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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
south-east 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
dialling 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
a field have a courtesy bus which will pick you up
from the Transit Centre.
Pick-up 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 south-side 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 Shandon 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 pick-up 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 pick-up 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.
Some
of the places
that are convenient for Araucaria Ecotours to
pick up from (or at least nearby) include:
- West
End Apartments – very 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.
- Sapphire
Resort – a little further up the road
from West End Apartments, mid-range
accommodation (cheaper than West End
Apartments), and has its own Asian restaurant
and cafe but will be closed for a while in
2017 for renovations.
- Brisbane
Backpackers - or Somewhere-to-Stay
– hostels in West End south of the river. Easy
walk to ethnic cafes bookshops public
transport etc. Both have double or twin rooms
as well as dormitories.
- Hotel
Jen (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.
- Base
Backpackers Brisbane Uptown (formerly
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 at the pickup point as shown above, as
this hostel is opposite the Transit Centre).
- Abbey
on Roma. Also just across the road from
the Transit Centre so again we ask you to
cross the road and meet us at the pickup point
as shown above
- City
Edge Brisbane (formerly Explorer’s Inn)
– one of 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 pick-up point by Hotel
Jen (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. No longer so easy to pick up from
but it's just a 5 minute walk to our usual
pickup point at the Brisbane Transit Cenntre
(Hotel Jen end ) or we can arrange to meet you
at a nearby corner
- 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 travelling 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 south-side – 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.
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 (e.g. with Mirimar
Cruises) down Brisbane River past a
large fruitbat colony to this wildlife
sanctuary with many koalas, a platypus,
friendly kangaroos and other wildlife.
- Brisbane
by Bicycle. Join an interpretive cycling
tour to interesting places in the city
- 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
stretching 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), south-side
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 shuttle bus) to spend a day at
Steve Irwin's Australia
Zoo
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