The next-to-last city on our New Zealand-Australia itinerary was Brisbane (“Bris-bn”). We had never been to Brisbane before, but there seemed to be plenty of things to see and do, so we budgeted five nights.
We’re glad we did. Brisbane is beautiful, with plenty of culture, parkland, and spectacular buildings. It’s a walkable, liveable city with an upbeat personality.
The first place we explored was the City Botanic Garden, just two blocks south of our apartment hotel downtown. It was a calm, lovely urban oasis.
Next, we hiked across the Goodwill Bridge to the east end of the Southbank Parklands, which stretches for over 1 kilometer along the south bank of the Brisbane River. We felt like taking a break from walking, so we found a cute little restaurant/bar along the river that offered an appealing menu of tropical drinks. They were delicious, and we sipped them while enjoying the beautiful view.
This vine-covered walkway was just beyond the restaurant.
The Southbank Parkland has a free swimming pool/beach. It was a bit chilly and overcast for swimming, at least by our Arizona standards, but some people availed themselves.
This is the other end of the Southbank Parkland, with the impressive Performing Arts Center.
Brisbane, like the other cities in Australia and New Zealand, has excellent public transportation. in addition to buses that go everywhere, they operate ferries that travel up and down the river and stop at docks on both sides. They’re great for sightseeing as well as transportation. We took a ferry from downtown east to the Howard Smith Wharves, where we disembarked and ate at Felons Brewing Company, just beyond the bridge.
This video from the ferry provides a taste of the beautiful scenery and interesting buildings along the river.
Brisbane had spectacular buildings at every turn. We have posted pictures of some of the most remarkable buildings and bridges in a separate post.
Felons Brewing Company offered a picturesque view of the Story Bridge and the Brisbane skyline. The pedestrian walkway in the foreground leads to the ferry dock.
Brisbane had several impressive museums that we enjoyed visiting. All of them were free, except for a few ticketed exhibits. We were impressed by Australia’s financial commitment to support the arts.
The Queensland Museum was displaying an exhibit called “Make a Scene: Fashioning Queer Identity and Club Culture in the 90s.” We don’t recall styles like this at clubs we visited in the US, but these were some of the outfits created by local designers.
A montage of event posters from the past.
We were surprised to see Carlos Amorales’ “Black Cloud,” with 5,000 black butterflies, at the Queensland Art Gallery. This work is also displayed at the Phoenix Art Museum.
Other exhibits at the Queensland Art Gallery.
An art gallery on the campus of Queenstown University of Technology (QUT) featured exhibitions from two local contemporary artists.
City Hall, with its distinctive clock tower, housed the Museum of Brisbane on the third floor.
One day, we visited the Mt. Coot-tha Lookout on the western edge of town. As we approached the bus stop, the bus that would take us there was about to leave. Dave ran toward the bus waving his arms frantically, but the bus took off right in front of us.
The next bus was scheduled for an hour later. We didn’t want to wait that long, so Dave found another bus that would get us to a point a mile away from the lookout. The first part of the walk took us through a nice residential neighborhood. After that, we had to hike a trail through Mt. Coot-tha forest. The entire journey was uphill, which we should have expected, considering we were traveling to a lookout point.
Obviously, we made it, but it was quite a challenge! We stopped to rest often. But the view was worth it!
On the return trip (which we took on the correct bus), we stopped for a couple of hours at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens.
We ate some delicious dinners in Brisbane! The first night, we tried a little hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant half a block from our apartment. As is often the case, sometimes you get delicious meals at such places. The fact that many of the other customers were Japanese was a good sign.
The Blackfire Restaurant was right across the street from our apartment. They offered an “early bird special” with a choice of dinners and a glass of house wine for $35 AUD ($24.50 USD). The food was outstanding! That was one of the best steaks Dave had on the entire trip, accompanied by a generous helping of sweet potato fries.
On our final night, we ate at Comuna Cantina. We went on Saturday evening, but the place was noisy and packed, so we returned to Blackfire Restaurant instead. On Sunday evening, there were only a few other customers, and the weather was perfect for outdoor dining. The ambiance was perfect, and the food and the sangria were delicious!
We weren’t sure what to expect from Brisbane. Sydney and Melbourne get all the attention. But we loved it! Brisbane and Perth are our two favorite cities in Australia, with Melbourne not far behind. We could easily live here, but alas, Australia does not offer a visa that retired people can qualify for. But if we are ever in that part of the world again, we will certainly visit for several days!