Hello everyone,
Last month I travelled to Brisbane for the weekend to watch a football match. You can read about the amazing event here.
Of course I couldn't miss the opportunity to go for a walk around the city even in the short period that I was there. Brisbane is my favourite city in Australia, I lived there in 2 different periods of my life, in 2012 then in 2015. I just love the energy of this place and was happy to visit it again after a long time. Since I went there for an event, I didn't have many free hours to see much of the city. But I did find time to visit 2 of my favourite spots there.
My first visit was to Southbank, just across the river from the city centre. Southbank is the cultural and entertainment hub of Brisbane. There you can find Art Galleries, Museums, Theatres and of course some amazing Restaurants too. There you can also find the wheel where you can have a nice view of the city.
Since my last visit, there were some changes here. The new sign with the name of the city is a great spot for tourists to take a photo. Obviously I had to take one too. I am terrible at taking selfies, but I keep trying. 😄
This sign is beautiful and the city in the background makes the photos look even better.
What I like most about Southbank is to just walk around the park. It gives a feeling of relaxation even though you are in the middle of the city. It has a big green area and lots of places for people to have picnics and also do exercises. There is also a barbecue area with plenty of spots to have your social events.
The entry to the park area has this amazing arches covered in flowers.
There you will also find a few lovely little gardens spread around the park.
They have this artificial beach in the middle of the park that gets quite busy during the summer. I used to go there sometimes on the weekends while living there since going to the actual beach was a longer trip. Unfortunately, my visit this time was in the middle of winter, which is when they do the maintenance of the pools. So you can only see the sand on the photo. 😕
Of course, I also had to stop to eat something. Needed to recharge my energy to enjoy my walk. Since I got there early morning, I got myself a nice breakfast. Eggs and bacon is always a great combo.
And I could not miss the opportunity to visit Max Brenner while there. This is an amazing chocolate bar chain with a few stores around Australia. Sadly, we don't have one in Perth so whenever I'm in the east coast, I try to visit it.
I had a delicious waffle with fruits there.
On Sunday I went to Roma Park, another gorgeous park close to the city centre. Different from Southbank that has a big focus on the cultural aspect, Roma Park main focus is the green area. There we find a nice area for picnics and barbecues surrounded by gardens and a mini forest.
All around the park we will find some type of water source, like this wall of water at the entrance. Seeing so much water around gives a nice refreshing feeling, especially when one is walking under the midday sun of tropical Brisbane. Even in the middle of winter, the temperatures during the day can get quite high.
I love walking around the gardens when I'm in this park. They take such a good care of the plants there that it's always looking like a tv comercial. It's incredible. I'm from a small town in Brazil, so it's not usual for me to see public places so well cared for.
The whole garden is cut through by these little streams of water. They make the paths even more beautiful.
I loved these plants that look like a dyed lettuce. The arrangement of the two different colours looks amazing.
They also make cute sculptures of the plants. It looks like Edward Scissorhands stopped by Roma Park.
I find it incredible that they build these huge parks in the middle of city. It feels like a breath of fresh air amid the chaos.
While strolling around the gardens, be careful to not step on the local residents. They are not shy and always come to greet the visitors.
When you get tired, you can get some rest in this cute little spot. I had to sit there for a while because I did a lot of walking in the short amount of time that I stayed there.
I was quite surprised to find this plant here. It takes me back to my childhood. My grandmother used to have many little pots of this plant at home. She had them in a few different colours. The white one with purple stripes was gorgeous. I only saw the purple one at the garden. Not sure if they have the other colours here in Australia.
The garden is on higher grounds than the rest of the park and from there we can have a stunning view of the lake that sits in the middle of the barbecue and picnic area.
I am glad that I made the decision to go on this trip. It was a last minute thing and it turned out a great experience. It is amazing how some trips can make such a difference in our lives. Even short ones can have a big impact in our mood and contentment. I certainly came back home with renewed energy.
Thanks for reading.
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All the photos were taken by me with my phone
