Love Is In The Air, Brisbane

 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.  

Captain Kangaroo

In addition, to our shuttle service, we had the option to use the CityCat, 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 CityCat is
30 to 45 minutes, depending on your destination, and the fare (AUD$4.40 - $5.80, valid all day) that you pay onboard including transfers to the the local transit busses. 

No other city quite makes such good use of its river as a travel artery, and visitors will find the CityCat 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. 

enjoying Brisbane

 

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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 screens videos of local citizens talking about their lives. 

Brisbane City hall

 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 centre. 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.

at the City Hall grounds

 

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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 travelled 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.

white flower

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.

Valentine's present for us

 

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In any case, that leaves us something to do next time we come to Brisbane!