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Brisbane, capital of
Queensland, Australia
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Brisbane
has
‘grown up’ since Expo 88, from what used to feel like an overgrown
country town to a far more sophisticated city of ethnic variety
and attractive landscaping. It is the state capital,
located in the southeast corner of Queensland, approximately a one-hour
journey by train or car from the Gold Coast.
Southbank Parklands (pictured to the right) provide a pleasant area for
families to spend a bit of time, a marketplace, and many restaurants
(including the Ship Inn, with delicious meals including vegan and
gluten-free, and using only free-range meats and sustainably-harvested
fish). The Botanic Gardens, Queensland Museum, Brisbane Museum, the
river (which you can stroll beside or ride down on the City Cat, or on
a ferry to a koala sanctuary) and the main shopping mall (Queen Street)
combine to make it a city worth spending a bit of time in. See Things
to do in
Brisbane
Wildlife
in the City
Brisbane's
diversity of natural
habitats and wildlife (e.g. more koalas and lizards than any other
capital) is show-cased in ‘Wildlife of Greater Brisbane’ published by
the Queensland
Museum - a small book but packed with information on mammals, birds,
frogs, insects, molluscs etc. and available in most book stores.
Lonely Planet dubbed Brisbane "Koala City" some years ago because its
has more wild koalas in the city limits than any other city.
There
are more lizard species than any other Australian capital (although
Perth is a close second) and it has been said it probably has one of
the highest diversities of frog species in the world for a city.
Eastern water dragons stroll around Southbank Parklands and other
venues. Wallabies are common in large bushland remnants, as are many
bushland birds. Even in the CBD and inner suburbs you will see rainbow
lorikeets, kookaburras and large birds such as ibis and brush turkeys.
At night thousands of fruitbats may be seen flying overhead in their
nightly search for fruit and nectar.
Climate
and
weather
Brisbane
has a subtropical
climate (the official tropics start halfway up the Queensland coast, at
Rockhampton). Summer days can be
hot, but not
as overwhelmingly or consistently hot as some parts of the tropics, and
there
are many
lovely warm summer evenings to enjoy. Occasional summer nights are
uncomfortably hot if you are without fans or air-conditioning,
especially if there are storms brewing, but
there are cool green mountain forests to escape to within a
short drive or bus ride. In winter the days are usually
pleasantly warm or mild, and although
nights can be cold they are very
rarely sub-zero.
Rainfall follows the tropical pattern of relatively wet summers and dry
winters. This usually means a wealth of sunny days and clear starry
skies in
winter, interspersed with a few wet days now and then. Rain in summer
does not come every day, nor does it usually last all day. If you
experience a few rainy days, remember that without them we couldn’t
have our wonderful rainforests. At times there will be spectacular
electric storms, strong winds and flooding rains, but we don't have
the cyclones that sometimes strike the northern coasts.
Weather
forecasts can always be checked by dialing 1196.
How
to
Get To Brisbane, where to stay, and where to meet Araucaria Ecotours
Getting
there and accommodation, and how to connect with Araucaria Ecotours
Brisbane
has both a domestic and an
international airport. From either of these you can catch an air-train
to the
Brisbane Transit Centre on Roma Street, or a taxi to your
accommodation.
You can also take a bus or train from Cairns, Sydney, or other cities
and large towns. All long-distance buses
and trains arrive at the Brisbane Transit Centre on Roma Street.
There are a number of hotels and hostels close to
the Transit Centre, which itself is just a few minutes’ walk to the
main shopping area of Brisbane (Queen Street Mall) or across the bridge
to Southbank and the Culture Centre (museum, library, art gallery and
performing arts).
Some
hostels further afield have a courtesy bus which will pick you up from
the
Transit Centre.
Pickup
by Araucaria: Brisbane Transit Centre or your accommodation
At
the
start of extended tours, Araucaria Ecotours can pick you
up from the door of
your accommodation in the city or some southside suburbs.
 If you are
staying further afield we ask that you meet us at the small
parking bay on Roma Street next to the Holiday Inn (which is in the
same building as the Brisbane Transit Centre), across the road from Tin
Billy
Hostel and Transcontinental Hotel. It is a short walk from many other
hotels (Explorers Inn, Ibis and others) hostels (City YHA, Yellow
Submarine and others and guest-houses (Annie's Shanon Inn and others).
Day-tour guests
We
prefer to pick up everyone from
the Brisbane Transit Centre on day-tours so that we can quickly
get out of city
traffic and into the areas we wish to visit.
However,
if you are coming on a day-tour and may have difficulty reaching the
pickup point on Roma St let us know and we can often pick you up from
your accommodation or elsewhere
Pickup from airport
With prior arrangement, if it does not clash with the interests of
other guests, we can pick you up from the airport on the morning of
your tour. We charge an additional $44.00 (which can be shared
between guests) on standard tours for this service and it is built into
our charges for custom tours. However we generally advise that you
arrive at least the day
before to get some rest after your journey, as the first day of our
extended tours can be tiring if you have not slept well the night
before, and other guests for the day may not wish to miss out on seeing
kangaroos etc. so that you can arrive early at your tour accommodation.
An airport pickup also delays the escape from city traffic to
forest. Brisbane has plenty of
attractions worth spending some time exploring (see the end of this
page).
Self-drives
If you have a hire vehicle or your own car, we may be able to arrange
to leave
your car parked in the area we normally leave our tour vehicle (in the
southern inner city suburb of Yeronga) if you
can meet us there on the morning of your tour.
Places
convenient for Araucaria Ecotours to pick up from include:
- West
End
Apartments – close to a row of ethnic restaurants (Vietnamese,
Lebanese, Thai, Greek, Mexican ….) 5 minutes walk to Queensland Museum,
10 minutes walk to Southbank., 20 minutes walk (across bridge) to city.
Easy to pick you up from the door.
- Sapphire
Resort – a little further up the road from West End Apartments,
mid-range accommodation, and has its own Asian restaurant and cafe.
Easy to pick you up
from the door.
- Brisbane
Backpackers - or Somewhere-to-Stay – hostels in West End
- Holiday
Inn (adjacent to the Transit Centre, in same building) - we can pick
you
up at the door, and it is an easy walk to main shopping district. A
good choice if
you are catching the air train to or from the airport, as it leaves
from the same building – also if you are catching a train to Australia
Zoo or the Gold Coast or ore distant locations such as Cairns or Sydney.
- Tin
Billy
Hostel – very handy to public transport and easy walk to main shopping
district ( we ask you to cross the road to meet us, as this is opposite
the Transit Centre).
- Explorer’s
Inn – probably the best value-for-money hotel in Brisbane if not
wanting ‘frills’, very central and with its own restaurant. Rooms are a
bit small and we can’t legally park outside, but if you don’t have
loads of heavy luggage you can meet us under the bridge just down the
road or at our usual pickup point by Holiday Inn (5 minute walk)
- Brisbane
Hilton – in the heart of Brisbane’s main shopping area
- Royal
on the Park (which has been implementing some new environmental moves),
Quay West and Stamford Plaza are all upmarket hotels near the Botanic
Gardens and Brisbane River (short walk to city centre, and across the
Goodwill Bridge to Southbank). Easy to pick up from the door
- Sofitel
–
adjacent to Central Station and a short walk to Brisbane’s main
shopping area
- Ibis
Hotel - about mid-way between shopping mall and Brisbane Transit
Centre, and easy walk to Southbank
- Robertson
Gardens Comfort Inn Motel – a bit isolated from shops etc. (it has its
own restaurant, mid-range prices), in the suburbs but across the
(rather busy) road from Toohey Forest which surrounds two Griffith
University campuses, so you can easily take a stroll before breakfast
looking
for birds
- Close
to Transit Centre but not quite as convenient (narrow, crowded road
with few parking options): Chill
Backpackers, Brisbane YHA and various other hostels on Upper Roma
Street in
the city. If you are traveling light, we appreciate you walking down to
the Transit Centre and meeting us there. If you have too much luggage
for this, we can meet you at the door, but often cannot park easily, so
it is important to be out the front ready to board fairly quickly.
We can also pick up from most other places in the city and southside –
some are just a bit more awkward than others when traffic is heavy
(e.g. Bunk), and
a few have nowhere at all to park (e.g. Explorer's Inn), meaning we
have to meet you a little way
down the road.
If you wish, we can book you into a hostel, hotel or
guesthouse (B&B) for the nights just before and after your tour.
Dropping
our guests off at their accommodation is never a problem
unless they are staying some distance out of the city, in which case we
can take you to a taxi stand or public transport – we will not leave
you stranded in the dark at the end of a tour (we’ve had that happen to
us more than once after tours).
 Things
to Do in Brisbane
- Botanic
Gardens – there are two Gardens: one in the city just a few
blocks from Queen
Street Mall and another – after a bus-ride from Adelaide St – at Mt
Cootha.
- Sir
Thomas
Brisbane Planetarium (at Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens) – ask what special
shows are screening.
- Southbank
Parklands – just across the river from the city centre (an easy walk)
and close to the city’s main museum, library and art gallery. Swimming,
markets, restaurants, gardens.
- Queensland
Museum – close to Southbank, and an easy walk from the city centre.
Marine and terrestrial wildlife, fossils, history, physics.
- Lone
Pine
Sanctuary – ride a ferry down Brisbane River past a large fruitbat
colony to this wildlife sanctuary with many koalas, a platypus,
friendly kangaroos and other wildlife.
- City
Cat - riding this ferry down
the river is one way of exploring,
hopping on and
off at various points or just relaxing and enjoying the ride
(especially at night, with reflections of a variety of lights in the
water).
- Rock-climbing
or
kayaking
with
RiverLife
at
Kangaroo Point, or climb the Story Bridge
across the Brisbane River.
- Fortitude
Valley and Chinatown – many
Asian restaurants and shops, weekend
markets.
- Many
good
restaurants are
scattered throughout Brisbane – Mediterranean, Asian,
seafood, vegetarian, and more. We especially like the cluster of ethnic
restaurants around West End (Australian, all-you-can-eat sushi, Thai,
Vietnamese, Lebanese, Greek, Mexican, others), southside of the river
(20 minute walk from CBD)., and the Ship Inn near the southern end of
Southbank Parklands (great-tasting meals and coffee, free-range pork,
chicken and other meats, vegan and gluten-free meals). Even the fast
food court under
the Myer Centre on Queen Street Mall has some interesting lunches,
including Vegerama with gluten-free vegetarian options.
- Heading
out of town for the day. Catch a train to
Varsity Lakes and a connecting bus to Currumbin (frequent
departures throughout the day) to spend a day at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary or a train to
Beerwah (with connecting shuttlebus) to spend a day at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo
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