The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre is an outstanding venue. It is huge, has several bars…read moreand restaurants, many theatres including an auditorium capable of holding 8000 people, and features elegant architectural design. The EduTech conference was held here and apart from the organisation behind the event, the catering was exceptional with a range of tasty meals provided by the staff. One thing that did particularly stand out was the excellent acoustics of the theatres and the audio facilities. The shear size of this place is overwhelming and when it is packed, it can be difficult to make your way around the centre. Spaced out over six floors, there are many architectural wonders making the centre a modern work of art.

Looks can be deceiving. What I always took for a rather drab…read moreand imposing concrete block, The convention centre actually provided some of more inspiring and memorable experiences of my life. From important design conferences to the holy grail of Bookfest and everything in between (herro Sexpo!) I have been thoroughly won over by this cultural monolith. And while it's primary use is for exciting sounding events for local businesses ("Correct Postural Allignment inaugural Ball!") It's always the variety of programs offered that always bring me back.

Dear Yelpers: Did you know Brisbane has it's own baseball team? No. Seems that's the common answer…read more Well, we do and the Bandits home patch of turf is smack bang centre at Holloway Field. Their season has just launched and I found myself watching my very first baseball game wondering how I'd never known of Holloway Field's existence until this year. There's no mass lines like a certain Paddington-based stadium, there's plenty of parking or public transport and it's a hop-skip-and a jump from the city in leafy Newmarket. It's not the glitziest of sporting fields but the bleechers are right where you want to be to see all the game's action unfold. There's on-site catering and plenty of space to run around. It's all a big tick of approval from this Yelper.

Turns out, Brisbane has its own baseball team and home field, who would have thought?…read more Holloway Field is the home base of the Brisbane Bandits, tucked away in Newmarket close by to the Newmarket shops and hotel. The field itself has plenty of parking and there's always the surrounding streets, which we parked in and had a short walk to the field. There's no lines to get in, just a single gate with a couple of friendly security guards and raffle ticket sellers. There are a couple of local food trucks on site, as well as the canteen up in the bleachers, where we got 2 hot dogs and soft drinks for $15. While it's much quieter than one would imagine a sporting event to be, judging from the full buses and lines around the Gabba or Suncorp Stadium, the bleachers do seem to almost fill up - though we still had a spare seat between us and the people beside us. The fans are respectful and I'm guessing perhaps all family members and friends of the team - very familiar with the players! The crowd are cool, which is a plus for someone like me who hates crowds! If you've never been to a baseball game before, be aware that they can last anywhere upwards of two to four hours, there's no time limit like in other sports. As someone who's never seen a baseball game before, I can't really comment on the quality of the teams, but just for reference, you're supposed to yell "Go Bandits". The announcers are there to make it all make a little more sense, and after an innings you'll be an expert. The game itself is actually really cool to watch and the constant thwack of the ball between gloves and bats keeps you awake - we got to see a player hit a ball so hard his bat split in two and went flying! The only downside was that there is music played over the speakers that fades in and out between each pitch, which is kind of distracting. Tickets are about $12 for adults so it's a great cheap and lazy evening summer activity, and lovely to watch the sun set over the field.

Not a great experience. Read the website carefully and gathered that we could bring in water as…read morelong as it was in plastic bottles. Bag check forced everyone to dump said water at the gate. We were far from the only ones who were surprised. Then received dodgy directions to our gate by several different people, as there was an intervening members section we had to avoid. One guy told us we had to go aaaaaall the way back around the other way or exit the stadium RIGHT next to the staircase that went directly to our seats. We remembered seeing that staircase and decided to investigate. Sure enough, it was perfectly fine for us to go that route. Finally, NO BUS SERVICE BACK TO OUR HOME AFTER THE GAME. 200 buses lined up to go back to the city, 3 different bus routes taking us to the game, ALL of the buses heading to the Eastern Suburbs stopped running at 830!!! Are you kidding me?? How do you not have bus service after a game at a stadium where there is basically no parking whatsoever and the train is a mile away? Plus, the folks working at the bus line had absolutely no clue about it. We asked them where to wait for our bus, they told us - we looked carefully at the schedule and realized there were no buses. We pointed it out to them, and they basically said, "well golly gee, lookie there!" and suggested we take a bus to the city, then take the train back. We then got terrible directions from the bus people AND one police officer for where to catch a taxi. LISTEN UP GABBA!!! If you don't have adequate parking at your stadium and want to encourage people to take public transportation, PAY FOR BUSES TO RUN UNTIL YOUR GAMES HAVE ENDED. Don't leave people stranded! Despicable and totally disappointing. As an aside, the cricket match we attended was excellent. Too bad it was spoiled by this bumbling venue!!

The Gabba, or the Brisbane Cricket Ground as it is officially known, is a testament to our ability…read moreto give places the laziest possible nicknames (it is located in the suburb of Woolloongabba). It is also another Brisbane landmark that has had a bit of life knocked out of it by ill-conceived , yet necessary, redevelopment. This is what I have been led to believe at least, given I am not old enough to have fully appreciated the Brisbane Cricket Ground in it's original incarnation. The Gabba today is a bland oval of concrete and plastic seating. What the ground gained in capacity through its redevelopment it no doubt lost in character and charm. Looking around the stadium there is no defining feature that would allow one to easily recognise it as the Gabba. It is more or less a mini version of the much loved Melbourne Cricket Ground without all of the features that make the MCG cutting edge. In saying all that, when this ground is packed to capacity and the lions are playing a home final or the Australian cricket team is playing the opening test of the Ashes the Gabba is capable of drumming up a goose bump inducing atmosphere. That's if the over enthusiastic ground staff (easily the worst of any stadium I've been to) don't spoil the fun by kicking out the guy blowing up a beach ball.

Beautiful Stadium. Clean, efficient, friendly and not a bad seat in the house. The busses in and…read moreout of the stadium are easy to maneuver with little to no wait time. From the USA and made a stop in here and it was a great game. So glad we stopped in!

Impressive stadium, not a bad seat in the stadium. The public transport after a game is very…read moreefficient.

Amazing stadium with a plethora of food and beverage venues throughout an important note all…read moretransactions are cashless!

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