Love Is In The Air, Brisbane
February 14, 2014
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Brisbane, Queensland's capital city has a city center where everything is within walking distance. Today, we took the free shuttle service offered to us, and we were dropped off near Queen Street. It is a pedestrian mall stretching several blocks. It is also walking distance to Myer Centre which is another main shopping venue, with fast food courts sprinkled among the numerous shops. Outdoor concerts, and musical events often take place here, and the scene teems with people of all ages during shopping hours. In addition, to our shuttle service, we had the option to use the City Cat, a Brisbane city-operated fast ferry service, that leaves on a regular schedule every half hour from Bretts Wharf -- a 10-minute walk from the ship.
Transit time to the city center on the City Cat is 30 to 45 minutes, depending on your destination, and the fare (AUD$4.40 - $5.80, valid all day) that you pay on board including transfers to the the local transit buses. No other city quite makes such good use of its river as a travel artery,and visitors will find the City Cat ferries and other local boat services an ideal way to reach the most popular museums, botanical gardens, wildlife parks, historic neighborhoods, lively shopping precincts and riverfront plazas with their variety of restaurants and cafes.
Within the city limits, both riverbanks have footpaths that stretch for many miles. To start our day in Brisbane, we headed towards the Brisbane City Hall (King George Square), built in 1930. It was once the city's tallest building. Now, when you take the elevator up 300 feet into the clock tower (which strikes loudly on the hour), you have views of even taller buildings, the river and several parks. On the ground floor, the Museum of Brisbane uses photos and maps to show how the city developed, exhibits paintings of Brisbane through history and screen videos of local citizens talking about their lives.
Admission to the museum and clock tower is free. From King George Square we headed to the Roma Street Parkland which is the world's largest subtropical garden in a city center. It is an oasis in the city containing more than 1,800 unique species of plants, some unique to Queensland. Apart from catching flora, the parkland is also home to an array of birds, lizards, and fish. The Parkland is designed in distinct precincts, each focusing on a specific type of subtropical flora.
The Daisy Hill reserve on Brisbane's southside is a koala corridor and you may see kangaroos etc.
The heart of the parkland is Colin Campbell Place which is a botanical showpiece and renowned for it's year round blaze of colors. To make the most of our visit, we hopped on a trackless train for our journey through the lush subtropical landscape. As we traveled inside the park, the audio presentation drew our attention to items of interest along the way. Apart from plants, we also noticed a lot of outdoor art collections. From the audio narration, we learned that when the parkland was being built, sixteen of Queensland's most talented artists were commissioned to produce works to complement the landscape. Since then, a number of other pieces have been added.
From the parkland, we went walking at Brisbane River's north bank. We passed by wooden walkways and mangrove swamps wherein the adjacent urban skyline disappeared from sight and mind. We wanted to do some sightseeing via the ferry but a complete round trip takes about two hours and 20 minutes and we didn't have enough time. In any case, that leaves us something to do next time we come to Brisbane!
Comments
Love reading about your adventures and may they continue with gusto. Keep up the good work. Love it. xoxoxoP From Patsy, on Feb 25, 2014 at 01:10 p.m
Awesome Blog and Fantastic pictures.. :) From Ellie Gilmer, on Feb 25, 2014 at 02:14 p.m
Love Makes The World Go Round!!! Happy Heart Day U 2 !!!!! XOXOXO K,M,&Twig... From Kim Connelly, on Feb 25, 2014 at 06:25 p.m.