It's that time of year again when the weather turns warmer, sculptures spring up at Currumbin Beach, and the Brisbane Festival lights up the city. We headed to the coast before dawn to catch the Swell sculptures before the crowds hit and while the early morning light provided a glowing backdrop. |
.As always, the sculptures were diverse and interesting. After our fill of beach art we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the Surf Lifesaving Club and headed home for a nana nap before our evening outing to see Lightscape, a Brisbane Festival event in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. The lightworks follow a two kilometre path through light, colour and sounds, showcasing the gardens under a night sky.. It took us a couple of hours to wander through and soak it all in.
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Feeling relaxed we moved to the next port of call, a hidden place of serenity about 10 kilometres on. The Marian Valley Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians is quite a mouthful to say and consists of many beautiful chapels, a monastery, a retreat centre set in beautiful grounds.
After our Catholic encounter we moved on to the next location which was just as spiritual for us - a bushwalking along the Clagiraba Creek trail. We parked at the end of Bellis Road and walked along a well signposted and clear track in the subtropical rain forest. The creek crossings were all dry, so we were able to cross without removing our shoes. We stopped at one of the crossings for a picnic lunch and completed the walk well fed. We made one final stop before heading home. We finished the cupcakes with a cuppa at Hinze Dam. It was a most interesting day of enjoyable variety.
We hadn't been in the bush for a while, so we were happy to tackle the Somerset Trail this week. A bonus was that all seven of us were present. The Somerset Trail is in the North D'Aguilar section of D'Aguilar National Park, about 70km from the city of Brisbane. We began with morning tea at the day use area at the Gantry, once the site of a thriving timber sawmill. Then off we headed. The track winds through lush rainforest, scribbly gum forest, montane heath and piccabeen palm groves. It is well sign posted and fairly easy to traverse, with numerous slight inclines and dips. Half way along we rested at a lookout and enjoyed sweeping views across to Somerset Dam and Wivenhoe Dam in the far-off distance. We completed the 14 kilometre walk quite exhausted, but recovered over a picnic lunch back at the Gantry. Spectacular views . . .
Today was (as usual) a pleasant combination of eating and hiking. We began at Margot's with a delicious morning tea, followed by an 11 kilometre hike along the Brisbane River towards the city. The special of the month for lunch at the Fat Noodle completed the day.
Today was full of brilliant colour, from the blue skies above to the gardens below. Even our food spoke of colour.
The turn to Mt Coot-tha is a very tricky one, and when we finally all arrived after slight detours, the day was a relaxing one. It was more of an amble than a hike, but enjoyable in every way. A catch up over morning tea with the returning overseas travellers preceded our walk today. Then we covered a leisurely 10 kilometres wandering around Windaroo. These sunny winter days are so beautiful.
Sunnybank has many lovely connecting parks, so on a beautiful sunny winter's day, Sunnybank was a good choice for a walk. We began with coffee at a great little pop-up coffee van in Yimbun Park, then followed winding pathways through other parks such as Conondale and Yugarapul, where little bridges crossed little creeks and autumn coloured leaves littered the ground under shedding trees.
This week we did several smaller walks in areas we have not been to before. We first traveled to Purga Nature Reserve, a 140 hectare area of national significance as one of the last stands of critically endangered Swamp Tea-tree. We followed some lovely pathways, including the boardwalk, but despite signs of kangaroos and koalas, we didn't actually see any. It was very peaceful as we were the only ones there. Like Eagleby Wetlands, which we visited last week, these wetlands are also dry at the moment. The reserve has toilets, drinking water and picnic facilities, which we made use of before heading to Denmark Hill Conservation Reserve. a nature refuge in the heart of Ipswich. The 11 hectare site was established as a reserve in the 1880s, and more recently consolidated into Ipswich City Council’s Enviroplan conservation network. It sits above closed-off mine tunnels, with part of the walking trails following the former coal-skip tramway. We followed several bushwalk loops, after eventually finding the day use entrance at Quarry St.. This spot also had plenty of picnic facilities and nature-based playground. It was lovely to discover some new walking trails, and of course the winter weather is perfect for hiking now. We plan to return soon to visit a few more nature areas in the district.
Sadly, the Eagleby Wetlands have turned into dry lands. Hopefully they will replenish in the next big wet, but who knows when that might be. We still enjoyed our early morning hike in the area and managed to cover 9 kilometres before stopping for coffee at the Historical Village cafe. Today we went on a door hunt through Brisbane's streets and laneways. We missed a few, but found a nice batch of tiny doors hiding out in Fish Lane (South Brisbane), Burnett Lane (Brisbane's oldest lane dating back to convict days), and Bakery Lane and Winn Lane (in the Valley). We also found one hiding out in the Art Gallery at Southbank. Behind this door are some cute mice. Some doors open to reveal a QR code, that plays a behind-the-scenes film with the artist who created them. The miniature attractions are by artist Mace Robertson, who says there are so many doors, he cannot remember how many he has installed. Robertson was inspired to create the series after spotting the global “fairy doors” phenomenon, a so-called “magical portal between” our world and the fairy realm usually found at the base of a tree trunk overseas. Living with husband at Mt Julian Taking a closer look . . . Of course we stumbled upon plenty of other interesting art pieces around the streets as we searched for the doors. The Blu Art Xinja's small, sculptural pieces that are placed in out of the way locations popped up in some of the laneways. Hanging out with the locals . . . It really was a fun outing and we covered over nine kilometres on our hunt. Brisbane's lanes are becoming more lively and more interesting these days, not only with art works, but also with cafes. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of soup and sandwiches in Winn Lane to complete a perfect day out.
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