Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, is midway up the east coast of Australia - 27.5oS, 153oE. With the Gold Coast to the south and the Sunshine Coast to the north, domestic and international airports, Brisbane is an ideal headquarters for an Australian holiday. Brisbane, indeed all Queensland, operates on Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT all year round - Summertime or Daylight Saving is not practiced in Queensland. Residents and visitors to Brisbane enjoy a wide range of landscapes and lifestyles. The inner-city, metropolitan Brisbane is surrounded by leafy, sometimes very hilly, suburbs. Further out in the suburbs, the traditional Australian house on a large block or even acreage dominates.

Moreton Bay and its islands provide water sports, sailing and sea-side suburbs. The Pacific Highway leads south to the Gold Coast and its well-known surf beaches.

North is the seaside town of Redcliffe, the rainforest and picturesque countryside of Pine Rivers, Caboolture and the Glasshouse Mountains. Bribie Island offers the first surf beach to the north. The Sunshine Coast towns and hinterland are popular holiday spots.

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS IN BRISBANE

Lamington National Park
Part of the mountainous Scenic Rim, Lamington National Park is renowned worldwide for its size, beauty and distinctive wildlife. Comprising two sections, Binna Burra and the Green Mountains, the park is a collection of valleys and ranges, mostly covered in thick rainforest. Famous for its bushwalking, this is the best way to experience the cool mountain air while taking in the luscious scenery. Picnics and barbecues are a treat and bird watching and animal spotting will give you something special to remember.

  



Moreton Island
At 38 kilometres long, Moreton Island is one of the largest sand islands in the world, and has the highest dunes, including Mount Tempest (280 metres). Most of the island is National Park and offers beaches, freshwater lakes, wetlands and wildflowers. Fishing, snorkelling, swimming, sailing and surfing are popular, but sand boarding in the dunes is the most exciting. Humpback whales can be seen in the area from June to November and visitors can feed dolphins at Tangalooma Resort. Four-wheel drives are essential for island driving, and accommodation is available at six sites.


Kangaroo Point Cliffs & Riverwalk
The sheer sandstone cliffs of Kangaroo Point and the riverwalk below them, are great places from which to admire the city skyline. Floodlit at night, the cliffs look spectacular and are now a popular spot for rock climbers and abseilers to test their skills. Picnic tables and barbecues are dotted along the riverwalk, which is conveniently split to cater for walkers on one path and cyclists on another. Sculptures, old wharves and a mangrove boardwalk are features of interest on the walk, which starts at the northern end of South Bank and winds its way to Kangaroo Point.


Brisbane Koala Bushlands
Brisbane Koala Bushlands is a series of conservation parks extending from the Daisy Hill area to Logan City and the Redland Shire. Most of the parks are linked and total 500 hectares of Eucalypt forest, creating invaluable habitats for the cuddliest of Australian animals, the koala. An estimated three to five thousand koalas reside in the Bushlands that remain relatively undisturbed. Of course other animals can be spotted in the parks, including grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, a variety...