St George Bank Surfers Paradise – Who knew Brisbane was such a cool city? Our fifth stop in Queensland is the massive state capital, the largest city in Queensland and the third largest city in Australia. As far as I knew of Brisbane before I came here, it was just another part of the vast expanse of Australia. Imagine my surprise when a bustling, lively and literate city of 2.3 million people appeared. In fact, in 2015, travel guide Rough Guides named Brisbane one of the ten most beautiful cities in the world, citing its “successful mix of modern high-rises, lush green spaces, Brisbane Baan. Across the centre.” I’m not sure I agree with the top 10 in the world, but it’s a beautiful city.
Brisbane was first settled by Europeans in 1825 when Sydney – itself a penal colony – needed a satellite colony to house repeat offenders. In other words, apples are really bad. The number of prisoners soon reached over 1,000 and were severely punished; while the official maximum number of hits was 50, Captain Logan regularly used a maximum of 150 hits. cruel
St George Bank Surfers Paradise
A high road in front of the Museum of Modern Art took us up into the trees among the flame trees
Find A Branch Or Atm
Brisbane is a vibrant city today, with the meandering Brisbane River running through it, creating countless beautiful communities with different styles and personalities. Needless to say, in four days we only scratched the surface of everything Brisbane has to offer.
What does it offer? Besides walking along the river, which in itself is a great way to kill time, two highlights for me are the city’s botanical gardens and the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Oh, and a great (and cheap) Greek restaurant.
As we left Brisbane, I was amazed that we had so few beautiful pictures of the city. This photo is from the botanical garden.
The Botanic Gardens is a real gem, with 50 hectares of green space listed on the Queensland Heritage List and a continuous history of horticulture since 1828 with no significant loss of land area or change of use in that time. This has been Queensland’s main park since the 1840s, so it has impressive old trees and more. Of course, thanks to the old beauty of the prisoners; they were the ones who planted the original garden, although probably not entirely voluntarily. As long as you don’t mind the number of bumps that can go into the garden, it’s a world-class place to stroll and then sit and read.
Capral Façade Solutions
After that, the museum of modern art of GOMA, which is a new land for the culture of the city, was opened only 10 years ago. Despite its youth, it is an impressive place. It’s a perfect mix of focus on Aboriginal art as well as some far-flung works. Additionally, we found the descriptions of the various parts really helpful. The museum is very interested in engaging children and encouraging their participation.
And finally a Greek restaurant. We were surprised that restaurants in New Zealand and Australia are relatively expensive. Imagine our pleasure to find this great Greek bistro in a trendy and lively neighborhood at the lowest price. And, to make it almost perfect, they don’t sell alcohol there at all, probably due to some regional restrictions. However, there is a liquor store not far away that costs $2.00 and they will let you buy wine to bring into the restaurant. So the food there was literally half the cost of what we would have paid for similar quality elsewhere. This is a memory worth keeping!
Here are some of our favorites from GOMA. Created by a Chinese artist (probably a refugee from the Tiananmen massacre) who has been living in Paris since 1989, the snake represents resilience, strength, intelligence and temptation.
Tobias Putrid is a Slovenian artist who created this arch, clearly modeled after the portal arch in St. Louis, out of precisely sized cardboard boxes. The point was to show the paradox of stability and durability of an arch made of cardboard.
Peninsula 21b, Gold Coast
GOMA highlights Aboriginal art, including this pearl necklace by Western Australian tribal elder Aubrey Teagan
Throughout the museum there are places for children to participate. Here they build Lego bricks, while in another part of the installation there are several slides and children line up to experience the art first hand.
Guess I’m surprised that one of Brisbane’s big banks is St George’s Bank. This time, I can use my name in restaurant reservations and people will recognize it immediately.
No fancy art here, but this BYO wine bar from our favorite Greek bistro features some great, affordable food!
