The Hungry Hikers split again this week - some went camping down into NSW and some of us held the fort here and decided to roam around Brisbane as there is always something new to discover. We weren't disappointed. Brisbane is as colourful as ever, especially with summer and Christmas just around the corner. We began with coffee at Southbank, then crossed the bridge to enjoy sampling the delights of the Jan Powers Farmers Market. Next it was a stroll past the Myers Christmas window decorations (sadly, so politically correct we couldn't find Christmas) and on to King George Square where the giant Christmas tree is on its way up. Next door to the bunker, the Albert Street Uniting Church, nestled amid modern high rise buildings, provided us with a quiet moment as we admired its beautiful interior. Next it was time for some more serious exercise, after all, we are supposed to be a hiking group. Up Jacob's ladder we climbed to Wickham Terrace where we admired the Old Mill before strolling back through the green peaceful King Edward Park to the city below. By now the temperature was quite warm, so it was lovely to make it to the river where there was a cool breeze blowing off the water. We followed it from the Botanic Gardens to the new riverside precinct being developed at the Howard Smith Wharves under the Story Bridge. It is close to completion and looks very inviting. By now we were famished, so we made a stop at one of our favourite riverside restaurants, the Jade Buddha. Burgers and a beer by the Brissy River - now that is living. We lingered over lunch, enjoying the breeze and view, before our final trek back along the river, through the Botanic Gardens and across the Goodwill Bridge to catch a train home. We had packed a lot in today, so it wasn't surprising we notched up double digits in our kilometre count. It was so worth it though. Brisbane is beautiful.
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First we met at Joc's for morning tea, then took the cross river ferry from Norman Park to New Farm Park, where we enjoyed the flowers and scents before wandering the streets and walking along the boardwalk. Having worked up an appetite (surprise, surprise), we had a delicious lunch at the Merthyr Bowls Club before strolling back to the ferry.
We skirted Toombul shopping centre, which was opened in 1967 and the first shopping centre built in Queensland with air-conditioning. Fortunately today's temperatures didn't demand air-conditioning. It was was a pleasant spring day made for walking. ‘Nundah’ is believed to come from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘a chain of waterholes’. It was first settled by Europeans in the mid-19th century, although the suburb remained primarily a rural area until it was connected to Brisbane via railway in the 1880s. The first permanent European settlement in the area was a mission built in 1838 by German Lutheran missionaries.
Leaving the cemetery, we wound our way through streets, passing a number of historic buildings, parks, memorials, interesting art work, and lovely old Queenslanders. For those interested, a great guide is provided by the Brisbane City Council. Click here to view it.
Our meeting point for this week's walk was King George Square, which turned out to be a fine place to start the day. A fund raising event to support the strawberry farmers was underway with strawberry sundaes for sale. The sundaes have never gone beyond the Ekka showgrounds before this, so there was great excitement about. Of course we had to do our bit to help the farmers and in the process had a few minutes of fame on radio and TV. We heard later that by mid-afternoon on Wednesday, the pop-up stall organised by the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation in Brisbane's King George Square had sold out of sundaes, selling more than 14,000, and using up 700 kilograms of strawberries. For my overseas friends, who may not have heard, our strawberry industry has been sabotaged by some, as yet, unknown *%#*. Numerous punnets of strawberries, have been found to be contaminated with needles, but the public have been most responsive in getting behind the farmers. ‘Cut them up, don’t cut them out’, has been a slogan people are taking to heart. After ice-cream we began our city walk and headed first to the Roma Street Parklands to enjoy the spring blooms. Then it was on to Paddington to enjoy some city views, some lovely old Queensland homes, quaint shops and interesting art galleries. Paddington is located on a number of steep ridges and hills. It was settled in the 1860s and many original and distinctive Queenslander homes line the streets. Quite a few have been converted to shops or art galleries. After lunch we walked back to the city via the Suncorp Stadium and through the Barracks, peeking into a few dress shops on the way and posing with heroes or as heroes. All in all, those leisurely 10 kilometres we clocked up today were most enjoyable.
March is a big month for birthdays for our little gang of hikers, so we decided to combine a city walk with a lunch to celebrate. But first ... coffee ... and cake of course. We had organised to meet a Brisbane Greeter for a guided tour of Fish Lane and West End, but as they called in sick we made our own way around the sights and enjoyed a day filled with an abundance of vibrant street art and public installations. Fish Lane is one of Brisbane City Council’s Vibrant Laneway Projects. We entered via Grey Street across from the Queensland Museum, Cultural Centre and Performing Arts Centre at South Brisbane. The eclectic lane stretches along six blocks where shops, cafes and bars have been skilfully set up in some of the most minute nooks between and underneath the surrounding buildings. Interestingly, Fish Lane has no relation to fish or seafood. It was originally called Soda Water Lane until it was rechristened Fish Lane in 1904 after a South Brisbane Alderman. Since then, the lane has seen many restaurants, cafes and bars come and go and get renovated and change names. The ever-adapting laneway is now home to some of the most popular bars and restaurants in South Brisbane. The Fish Lane website describes the lane surface as follows: Crafted by Elizabeth Woods and Kevin Leong, individual scales intertwine to form a flowing river – a play on the laneway’s moniker. Unlike large-scale public spaces, crammed with crowds and stilted displays, a laneway has rhythm; a chance to flow, to lead its guests on a journey, much like the river this work embodies. As well as an array of bars and restaurants, the street art was wonderfully entertaining. Leaving Fish Lane, we explored more street art in West End. West End is a lively mixture of cultures, often described as the bohemian heart of Brisbane. It has a quirky local style with a variety of multicultural, alternative and vintage shops, not to mention more amazing street art. To complete our morning's hike we made a quick stop at the museum to check out the dinosaurs, wandered through the Jan Powers Farmers Market to check out the food, and then strolled through the City Botanic Gardens on our way to dine at George's on the river. All in all, a great morning that worked up a healthy appetite. Happy birthday to our Hungry Hiker birthday girls and Happy Easter to all who follow us.
Our plans to walk in Toohey Forest today were squashed by heavy rain, but being the intrepid, resourceful hikers that we are, we hiked indoors instead. A few rounds of Garden City Shopping Centre allowed us to clock up a few kilometres, as well as do some window shopping and more. Then we fed fed the hunger at one of the outdoor undercover restaurants. All in all, an excellent Plan B.
Down to only three hikers this week, but we still seized the day and took an art focus for this week's outing. We began with coffee in the city after a stroll around the Jan Powers Farmers Markets to select a tasty morsel for morning tea. Then it was a hike over the Kurilpa Bridge to the Queensland Art Gallery, where we joined a free tour of a Picasso exhibition highlights. Pablo Picasso's 'Vollard Suite' is a set of 100 etchings, engravings and aquatints created by the artist in the 1930s and named after Ambroise Vollard, his sometime art dealer and publisher. The exhibition is on until the 15 April and tours are available at 11 am each day. Another display in the gallery at present is on Thai art of the 1990s. I found this particularly interesting as we spent a great deal of time there in the early 90s. Kamin Lertchaiprasert’s 'Problem - Wisdom' made of papier mâché (from recycled Thai newspapers) was especially fascinating. After we had our fill of the art gallery we again crossed the river, this time via the Go Between Bridge. We followed the river towards Toowong, enjoying more art on the way, mostly on bridge pylons. By now it was very warm, so we took a ferry to the University of Qld before crossing the river yet again, this time via the Eleanor Schonell Bridge.. We had a late lunch at one of our favourite cafes - Cafe 63 - and were pleasantly surprised to discover that Margot had been carrying a bottle of wine and a heavy block of ice to keep it chilled in her backpack all day. The commitment of this hiker is truly astounding. This went down a treat with lunch, but made the final few kilometres back home hard to hike. All in all, we felt 14 kilometres a worthy effort for the day.
This week we revisited Brisbane, but in a new way. We joined the actors of Playabout Productions for a walk around Brisbane Powerhouse as they told the story of Brisbane through words of local writers. Helen and I took a rivercat to New Farm and joined the others at the Powerhouse. The river was lovely as usual, and the walk through New Farm Park was ablaze with the colour of jacarandas, roses and other glorious blooms.
An imposing 'flood' sculpture outside the WATT was erected to commemorate and show the height of the 1974 flood waters. Titled 'Watermark', it was partially submerged by the 2011 flood. The performance of The Story of Brisbane was a true gem. The two artists brought to life the history of our city through some great poems, songs and prose from local authors such as Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), Steele Rudd, John Burmingham, David Malouf and many more. All this was done in various settings as we walked around the Powerhouse and by the river. This performance is given weekly, on Wednesdays at 10am and tickets cost $30. We walked it, lived it and loved it, and would highly recommend the show to locals and visitors alike to our beautiful city. After the performance we walked along the boardwalk through Teneriffe, enjoying more of our beautiful river and purple blooms, before catching a cross-river ferry to Bulimba where fine a Greek lunch awaited us in Oxford Street. Not a long hike today, but a most enjoyable one that satisfied a variety of hungers, with a taste of local culture being the icing on our cake.
Some celebrations were on order this week - a birthday for Jocelyn and a new grandson for Helen - so we planned our walk around one of our favourite restaurants in Brisbane, George's Paragon on the river. We did actually clock up a few kilometres walking along the river at Southbank, sampling some wares at the Wednesday Jan Powers Farmers Markets, checking out the Cube at QUT, then strolling through the Botanic Gardens and following the river to Eagle Street where George awaited us. Some days are meant for city hiking and restaurant dining. After all, we are not called the Hungry Hikers for no reason. This week, although choosing a city walk, the Hungry Hikers tackled a variety of terrains - parklands, knolls, riverside paths, and even stepped pyramids and underground carparks - all in the city of Ipswich. The city of Ipswich was established in 1827 as a convict out-station to quarry limestone. The convict era ended in 1839 and free settlers began to arrive in 1842. Ipswich became a busy port on the Bremer River and grew in importance because of its coal mines and railways. The city’s heritage register includes almost 2,000 places including: houses, halls, shops and churches, so we were looking forward to finding a few of these. Our first stop was Cunningham's Knoll, where a monument commemorates Allan Cunningham, an explorer and botanist, who visited Ipswich several times. Then it was on to enjoy some of Ipswich's lovely gardens and buildings.
After exploring Ipswich, we drove to the nearby Kholo Botanical Gardens and enjoyed a late picnic lunch, followed by a walk through the gardens and along the Coal Creek Walk. Formerly the site of a water pumping station, Kholo Gardens offers lush gardens, a crystal clear lily pond, bush walks and open spaces. Giant Kauri trees and Hoop Pines planted by early settlers, rare birds and plants, and the nearby Brisbane River all make this a lovely place to spend some time. This was a perfect finale to another great day out hiking.
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