By Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra

Brisbane River | Photo by: Lovina Soenmi

“That will be so much warmer there,” said few people in Melbourne when I told them that I will going to Brisbane.

At the beginning of September, winter has just ended in Australia, spring has been coming. The temperature is getting warmer every day. This is the perfect time to visit Australia, even for those who are not familiar with the cold temperatures like me, have to wear clothes that covered enough.

I spent ten days in Melbourne, a week for leadership training, and three days for Mining and Resource Reporting Workshop. Then move to Brisbane—Capital city of Queensland—for Digital Journalism workshop. It is a part of Mining, Media, and Development Workshop held by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre (APJC), followed by 11 journalists from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Solomon Island. Workshop will last for five weeks.

Erick Eklund, Professor of History, Monash University sedang memberikan materi tentang Mining in Australia Society | Dok. APJC

In Melbourne, all of the fellows stay at Quest Carlton on Finlay, an apartment that is close enough to downtown Melbourne. When flying to Brisbane, we were allowed to leave some items in the Quest, because later we will return to the apartment.

When packing, the phrase “that will be so much warmer there” kept ringing. Finally I decided to leave all my jackets in Quest.

Arrived at Brisbane International Airport, we were greeted by sunshine, which is not warm, it was windy. Similarly, the next day, which I did not bring a jacket, had to withstand the cold the same as Melbourne. I do not (probably not yet) find the ‘so much warmer ‘ Brisbane.