When we planned our trip to Australia, we really liked the idea of travelling to Brisbane because staying in this city provides us with the opportunity to not only embrace the city itself, but also to explore the surrounding coastline and the mountainous land of the interior. We also wanted to have a chance to see as much Australian wildlife as possible by visiting various sanctuaries and trying to spot some of the country's unique creatures in the wild. After our first two weeks in Queensland, we feel that we are well on the road to accomplishing these objectives successfully. Road Warning Sign
From our home base downtown at Quest Apartments, we’ve expanded our exploration of the Central Business District in a variety of ways. First, we have found and investigated many of the tourist highlights within the city itself including the Anzac Square, Post Office Square, the Cathedral of St. Stephen, Brisbane City Hall, the Treasury Casino Building, the Queensland Parliament, and the list goes on. We find it quite fascinating to observe the dramatic contrast between the numerous stately old historic buildings and the modern, recently built structures. For example, we marvel at the way many of the old hotels (where the tourists and locals may be seen mingling in the bars) constructed in the city’s early days, blend in with the modern skyscrapers. Secondly, we have found it quite easy to carry out our normal day-to-day living activities in the downtown area, including grocery shopping, walking through shopping malls, podiatrist appointments, haircutting appointments (yes, our manes were getting a bit shaggy), and Trevor even scheduled an appointment with a registered massage therapist. We also purchased tickets for a couple of upcoming choral concerts that are taking place while we are in town; more on that later.
The Ship Inn, a Heritage Building on the South Bank
Post Office Square in Brisbane's CBD
Anzac Square in the CBD
Cathedral of St. Stephen
Everyone loves the Brisbane River, locals and tourists alike. Brisbane is located slightly inland, away from the Pacific coast, and the Brisbane River winds through the centre of the city. Many people get up very early in this town (as early as 6:00 in the morning) during the cooler part of the day to enjoy casual strolls and runs beside the river. Local organizers have planned several runs that we’ve witnessed firsthand over the past two weeks. During last weekend’s “Fun Run,” for example, over 7,000 participants walked and ran in honour of International Women’s Day. Fun Run for International Women's Day
We see throngs of customers on the patios of the bars and restaurants downtown beside the river regularly, especially on the weekends. We've also taken advantage of the very impressive local river ferry system to explore various parts of the city. Choosing this mode of travel provides us with a much cheaper option than some of the river cruises offered by tour companies, and allows us to see the city skyline, expensive homes, trendy condos and parks from the river This past week, we travelled on Brisbane’s TransLink CityCat catamaran service out to Queensland University to explore the campus, and we also used the free KittyCat City Hopper Ferry to bring us back to the main ferry terminal from the trendy Howard Smith Wharf located under the city’s historic Story Bridge.
CityCat Catamaran Ferry Passes Under the Story Bridge
Travelling on the CityCat
KittyCat City Hopper Ferry
Riding on the KittyCat
While most of the Australian population lives close to the coastline where the beaches are “hopping,” we’ve really appreciated the subtle contrast that we find in the mountainous interior lands away from the water. On a beautiful Saturday morning, we drove northwest out of the city to D’Aguilar National Park where we arrived at several spectacular lookouts after climbing up windy mountainous roads with hair raising hairpin turns. From Jolly’s Lookout and the Westridge Outlook near Mount Nebo, we were able to view the breathtaking scenery of the Queensland countryside for miles and miles in the distance. We drove to the top of Mount Glorious where we stopped at the Maiala picnic ground to eat lunch, and where many hikers walked the trails to explore the beauty of the mountainside.
Westridge Outlook, D'Aguilar National Park
No matter whether we are traversing the city or the countryside, we find ourselves constantly seeking opportunities to see the Australian wildlife. In the City Botanic Gardens, we see many Ibis birds wondering all over the place constantly. On one of our day trips, we were thrilled when a Kookaburra bird landed near us and put on a big show while we took photos of it. While we ate our picnic lunch during our visit to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, an Eastern Bearded Dragon Lizard and his wild turkey buddies kept us company. Birds such as Ibis and turkeys constantly hover close by whenever we eat lunch outdoors looking for some scraps of food.
Ibis in the City Botanic Gardens
Eastern Bearded Dragon Visits Us
Kookaburra Puts On a Show
The Lone Pine Sanctuary is located just outside of the city, and we drove to it quite easily from the CBD. However, a tour operator also brings visitors out to Lone Pine by boat. Unfortunately, we arrived at the sanctuary at the same time as the tour boat. For the first part of the morning, we found that large groups of tourists (many American) crowded out some of the prime animal exhibits, and they also monopolized the areas where visitors are allowed to feed kangaroos (bags of food pellets are sold for $2 each). As a result, the kangaroos were fully fed when we tried to get close to them and they were not very interested in the food that we held out to them. Therefore, we have saved our bag of kangaroo food for another occasion. Lesson Learned!
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Koalas at Lone Pine Sanctuary
Feeding Kangaroos at Lone Pine
Sheep Dog Demonstration at Lone Pine
Our exploration of the Queensland coastline outside of Brisbane continues. We previously travelled to the Gold Coast south of the city. We have now expanded our travels toward the coastline north of the city onto Bribie Island and the Sunshine Coast. In a previous blog post, we mentioned that Gold Coast is a very trendy tourist area. We have found Bribie Island and the Sunshine Cost north of Brisbane to be much less “touristy” and less commercial than Gold Coast. It took just over an hour for us to drive to Bribie Island, and we crossed the bridge to the island during a weekday when less visitors were present, and when traffic was light. On the island, we found beautiful, paved pathways that follow the water for miles at the inland towns of Bellara and Bongaree. We also drove over to the more isolated, undisturbed Red Beach area that the lady who cut our hair in Brisbane recommended as her favourite beach. We watched several surfers excitedly unloading their boards from their car roof racks at Woorim Beach on the open ocean side of the island as they prepared for some exciting action in the water.
Bribie Island With Bridge to the Island in the Background
Red Beach on Bribie Island
Australian Pied Oyster Catcher Birds on Bribie Island
On another beautiful sunny day, we drove a bit further north out of the city onto the Sunshine Coast where we planned to explore several communities and scenic lookouts. We stopped at Kings Beach in Caloundra and became so enthralled with the beautiful coastline, that we ended up spending the entire day at this location. The temperature was above 30ยบ on the day we visited Kings Beach, but a beautiful breeze blew in from the ocean consistently, so we felt very comfortable. The waves were swelling quite high in the water, but several swimmers still braved the waters under the watchful eyes of the lifeguards who were equipped with surfboards, dune buggies and jet skis. Surfers demonstrated their skills skimming through the water, while several brave souls flying their hang gliders jumped off a cliff and manoeuvred their crafts high in the air over the beach. Once again, we really enjoyed the beautiful views that were offered from the paved walkway and boardwalk that followed the coastline. As we ate our lunch at one of the picnic shelters overlooking the water, we were again pestered by Ibis birds that were looking for us to share tidbits of our food with them.
King's Beach, Caloundra, Sunshine Coast
Pedestrian Walk at Kings Beach
Kings Beach, Caloundra, Sunshine Coast
Our adventures in Australia continue! We are very excited about the plans that we are making to tour more areas of Brisbane and the amazing State of Queensland during our final two weeks in Australia. Stay tuned for the next edition of our blog.
