After such an amazing time in Sydney we were unsure as to whether any other city on our trip could beat it, but just from looking out of the window on the plane as we descended into Brisbane I immediately knew I was going to love it even more than Sydney.
Brisbane honestly has everything you want in a city. you’ve got a beautiful skyline right in the heart of it, filled with bars, restaurants, cafés and shops. If you fancy going to the beach you’ve got the Sunshine Coast north of you and the Gold Coast south, with loads of National and Conservational Parks in the middle which is perfect if you want to go on a hike, get closer to nature, or just escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
One of the best things about Brisbane for me was the free (yes free!) public swimming pools a ten minute walk away from the city centre on the Southbank. There’s a normal swimming pool as well as a fake beach with sand which we avoided due to the fear of sandy feet. We went here every single day to cool down from the 40 degree heat that we weren’t yet adapted to (it turns out we would never adapt). There was also a really great bar/restaurant overlooking the pools and there are cheap lockers you can rent if you are worried about leaving your stuff unattended which was very handy.
Ok so one of the best days of my life was spent at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We got the bus from the CBD in the centre and it took about 40 minutes to get there. I honestly can’t put into words how much fun I had here. I got to hug koalas, feed kangaroos and wallabies, and see loads of other cool wildlife like platypus, dingoes, and a cassowary (though I was terrified at the sight of it!).
Brisbane is just as lively at night as it is during the day. The whole city lights up, and not just the ferris wheel across the river. The city’s trees around the Southbank are also illuminated with fairy lights. It was little touches like that made me fall in love with the city.
One of the quirkiest things I noticed about Brisbane was oddly its traffic signal boxes spread throughout the city. I learned that artists submit a design to the council and then ones it is approved they are allowed to design their own traffic box. I though this was such a cool idea and a great yet subtle way to add some more vibrance to the city. There are around 1,200 boxes so only need to walk around for a a few minutes to find one! See my favourites below:
If you’re like me and you can’t get enough of street art, walk around Fortitude Valley and you’ll find loads of cool murals.
On our final day we decided to walk up Mount Coot-Tha for a panoramic view of the city from the outskirts. We started off by going to the botanical gardens which is located at the bottom of Mount Coot-Tha and one stop on the bus earlier than the summit. We got lost about 15 minutes after we left the botanical gardens so ended up walking back to the bus stop and just getting the bus to the summit. I certainly couldn’t have handled walking up a mountain in that heat so it worked in my favour!
Wanderluce 