Last weekend I took a very last minute trip to Brisbane, called Brissie by the locals, which is about a 90 minute plane ride north of Sydney in Queensland. I spent two nights in Brisbane in a single room hostel, but basically two full days because my flight landed early. I mainly went to Brisbane because it's the closest bigger city to the Australia Zoo which I also went to during my trip because it was the annual Steve Irwin Day and tons of events were going on at the zoo. So I spent one whole day exploring Brisbane City and my last full day at the zoo. In this post I will go in depth about my short time in Brisbane City and will briefly touch upon my visit to the Australia Zoo. Enjoy!
Sights and Activities
South Bank: South Bank is a nice, sprawling parkland in South Brisbane that has everything from a Ferris wheel, a serene swimming lagoon, multiple museums, and great eateries! It's also simply a nice place to stroll on the promenade that weaves throughout South Bank. It's such a lovely district of Brisbane to spend an afternoon. I found that there was more to do in South Brisbane than Brisbane CBD so most of the places that I visited were actually located here than in CBD.
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art: This is a beautiful space (and FREE!) located in the Arts Precinct of South Brisbane with a wide range of artwork and displays. There's something for everyone here! I'm personally a bigger fan of contemporary work so I was pleased to see work focusing on this in the gallery. Brisbane is also HOT so this was certainly a good place to roam and cool off in.
Queensland Museum: Personally, I didn't find the museum as exciting as the gallery, due to the lack of exhibits that interested me, but it also was a good spot to cool off in. However, there was a nice interactive exhibit where you can discover all different kinds of animals and organisms from spooky spiders to birds and snakes. This museum is also free and located along the same strip as the gallery so if you have time I do recommend stopping here as well.
Queen Street Mall: Queen Street Mall is a pedestrian mall located in Brisbane CBD with many stores and restaurants lining the strip. My hostel was right near this so before I could check in I spent my morning exploring the bustling mall. The mall has a lively atmosphere and there's something for everyone!
Bites
Happy Pops: This little speciality popsicle shop was such a random find of mine in South Bank, but I'm glad I stopped by. I ordered the mango coconut (I believe it was?) and it was SOOOO delicious! All the other flavours looked so good too, wish I had more time to go back to this cute shop. You can even create your own popsicle if none of the pre-made flavours are appealing to you which is so creative and sets this popsicle shop apart from other dessert/ice cream shops.
Cactus Republic: Just your typical Mexican restaurant located on the South Bank, but the chips & guac (so fresh and tasty) and Corona I had were refreshing. It was nice to sit out on the patio and just relax after a long day of exploring.
Jimmy's on the Mall: This is an open-air two story restaurant located right in the middle of the Queen St Mall with an awesome atmosphere. I had a falafel wrap which was delicious (even had the couple next to me in awe over how good it looked) but definitely a little overpriced. Most dishes were around $20+, but regardless it still was a nice place to sit, relax, and people watch.
Australia Zoo: Also just want to quickly touch upon my Australia Zoo experience which has arguably been one of most favourite days in Australia. To get to the famous Australia Zoo, I took a train from Brisbane CBD to the town of Beerwah, where the zoo is located, and then a quick Uber ride to the zoo. Upon other searches there does seem to be coach buses that take you to the zoo from Brisbane, but taking the train was the cheapest option for me (thank you concession tickets!). I mainly only visited Brisbane because I wanted to visit the Australia Zoo. It's been a dream of mine since watching Steve Irwin as the Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet as a kid. Watching the Crocodile Hunter is why I became so obsessed with Australia when I was young and I just couldn't leave this country without visiting Steve's zoo. The day I visited was the annual Steve Irwin Day to honour his life, so there was a lot more than usual going on at the zoo including multiple professional talks, a live performance by singer Christine Anu, free breakfast, and my favourite, the croc feeding show which was led by Bindi Irwin and her fiancee, Chandler. It was an incredible day of petting so many koalas and kangaroos and getting to encounter so many other animals. On top of it all I also stumbled upon Bindi at the zoo and got to hug her and get a selfie with her. It was so crazy growing up alongside Bindi (she's only a few months older than me) and watching her dad on TV and then getting to see her in person. Bindi is the sweetest person ever and is truly involved with everyone and everything around her. Visiting the Australia Zoo was such a fantastic experience and you can tell that every zookeeper really cares about all the animals with the many interactive shows and wide open animal habitats! This is a MUST VISIT in Australia.
As mentioned, I really only visited Brisbane because it is the closest big city to the Australia Zoo, but I'm glad I did spend some time exploring Brisbane City. Despite the scorching temperatures and my hostel being without AC, it was a nice and short trip, but still one where I created so many memories.
Sarah, xo