Through my travels around the world, visiting well over 100+ cities and towns I have always been able to find something interesting to photograph. Well, maybe there were a couple of exceptions. However, I believe those to be more the result of circumstances, such as weather or limited time than anything else.
Now even though I have lived in Brisbane all of my life, I have struggled to find something of interest to photograph in Brisbane. I believe that this is mostly due to seeing Brisbane though a different perspective since it is the place that I live, rather than seeing it from the viewpoint of a tourist.
I finally decided earlier this month to get out into the city of Brisbane with my camera and just see what I could capture in this city that I call home.
Queen Street Mall
The afternoon walk started in the Queen St Mall, which is a two city block long pedestrian mall. The mall opened in 1982 and today is home to over 700 retailers, between six major shopping centers and attracts over 26 million visitors per year.
Brisbane City Hall
Head northerly direction along Albert St which intersects the middle of the Queen St Mall you arrive in King George Square. The Brisbane City Hall faces onto King George Square and is a rather striking building with 14-meter high Corinthian styled columns, a 92meter tall clock tower and an overall classical architectural style with influence from Ancient Rome and Greece. The building construction started in 1917, and the doors opened for business in 1928.
Albert Street Uniting Church
Continuing across King George Square and onto Ann St is another one of Brisbane’s heritage buildings. The Albert Street Uniting Church, which still appears as it was when first opened in November 1889. Extensive restorative works undertaken in 1974.
The construction of the church is from Brick and Omaru Sandstone dressing. From the outside, this is quite a beautiful building and I just never seem to be here at the right time to be able to take a look inside. The Church is open Monday – Friday from 10 am – 2 pm and holds services on Friday and Sunday, see their website for more details.
ANZAC Square
From here I continued East along Ann Street, to ANZAC Square. The most prominent feature of ANZAC Square is the Shrine Of Remembrance, where the Eternal Flame burns continuously in a bronze urn. There are numerous statues and sculpture throughout ANZAC Square, dedicated to the memory of those who served in World War I and the various wars since. There is also a hint of symbolism in the design of the area, with the column’s surrounding the flame numbering 18, and the stairs approaching the flame number 19 & 18 in two flights, signifying the year that World War I ended. You can find more information about ANZAC Square here.
All Saint’s Anglican Church
I continued East along Ann Street to find two more of Brisbane’s many churches. The first was on the left-hand side of the street, where you could take a flight of stairs to find All Saint’s Anglican Church. The church is built in the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival style and was completed in 1869, replacing an earlier building on the site from 1862. While the church is rather small it is is the oldest Anglican Church in Brisbane.
St John’s Cathedral
Returning down the stairs to Ann St, and continuing the walk in an Eastern direction, St John’s Cathedral stands on the right-hand side of the street on the next block. Construction on the cathedral started in 1901 with the laying of the foundation stone, and officially the first stage of construction commenced in 1906. In 2009 The Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, officially reconsecrated the completed cathedral.
Customs House
Continuing east and turning right onto Queen Street, around two blocks along Queen Street is another one of the Brisbane’s Iconic buildings, Custom’s House, which backs onto the Brisbane River. The building as the name implies, used to be for collecting customs duty when it opened in 1889. Today though the build is heritage listed and is used primarily for functions and concerts. More information about the Customers House can be found on their websites here.
Eagle Street Pier & Story Bridge View
Continuing south along Queen Street and onto Eagle Street, you soon reach Eagle Street Pier. There are numerous restaurants in this area and on a Sunday you will find an array of market stalls spread around this area. There is also a terminal where you can catch the cross river ferry to Kangaroo Point, which is a walk I will keep to share for another day.
Eagle Street Pier is also a perfect place on this walk to get a view of the Story Bridge. The Story Bridge is a six-lane road bridge with pedestrian/bikeway on each side. The bridge opened in 1940 with a toll of sixpence. However, the toll only lasted until 1947. If you have the time and the inclination you can climb the bridge with Story Bridge Adventure Climb – more information.
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
From Eagle Street Pier you can follow a walkway south along the banks of the Brisbane River, which will bring you to the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. The City Botanic Gardens is a 20 Hectare site that sits between the Brisbane River, the QUT Gardens Point University Campus and the Brisbane CBD. The site where the gardens lay was initially identified in 1828 and since this time that the gardens have been developed to be what they are today.
The City Botanic Gardens are a perfect place for a family picnic or a bit of time out in a green space. The Riverstage also located in the Botanic Gardens hosts various concerts throughout the year, while a range of other events run throughout the gardens year round.
Where Next
With limited time today I chose to leave the City Botanic Gardens via the Albert Street entrance and continued north along Albert Street back to the Queen Street Mall. If you are a little confused with the directions above you can visit a map with each of the locations marked with this link – Brisbane City Walk Map
If you have more time or wanted to extend the walk, there are endless options for how you can do this, with many other sights to see. Unfortunately, there are far too many for me to list the options here. However, you can pick up a map from the Brisbane Tourist Information Centre located in the Queen Street Mall which is open from 9 am daily (10 am on Sunday)
Feedback
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