China Town Brisbane and other Brisbane, Australia Things to Do Tips

This is a very popular place for so many people to visit - Saturday morning markets, which start as the clubbers drag themselves home - and both weekend days, you will see plenty of people sitting around the many al fresco restaurants, enjoying a leisurely breakfast, brunch, lunch or whatever! The meeting place for so many different types of people.

Brisbane's China Town area is not large, but there are two mall areas, and plenty of restaurants and Asian shops to make this a great weekend outing place.

Some caution is required in the evenings, due to the presence of crime in this area. The ugly part of the area's diversity.

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This beautiful recreational area covers 17 hectares of parklands in a wider 120 hectare precinct. This side of the river was developed for 1988 Expo, the dream of our then long term Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen. Once the site of pavilions, displays, restaurants and international country showcasing, this is now a beautiful and well used recreational site for locals and visitors - with roughly 5 million people visiting this site every year. The ony remnants of Expo are some of the utility buildings and a pub, and a 2 story pagoda, handcrafted for the event, and left as a gift from the Nepalese people.

The parkland runs for roughly 1km along the south bank of the Brisbane River - and now an attractive arbour runs along the stretch as a colourful bougainvillia covered shelter.

The range of activities are extensive, and I really like the fact that you can use the parklands for such a wide range of activities, and spend little or a lot - making it truly accessible for everyone. You can bring a picnic or BBQ, and guaranteed to find your own secluded spot amongt the meandering grassy areas. You can have a fish and ship or variety of other takeaways, or enjoy a meal in one of the many restaurants dotted throughout the park.

There is a created and extensive beach area, complete with lifeguards, catering to a range of swimming and cooling needs - all adjacent picnic and supervision areas - looking over the Brisbane River and city.

At the southern end of the parklands is the Queensland Maritime Museum - where there are a range of memorabilia from our maritime past, including an old frigate, Diamantina, and steam tug, Forceful.

You can access the parklands from the city by either walking across the Goodwill Bridge or the Victoria Bridge, at either ends of the parklands.

The Queensland Museum, Art Gallery and Performing Arts Complex are also part of the Southbank precinct, access from the Victoria Bridge.

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Building of Brisbane's City Hall was completed in 1930, at the cost of nearly 1,000,000 pounds - and remains the grandest of Australia's city halls. There was a degree of criticism about the expence of the building in Brisbane - a mere outpost in Australia! But it has stood the test of time. Looking over King George Square, the city hall is an impressive and immediately identifiable building in Brisbane. The square hosts many peaceful demonstrations, markets, visiting tent taverns (at the moment), and the buildings facilities are much used by the public of Brisbane.

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This iconic old building and brew date back to 1889 - and XXXX is undoubtedly Queenslander's favourite beer - as the logo goes "good as gold" - despite now being owned by Kiwi giant Lion-Nathan.

As the story goes, two Irishmen - Nicholas and Edward Fitzgerald - drank their way from Castlemain, Victoria to Brisbane, looking for a finer climate and life. They met up with two locals, Donnelly and Qunlan in Brisbane, who shared their passion for an ale. A partnership was born. Subsequently, Donnelly sold his shar to Quinlan, a superior brewer - who then died. His wife took over his share of the business with a new partner, Grey - which was quite a feat for her, as women's right to vote was only granted in 1896! With the Irishmen, this partnership produced the first "lager" in 1897 - and a legend was officially born. It was called XXX at that time, and the 4th X was added in 1916 when the distillery methods were improved!

The brewery has had some rough times, with Alan Bond (failed Australian businessman) taking over for a time, before the current Kiwi acquisition. There was also a time of Japanese takeover, which brought out every war digger in the area to dispute this change of hands!

No matter who owns it - The XXXX symbol and the little man holding up a beer, remain rightfully Queensland in ownership!

There are tours through the brewery, and, funnily enough, I recall being taken on a tour as a school student from the bush, coming to the "big smoke" for a school trip!

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Address: Close to the Milton Railway station.

These expansive gardens are located along the river, alongside the Gardens Point Campus of the Queensland Univeristy of Technology.

The gardens are almost a museum of plants, with specimens of heritage plants through to modern day and exotic species, duck ponds (and ducks) and plenty of shady, private places to sit and enjoy someone's company, read a book or contemplate your next move. You can also sit on benches along the river, and admire many of the moored boats at the Riverside end of the gardens.

There are mangroves along the river, with optional elevated bridge paths through this unique ecosystem to have a closer inspection and smell!

If you are interested, there are guided walks through the gardens leaving from the main Rotunda, opposite the Albert Street gates, which leave at 11.00am and 1.00pm each day except Sunday, and excluding holidays.

Its a great walk from here, through the gardens and across the Goodwill Bridge over to Southbank, if you want to explore further.

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Address: Albert Street, Brisbane

Named after the single hoop pine planted in 1865, beside the souvenir shop and office, this 20 hectare koala sanctuary is the oldest and largestof its kind in the world - accommodating over 130 koalas and 80 other species of Australian animals.

You can cuddle a koala, feed tha kangaroos and wallabies, and get up close with these furry native animals. There are crocodiles, emus (bush chooks!), Tasmanian devil, elusive wombat, frogs, birds, ducks and many other animals to see in this local zoo.

Lone Pine is close to inner Brisbane, and can be accessed by public transport.

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The comfortable sleek city cats operate from 5.30am until 10.30pm - and cruise the Brisbane River, from Bretts Wharf at Hamilton to the University of Queensland at St Lucia. There are 14 stops along the way, including New Farm Park, Kangaroo Point, Queensland University of Technology (inner city), Southbank Parklands, West End and Toowong.

These stops all have interest and attraction to tourists, and this is a nice, relaxing way to see the inner parts of this beautiful city.

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This is a must-visit location in Brisbane. Located 7 kms from the city centre - and accessed by buses which run at 30 minute intervals, it is the single best vantage point of the sprawling city of Brisbane, beyond to Moreton Bay and D'Aguilar Range to the west of the city.

This 220 hectare reserve consists of mountain top natural bushland and wildlife environment. It was originally designated a reserve for the locals to enjoy as far back as 1880, when there was only a shelter and a kiosk there for use.

Now, there is the Kuta Cafe and Giftshop - where you can enjoy takeaway and snacks or the Summit Restaurant. The restaurant hosts functions and is a very high quality eating venue. The views from the restaurant at night are awesome. One memorable meal we enjoyed here was during a fierce storm, and nature's fireworks over the city and lights was beautiful and exciting to watch.

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Newstead means "new guilding or place" in Scottish. It was originally built as a cottage for Scottish immigrant, Patrick Leslie in the Colonial Georgian style. After short time, it was taken over by his brother-in-law, Clements Wickham, Brisbane's first police magistrate. He extended the home into the current "homestead" style, more typical of Victorian archetecture of the later time. This old home has since been home to various judges, politicians, merchant shipowners and more recently, the superintendant of council parks.

In 1939, Newstead House was the subject of ground breaking legislation aimed at the preservation of a building - and the Newstead House Trust was created. Ongoing maintenance and conseration are carried out jointly between the Board of Trustees and the Friends of Newstead group.

Newstead is worth a visit, for its historical significance to Brisbane - and an excellent display of Victorian furnishing and lifestyle in Brisbane at the time. It is located on the Brisbane River, close to Breakfast Creek Hotel, and the manicured lawns and beautiful grounds of this grand old lady justify a visit.

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These authentic paddlesteamers, built via the traditional methods, were built in 1986 and 1988 - and were used extensively throughout the World Expo 88 festivities. They are floating venues for business meetings, conventions, cocktail parties, Xmas parties, weddings and other group functions, or you can book as singles or groups for breakfast, morning and afternoon teas, lunch and dinner.

Enjoy the hospitality Queenslanders are famous for while cruising and dining along the scenic Brisbane River.

The boats depart from Eagle Street Pier in the middle of Brisbane, but can also collect and drop people off at Southbank.

The boats are licensed to carry 350 people each, giving them a wide scope of potential uses.

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