About Brisbane
Brisbane began in 1824 as a penal colony for the most troublesome convicts from Sydney. Built along the winding Brisbane River, the settlement gradually evolved into a major port and trading centre as Queensland developed through agriculture, mining and immigration.
Today Brisbane is a relaxed subtropical city that blends modern skyscrapers with outdoor living. The river curves through the centre, ferries criss-cross the water, and South Bank’s parks, lagoon and restaurants create a lively social hub. It’s warm, friendly and increasingly confident as Australia’s fast-growing river city. 🌴🌉
Credit: chatGPT
Royal on the Park
Our stop in Brisbane is brief, only two nights, partly because Nikki came here in the 80’s and didn’t think much of it.
Brisbane is the capital and largest city in Queensland, and is the 3rd most populous city in Australia with a population of 2.8 million. It’s known for its vibrant culture, outdoor lifestyle and beautiful riverfront. That said, one of our waitresses, from Kent in the UK, said that it still has a country town feel, where everyone is friendly and helpful (unlike Canberra apparently).
Steve was driving us into Brisbane, with Nikki navigating, which is not always a good idea, which once again was proved correct as we were, at one point, only 5km from our hotel, until a wrong turn left us with another 24km to go. Steve was a bit cross, and we also picked up a toll as well which will no doubt cost us a small fortune when the rental company receive the bill.
We were booked into the Royal on the Park, opposite the Botanic Gardens. It opened as the Parkroyal Motor Inn in 1969 and has a rich history. Many celebrities stayed there ‘back in the day’ including Elton John and Led Zeppelin. Its reception area is very elegant, think plush carpets and wood panelling. It also had a pool, although much to Steve’s disappointment, it was mainly in the shade due to the taller buildings that have grown up around it – not the hotels fault but worth knowing.
The room itself was hugely dissapointing, but hey ho, we didn’t really spend much time there.
If you are ever down this way, bear our impressions in mind – it’s a thin line to cross between nostalgic elegance and tiredness and being a bit outdated.
Riverside
We set out to walk down to the River, and found an amazing waterfront location filled with buzzy bars, cool restaurants, and a view of two bridges over the Brisbane River – The Story Bridge and the newer pedestrian one, The Kangaroo Point Bridge. At night they were both lit up, and with the office and apartments behind, and the bridges in front, it was brilliant.
We stopped off for a couple of drinks, before getting a table at a Greek restaurant, Opa, overlooking the river. The boats passing also seem so close as the river level is not much below the promenade.
On Thursday we decided to walk across the bridges, both of them. We started with Kangaroo Point Bridge, and wended our way around to walk up the stairs onto the Story Bridge, whose end point is, conveniently, a water front bar, Felons. It was huge, and that’s an understatement. We googled it, and it can seat 424 with a further 800 standing !! Steve mentioned that with the Brisbane Ashes test match finishing just a few months ago, he could imagine the Barmy Army descending on the place, taking it over and there being a raucous time had by all.
The concierge at our hotel had previously mentioned we should get one of their ferries, they only cost 50 cents/25 pence (Sadiq take note), so at Felons we hopped on a ferry back to near our hotel and wandered back to get changed for the evening.
We had a lovely dinner riverside at Tillermans Seafood Restaurant, and it was at this point that Nikki said she really couldn’t recall why she didn’t like Brisbane back in the 80’s, and we both agreed it was one of our favourite places in Oz, we will have to come back. If you like nostalgia, the Royal is in an ideal location but if you prefer something more modern, have a look around but stay close.
Hamish Says
It is safe to say that we were totally blown away by Brisbane. Due to Nikki previous visits, which she freely admits she cannot remember, our expectations were very low. In truth we found it both buzzy and interesting, everyone was so friendly, even those that hailed from the UK and should know better.
In fact we agreed Brisbane was probably one of our favourites places on our entire trip, and would highly recommend if you are thinking of a trip to Australia. Steve felt another couple of nights there would have been great as it felt like we only scratched the surface.
What's Next
Not only are we leaving Brisbane, the time has come to say farewell to Australia. We have come to the end of our Australia tour and have had the most amazing time.
Perth was laid back with lovely weather; Sydney had eveything a big city should have and it was great to walk the bridge, take in an opera and visit the famous beaches.
Our East coast drive had so many highlights, and every location we mostly found lots to delight, with only the occasional disappointment. But what else can you expect?
The only downer was the weather which, in some cases, even locals said was unusual. However, we have seen more than enough sunshine to take on a bit of colour and, at the end of the day, an adventure wouldn’t be an adventure if everything went to plan.
From Brisbane airport we have a comparatively short hop to Christchurch in New Zealand where we pick up another hire car to spend 10 days in the South Island. Our flight should be interesting as we are booked business class, mainly because of our luggage, and we will see how this is delivered on a 737! We doubt Emirates style flat beds will be on offer.