4 Sep 2011 - Day 7 (Part 3): Mount Coot-tha (Day and Night)

As we wanted to have a day and night view from Mount Coot-tha, we shopped in Indooroopillys till about 4pm before driving up. At the foot of Mount Coot-tha, there is the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. Beside it is an observatory.

Across the carpark lies the Botanical Gardens at Mount Coot-tha. This botanical garden is so much better than the one in the city. This garden is divided into different zones, each with its unique plants collection.

First we came to a Cactus House with many different types of cactus.

Other areas include Lagoon and Bamboo Grove, Exotic and Australian Rainforest, Temperate Garden, Japanese Garden, Bonsai House and Herb Garden.





We walked till about 5pm and off we went to Mount Coot-tha summit. We reached the summit just before the sky turned dark. We had a spectacular view of Brisbane city from the summit.

As the surrounding got darker, the temperature also started dropping. So the best way to enjoy such cool weather was to have a cup of hot Mocha in the Cafe. Very soon, the entire place was under darkness and we had a superb night view of Brisbane city.

Starting today, as part of the Brisbane Festival, there is an event called Santos City of Lights at Southbank area. This is the first laser light show of its kind in Australia. This extraordinary spectrum of lights and lasers will radiate from the roof tops, the river and bridges and is set against dramatic musical scores. However, we could only see a few spot lights shining around. Guess we could only have a better view at the designated vantage point in Southbank.

After we got back to our apartment, Tracy and I decided to try to view the laser light show at the vantage point where we watched the fireworks yesterday. However once again, we could not see much except for the few spot light shining from the rooftop.

We will try it again tomorrow but at the designated vantage point along the river at Southbank.

4 Sep 2011 - Day 7 (Part 2): Queen Street Mall and Southbank

From Eagle Pier Sunday Market, we walked down to Queen Street Mall, where all the branded stuffs are. We had a short rest here.

As we walked down the street, there were some beautiful flowers by the side.


We then walked back to our van and along the way, we passed by a casino.

Before driving to Southbank, another popular tourist spot, we stopped by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) where Tracy graduated.

We were fortunate that we managed to find an open parking lot at Southbank.

Southbank has changed a lot since we were here 12 years back. It looked totally different from what I had in my mind. As Brisbane Festival is ongoing, there were many activities going around here.

Jerlene and Javier enjoyed running around the open space, chasing any birds that they saw. And they spent the next half an hour in a playground with many other kids.

From Southbank, we drove to Indooroopillys Mall for our lunch before driving to our next destination, Mount Cootha.

4 Sep 2011 - Day 7 (Part 1): City Botanical Garden and Sunday Market

We left our apartment early this morning as we need to go back to the car rental office to change our van. When we arrived, the staff came over and said that they tried to contact me multiple times but we did not pick up the calls. Actually we do not have to change van because there was a cancellation. Anyway, it's still good as now we will have more time to explore Brisbane city. First we went to the City Botanical Garden. To me, it's just a normal park. However, as we walked through the garden, the weather was very cooling and atmosphere was so relaxing.

There was a playground in the park and the slide was constructed based on the 3 steamers that were washed up from the river during the 1893 great floods. These steamers were hauled back into the river during another flood 2 weeks later.

From the garden, we walked down to eagle street where the Sunday market was. Stalls were setup every Sunday around Eagle Pier and they sell all sorts of things such as souvenirs, clothing, bags, handycrafts, fruits, chocolate, honey etc etc.........

From the pier, we had a good view of the story bridge spanning across Brisbane river.

We bought some souvenirs from these stalls and Jerlene got hers as well.

3 Sep 2011 - Day 6 (Part 2): Brisbane Festival, SUN Super Riverfire

We rested in our apartment for about an hour before walking to one of the vantage point for the SUN Super Riverfire. This is a fireworks display for the opening of the Brisbane Festival 2011.

For this trip, I was planned it with this event in mind. I chose this apartment also because it is within walking distance to the vantage point. We tried to be there early but many people were there much earlier.

Before the actual show, there were fly past by the Australian Air Force. The two BlackHawk helicopters actually "saluted" at the crowd in the vantage point.

Very soon the sky turned dark. Everybody was waiting patiently for the show to start. By this time, more and more people started coming in and the whole place was packed.

At 7pm, the fireworks display started. It was amazing! From our vantage point at Kangaroo Point Cliff, we can see fireworks from other vantage points such as Southbanks and city. Other than firing from the boat along the river, the firework was also fired from the various bridges and tall buildings in the city. Below are some photos taken during the event.

This is one of the longest fireworks display that I have seen so far. The entire display was about half an hour. Simply spectacular!

3 Sep 2011 - Day 6 (Part 1): Chinatown

Today we did not plan to travel out of Brisbane city because there was road closure around city area due to the opening of Brisbane Festival 2011. So my plan for today was to visit Chinatown area.

Brisbane Chinatown has changed a lot since we were here 12 years ago. There was a multi-storey carpark but as I was about to enter, we realized the height of my rented van was higher than the carpark's height limit. I had to reverse and find other open parking lot. Fortunately, along a small lane near Chinatown, I managed to get one parking lot.

At about noon, we had our lunch in a Chinese restaurant called "King of Kings" (皇上皇). We had Tim Sum for lunch and it's good. Then we did some shopping along a street with stalls on both sides.

Jerlene and Javier were also busy doing their own shopping.

Before we left, we went into a souvenir shop to purchase some souvenirs for our relatives and friends.

From Chinatown, we drove to a suburb shopping mall before going back to our apartment, waiting for tonight's SUPER Riverfire.