Moving to Brisbane, Australia!

Hey all, my husband and I are very excited to be moving to Brisbane later this year! We are currently in Scotland so this is a huge change for us. Although Australia seems light on tiki bars, the scenery and availability of home bar goods makes up for that. Also the travel opportunities will be great - a trip to Perth for Hula Bula is inevitable soon after we arrive, and beyond Australia we are well positioned for South Pacific adventures, and even Hawaii is so much more accessible - and cheaper - than from Scotland!

I've already been in touch with Marcus Tikibeat, anyone else here from Queensland with insider tiki tips? Any Aussie tiki websites we should be bookmarking?

Downside to all this is we probably have to get rid of our little bamboo tiki bar, as I really doubt it will get through quarantine. guess we can get us a new one though!

Mahalo and g'day! :drink:

cathuna,

Here's some Oz websites I know of that should be among your tiki favorites, if you don't already have them bookmarked:

Careless Navigator
http://carelessnavigator.com/

Koop Kooper's Cocktail Nation
http://cocktailnation.net/

Best wishes on your new life adventure!

-Tom

TikiTomD, you beat me to it. :lol:

That's really about it cathuna. If you ever make it down to Melbourne, send me a PM and i can take you to a tiki bar down here. And rumour has it that the owner of Hula Bula bar will be opening a tiki bar here soon. Lots of bars (here in Melb. and in Sydney, not sure about Brisbane but i'd assume so) have tiki drinks on their cocktail list, but as far as bars themselves go, not so much.

All the best in your move.

swizzle

P.S. You could probably bring your bar, it will just need to go through quarantine. It might need to be fumigated though and at what cost and whether it's worth it, i don't know. Probably easier to start again unless it really means a lot to you.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2011-07-23 04:49 ]

Brisbane/Queensland has a great kustom kulture scene if that's your kind of thing. Plus by it's nature its very tropical - especially compared to Scotland! Good luck with the move!

Wow, cheers folks! Will add those to my favourites, along with the kustom kulture link in hewey's sig as although I'm not into the cars, I love the whole retro & tiki stuff that goes alongside it!

Yes, the whole tropical aspect is a big draw - although I do worry about getting ill from being too hot in summer! I will be sensible with clothing and drinking water but I'm a wuss in hot weather. However I love all the palm trees I've seen in photos of Brisbane, I hope to rent a place surrounded by the things! Or at least fill the yard/verandah with pots of tropical plants that you just can not grow in Scotland! It is generally so dull and grey here, we have few days of sunshine (though today is one!) and it gets depressing continually being cold and rained on. The last 2 winters were horrendous. However there will be things I'll miss, mainly friends and our local pubs and of course Glasgow's Tiki Bar & Kitsch Inn! (reminds me we need to try Kanaloa before we leave!)

Good point about tiki drinks in non-tiki bars, that's something! And Melbourne is also on the visit list, in fact that was my first choice to live but Brisbane chose my husband for work! We'll also be visiting the Outre galleries at some point and hopefully pick up some nice Derek or Shag prints.

I have a feeling that fumigating (and of course shipping) the bar may cost a lot more than we paid for it! A friend of a friend is interested in buying it, and they do well on ebay as tiki is so big here now, so may be best selling - but I am rather attached to it :o( but all the mugs are coming with us, I've already started bubble-wrapping some!

I see there is a shop in fortitude Valley selling many many flavours of Monin syrups - far more than we can get in Scotland - and 151 rum is also much cheaper and easier to get in Aus, so it's already looking good! we will make full use of the duty free allowance and bring along unopened Barbancourt and other fine rums.

Thanks for the replies, and good to get a few Aussie TC contacts!

Is Tiki-style acknowledged as a California-born (or even American) mid-century pop culture in Australia ??

Or do they view it simply as a generic homage to Polynesian culture ??

John-O, yes, no, maybe.

Cathuna, best of luck with the move, Queensland surely is a beautiful
part of the country with lush rainforest and spectacular beaches.
Don't worry, you will get rained on, though you will probably be
wearing shorts and a tee-shirt at the time.

Wishing you a smooth move and Tiki encounters for your new home.

If you ever get a chance to head over to New Zealand...it is awesome there and worth a visit to the north and south island. Mauri show in Rotorua and Aukland Museum is amazing.

I was just in Brisbane...Found a bar in West End called Sling Lounge...Not tiki in decor but had a huge cocktail menu and a "Vic's" Mai Tai that was about as close as I have found outside of the states. They had a whole section of the menu dedicated to tiki. They had read the Grog Log and even had a copy of Book of Tiki behind the bar. I turned them on to Beach Bum Berry's iphone tiki app and Tiki Central and as I was leaving they gave me an Appleton Estate mug!

Check them out...
Sling Lounge
Boundary Street, West End, Brisbane

http://www.slinglounge.com/

Cheers again folks! Hey Aquatic, that bar sounds good - and husband's job is in the west end so that could be a good Friday after work spot!

Certainly intend to visit NZ once or twice... or more! I used to work with a great Kiwi guy, he raved about his home country. Not so far to fly from Brisbane too.

People who know I'm a tiki nut keep saying I should open a bar there, but that would be a disaster! I have no business/management skills and would probably drink up the profits :drink: - will stick to a home bar for the decor side of things!

G'day Cathuna!

You couldn't have made a better decision in going to Brisbane, my old home town. Plenty to do, perfect weather, and so much space compared to the UK. Think tropical greenery, big blue skies, the pacific ocean and clean air - that's some of the things i've missed while living in the UK. I've been overseas for a fair few years now but i'm heading back home very shortly. I'll be glad to help you out if i can. I'll be looking forward to checking out the new crop of bars that have popped up since i've been away too. I checked out your local Tiki bar and Kitch inn while I was in Glasgow a while back, it wasn't too bad.

I'll send you a PM with more.

cheers,
harro.

If you get a stop over in Bangkok on the way give us a bell and we could do Trader Vic's famous Sunday brunch.

Aww, the stopover's in LA where we'll be hitting Tiki Ti, Trader Vic's and maybe Tonga Hut! But if we do end up in Bangkok will give you a shout :oD

Hey, look what I found! http://www.jungleimports.com.au/index.htm

Website says it's in Warwick, quite far from Brisbane, but it came up on a search for garden supplies in Kedron?! (that's where our short term rental is, been checking out the area heheh).

Wonder if they'd build us a little tiki bar? Even a small palapa we could take from one rented home to another? What fun!

Now in Brisbane, been here 2 and a half days and it's awesome! Palm trees everywhere, tropical birdsong all day at our temporary residence - beautiful. And I love how the local sodas include a passionfruit flavour, Pasito! Tastes amazing with some Brugal Extra Viejo, I may have to try this with fresh lemon juice for a hurricane effect!

We have been so busy there's been no time to bemoan the lack of tiki bars. Anyway, so what? with a bunch of our stuff (mugs & decor when they arrive), and the right ingredients we have all the atmosphere needed for home tiki! Anyway, on the first afternoon with all the crazy birdsong it was like being right in the Enchanted Tiki Room - only with real birds!

This city is beautiful, and my new discovery is the gorgeous jacaranda tree. I'd never seen one before, but they are everywhere here. I saw a house rental listing with a photo of a view of a bunch of jacarandas from the backyard - it's expensive but we're tempted to blow the budget!

So yeah, Brisbane rocks! Oh, and 151 rum is sold everywhere, unlike the UK where I had to make a huge journey to buy a very expensive bottle. Do I miss the UK? Not a bit!

Welcome Cathuna! Glad you're loving it. Where abouts in Brissie are you?

We'll be heading up to Bris Vegas at new years.

Hey Hewey, we just moved from temp accommodation to a lovely house in Chermside. I was thrilled to discover 2 huge bird of paradise plants in the garden, very tropical. I've just bought a lime tree for mai tais as limes are v expensive in the shops, the tree was cheaper than a kilo of limes! Happy days, I just need a job now to keep out of mischief!

I discovered a great shop down the road in Lutwyche, Atomic Martini for retro/tiki clothes and home goods, had a great chat with the owners. Spent a few hundred dollars on a huge tiki print and other bits.

What are you doing at new years? I wouldn't mind going to see the fireworks!