Some went to the movies while others played on the beach.
Another was fishing while waiting for the pub to open.
Looking around Brisbane's bustling coastal community of Wynnum on Friday, it was hard to imagine a tropical cyclone was looming.
Coffee shops were open, even the local movie theatre as people walked their dogs and kids played along the foreshore.
The only indication of Tropical Cyclone Alfred's approach was the gusts of wind that bent palm trees and kept kids honest as they pedalled around on bikes.
Alfred is set to impact Queensland's southeast on Saturday likely as a category two system, triggering destructive winds, heavy rainfall, storm surges and flooding.
Millions of people have anxiously bunkered down at home as they brace for the cyclone.
But many at Wynnum were sick of waiting.
Kylie Madge instead took a stroll along the foreshore on Friday morning with the wind likely whipping off her partner Ian Miller's hat if it had not been tied around his chin.
The pair live a block away from the water's edge and had prepared their home ahead of Alfred's arrival by cleaning out loose items and buying food.
"I have heaps of work I should be doing but I don't want to sit here and do it," Ms Madge told AAP.
"So we're going to go to the movies which are still open and see Bridget Jones' Diary to kill time."
Logan resident Daniel Jordan was fishing nearby, saying his game plan was to do some angling until a pub opened.
When told hotels were likely to stay closed due to a looming cyclone, Mr Jordan conceded he was not sure what to do next.
Even the fish weren't biting.
Anita Russell and her partner Brad Woodbine were trying to tire out their two kids and two young pups, Marmaduke and Tilly, at a nearby park.
Neither were too concerned about Alfred, saying it felt like a long weekend.
They have strapped down their trampoline and taken any loose items inside, just in case.
"... We're over-prepared for what we think is going to fizzle out," Ms Russell told AAP.
Authorities on Friday had urged people who are not in high risk areas to stay at home as Alfred approached.
"This isn't a time for sightseeing or for seeing what it's like to experience these conditions first hand," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Friday.
