Australia’s third largest city with its gorgeous river views is a pleasant place that we liked very much. We spent four days here, the capital of Queensland. Despite its size, it surprised us with its lush greenery, beautiful parks, public art, the mixture of old and modern architecture, and its holiday vibe.
Day 36, Friday, October 11: From Ayers Rock to Brisbane
We had to check out from the hotel by 10 am. There came some waiting time before we were transferred to the airport – in the hotel’s bus – for our 2:50 pm flight to Brisbane on Virgin Australia.
While waiting, we visited the nearby Gallery of Central Australia full of beautiful Aboriginal art. We also walked a little bit around the resort and read our books.
We said our goodbyes to the Red Center of Australia and arrived in Brisbane before 7 pm. Our hotel, the Mercure Spring Hill Hotel, was about a 20-minute drive from the airport. First, the key didn’t open the room, we had to get help from the hotel people. Second, there was no soap in the bathroom and the room was very poorly lit, so we had to request soap and a desk lamp – not a very good first impression.
We hoped that the city was going to give us better impressions than the hotel.
Day 37, Saturday, October 12: Brisbane
Today we walked a lot exploring the city. We started at the Roma Street Parkland – close to our hotel – in the late morning. We were amazed by the beautiful design and flowers of this park, which is one of the world’s largest subtropical gardens in a city center.
In a leisurely walk, in the warm weather, we reached the City Hall that houses the Museum of Brisbane. Here we checked out a very interesting exhibition, New Light: Photography Now + Then. Seven contemporary artists created new works in response to the Elliott Collection, a collection that contains hundreds of photos of Brisbane taken by the amateur photographer Alfred Elliott for 50 years, from 1890 to 1940.
From the museum’s permanent collection, we liked most Milomirka Radovic’s crocheted flowers and Edith Rewa’s images of Australian wildflowers.
On Queen Street Mall, we found all the big-name stores and cool architecture.
We headed down to the river crossing one of the many bridges to South Bank, where we found the colorful iconic Brisbane Sign (see the starting photo of this post) and enjoyed the lovely river views.
As we strolled through the promenade, we passed the hand-carved Nepalese Peace Pagoda (which was contributed by Nepal to the 1988 World Expo) and the Wheel of Brisbane.
Then we found the Streets Beach, a free pool with a sandy beach and views of the city skyline.
On our walk, we reached the elegantly designed Arbour Walkway, on which magenta bougainvillea climbed curling steel columns and created shade from the sun.
Walking through a pedestrian bridge, we reached the City Botanic Gardens, a pretty riverside park. Next to it, we saw the heritage Parliament House.
Walking back to the hotel, we missed our street and had to go through the train station to be on the other side of the tracks. The very friendly employees allowed us to go through it without buying a ticket.
Today was a long, but really good day.
Day 38, Sunday, October 13: Brisbane
This morning was cool after the overnight rain and we were a little bit sore from yesterday’s walks, so decided to take it easy and not to rush to continue exploring Brisbane. On the city map, we found some information about murals and a decision was made: let’s go, and find at least some of them. This is how we ended up in South Brisbane (of course, we walked again!).
We found really cool murals on a funky laneway called Fish Lane. (It will be worth a separate blogpost in the future.)
Learned about the city’s Outdoor Gallery exhibition, Paradise Gloss, which “provides the community with opportunities to engage in creative exploration and encourages play to improve mental wellbeing.” We loved how Brisbane transforms its laneways and streets into imaginative and engaging spaces.
On Fish Lane Town Square, we saw nice benches with phone chargers, and were amazed what a nice urban parkway they created beneath the railway overpass.
We loved the cool street art, enjoyed our late lunch in a local brewery, and liked the colorfully decorated areas for relaxation in public spaces.
Day 39, Monday, October 14: Brisbane
From the city via Mirimar cruises on the Brisbane river, we visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to observe Australian animals up close. Steve had been here 44 years ago, and he was eager to see any kind of changes.
We saw many koalas, kangaroos, dingoes, and birds (including a white-breasted sea eagle), and other animals like platypus, lace monitor. short-beaked echidna, wallaby, wombat, tree-kangaroo, emu. We fed a kangaroo and petted an emu.
To get back to our hotel, we walked through the pedestrian bridge that reached a skyscraper where we checked out a public place designed for relaxation.
In the evening, we met for dinner with our friends Marie and her husband, Ron, whom we were going to visit for a few days starting the next morning. We were ready to see another part of Australia.
