BRISBANE
Area: Queensland
Country: Australia


Location:
Halfway down E coast of Australia, in SE corner of state of Queensland, of which it is capital. 470 mls NE of Sydney. 12 mls SW of airport. 58 mls N of Surfers Paradise.

Telephone code from UK:
61 7

Website:
http://www.brisbanetourism.com.au

Position:
The city centre sits on a flat N-shore promontory in a tight loop in Brisbane River, which at this point is about 250 yds wide. Open sea at Moreton Bay is 10 mls downstream. Surrounding plain is flat as far as a small range of hills dominated by Mt Coot-tha, 5 mls to W.

Description:
Until the late 70s Brisbane was no more than a country town serving the rural activities of the hinterland of Queensland. It was then developed with modern office-block skyscrapers, shopping malls and hotels, demolishing many of the older buildings. Cheap land and housing attracted immigrants from other parts of the country and the suburbs spread for miles in all directions; the city is now the third largest in Australia with a population of over 898,000. The city centre straddles the river and is a fairly compact 2 mls from N to S, but it has no great architecture or natural sights to attract the international tourist. The old Expo '88 site on the S bank of the river has left a pleasant parkland area (South Bank Parklands), but there are no iconic city sites worth flying halfway round the world to see, especially when compared to its rival, Sydney. It is often used as a transit point for tourists arriving or leaving Australia and is the gateway to the Gold Coast resorts to the S and the Sunshine Coast to the N. The hilly suburb of Spring Hill to the N has various parks and views over the city and river but little else. Fortitude Valley to the NE offers a Chinatown district and downmarket shopping by day but is probably best avoided at night unless you go prepared for a seedy red-light district which may not be entirely safe for unwary tourists.

Suitability:
Corporate visitors on business, people visiting friends and relatives, transit passengers and Gold Coast visitors.

Accommodation:
4- and 5-star chain hotels catering almost exclusively for business people. 2- and 3-stars for short-stay transit passengers.

Shopping:
Queen Street Mall and Myer Centre department store offer all the things that could be bought in any shopping mall or department store in the UK, plus bush hats and toy koalas. A weekend market operates in South Bank.

Beach:
No real beaches worthy of the name nearer than the Gold Coast, 40 mls S. However, the artificial beach by the swimming "lagoon" in the South Bank Parkland satisfies any urge to build sand castles.

Entertainments:
Daytime: Botanic Gardens, Government House, art gallery, river cruises. Street entertainers seem to abound, especially at weekends in South Bank and Queen Street Mall. South Bank also offers a re-creation of a rainforest and various other attractions to pass the time. Nightlife: discos, some jazz clubs, casino, cinemas, occasional concerts.

Eating:
Less formal and cheaper than many other parts of Australia. The accent is usually on eating out of doors and a choice from many countries _ especially Asian _ is available. Fast food is everywhere, with several McDonald's in Queen Street Mall alone, plus plenty of local competition from "Hungry Jack's" etc.

Public-transport:
Plenty of local buses around the city and along the coast. Trains to all suburbs. Regular Sea Cat ferries cross the river at several points. Metered taxis.

Local-excursions:
Catamaran trip to Moreton Bay Island National Park for dolphin feeding, sand tobogganing and whale-watching (June_Oct). Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to see Aussie animals. Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, rainforest and planetarium.