.
Good morning and welcome, I’m Akira E. Ferrari, your guide for today’s tour along Brisbane’s Eagle Street waterfront. It’s cold today, to keep a hold of that hot coffee.
Our tour starts here, at the City Botanic Gardens. The gardens were established in 1855 and occupy the extremity of the city loop of the Brisbane River. They front the river on two sides, with the other two joining the Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point campus and the Brisbane central business district itself.
Many of the yachts you can see are live aboards, while the owners may work in the city and on land they choose to live on the water. Other vessels may just be stopping over whilst their crews make some money and re-supply before sailing on.
These pylons are all that remains of the floating pontoons that were originally part of the Waterfront Place marina. Waterfront Place was completed in 1989 and is part of the same development as Eagle Street Pier. At the base of the green glass tower stands Naldham House, the original home of Brisbane’s Port Authority. The port has now moved to the mouth of the river and the restored building now houses the prestigious Brisbane Polo Club. The Polo Club has been serving Brisbane’s business community since 1989. Members of reciprocal clubs are welcome to use its facilities on presentation of a letter of introduction.
Eagle Street Pier boasts a number of restaurants and bars. 1 Degree or the Jade Budda can mix you a cocktail and deliver light food while other establishments can offer full meals. If you’re in a steak mood Cha Cha Char is highly recommended, though be prepared to take a sizeable hit to your hip pocket. While you’re here also take the opportunity to sample some of the excellent wines this country produces. Though not essential, bookings are recommended, if you wish to dine along the pier I can make reservations for you.
At the down-stream end of the pier is the busy “Riverside” CityCat stop. The high speed CityCats are a popular mode of transport in Brisbane. Though they’re limited to 6 knots along the city reach of the river early models such as this one cruise at around 24 knots, the newer boats are capable of twenty-eight. The CityCat is also a popular tourist attraction and is an excellent way to see the further reaches of the river too far away for us to reach by gondola. The route extends upstream to the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus and downstream, past the Story Bridge to Hamilton, all of which can be seen for the price of a standard fare.
The Story Bridge itself is a cantilever bridge and was completed in 1940. The design was by John Bradfield, the same man who designed the famous Sydney Harbor bridge. The bridge connects Kangaroo Point and Newfarm, while the bridge is a major traffic thoroughfare the small park near the base of the Kangaroo Point pylon hosts a number of festivals and musical events. The bridge is also available for climbing tours.
..and here, under the Story Bridge we must part. From here you can continue down the river on the floating walkway or head up into New Farm and Fortitude Valley to enjoy a quiet afternoon cocktail at Glass Bar. I hope you enjoyed your short tour, if you’re ever in Brisbane again, we’d love you to take another trip with us.
Very suitable... Oh yes, Akira san~!
Cheers mate... yeah, gotta love Akira :D
Lovely photos! I loved how you chose her to match the location XD
Haha, thanks. I'm just lucky to live in a city where a lot of life is centred around the water to fit with the ARIA fanboy-ism ^^;
Very sytlish indeed :)
Cheers mate. Yeah, Eagle Street is very much in the business end of town, so more suits less lattes =P
"...I can make reservations for you." ARIA deja vu/partial quote insert! I *love* this photo shoot, though I suspect you could've guessed that from me anyway. Particularly like how you've positioned the pictures so that you never see her as a figure, even a 1/6 one; also like your unobtrusive and upon further contemplation ARIA-esque watermarks. ^^
Haha, yeah... partly ARIA quote, partly the truth: if you're going to eat on Eagle Street than you really should make reservations. Cha Cha Char for example regularly takes out "best steak restraunt" awards so walking in there and asking for a table tends to end in dissappointment (unless you get VERY lucky).
Now that you mention it, the watermark thing is a bit ARIA-esque. To be honest I just needed a neat way of getting the info down, and the usual black lines top and bottom didn't seem appropriate. Well that, and I've taken a recent shine to Gill Sans ^^;
Cheers mate.
Loved these photos in Brisbane. Was actually there not too long ago. Recognize the city and bridge for sure. Didn't know the Sydney Harbor bridge was designed by the same designer as Brisbane's Story Bridge. Cool.
Actually think (besides Italy) Australias one of the best places for Aria figure shoots because of all the water ways and the use of water transportation. At least from what I saw in Sydney and Brisbane.
Still plan on picking up an Akira figure when I get back. She looks great! Good work. ^^
Yeah, Brisbane and Sydney can be fairly water centric =P Probably not so much Melbourne and I can't really speak for the other major centres. How long ago where you in town, same time as George Washington?
Cheers man, good luck hunting down Akira, at least she's still resonably easy to find at a decent price. I dunno, people tend to complain that the Solidworks figures are a bit rough around the edges. Personally I actually don't mind the little defects on them. It bugs me on other figures, but for some reason the ARIA ones it almost seems to be in keeping with the spirit of the series ^^;
Think we were in Brisbane about 2 weeks ago but not sure. Time very much runs together underway and noone knows what day it is without checking. Didn't know the George Washington made it to Brisbane, but I haven't been keeping up with what all they've been up to.
For the Solid Works Aria figures, I'm fine with the minor defects as well except for Akari. Her face was kind of off. To put it in a nice way. Still want to get Athena and Akira while I'm still in Japan though...
Yeah, seeing Akari was what originally turned me off of the Solid Works figures. Still ended up getting Akira, since she was on sale for a ridiculous price and didn't look nearly as bad.
I think it was George Washington... I know we had a carrier in awhile back, was hoping to get down to the port to take a look but was snowed under with uni work.
Yeah, to be honest I've sort of given up on finding the junior undines... the seniors were always my favorites anyway. But Akari did look decidedly odd it's true.
She makes a great tour guide ^^ Amazing photos and lovely area where your at ^^ You know your history too :)
"She makes a great tour guide" - I'd hope so, she's supposed to be one of the best :D
Haha, cheers mate. Partly the writing was local knowledge, partly it was checking my facts against wikipedia ^^;
Very nice, wish I had some Aria figures for my collection, sadly I entered this game too late.
Yeah, you and me both. I don't know what you're like, but I have a nasty habit of jumping on band-wagons late ^^;
Akira and Athena still pop up from time to time at a resonable price on eBay; but if you want Alicia or any of the juniors be prepared to give up your first-born...
Cheers mate.