Brisbane, Australia Botanical Gardens

I know ya'all are are looking forward to hearing more about our trip to Australia, and I desperately want to get this all out there, but now that we're home, the Christmas season is in full swing, and of course, it's the busiest time of year for me at work, so I'm working 60 hours a week.  UGH!   But, that's just the way life is, right?  

This is all about Brisbane -- actually mostly the Botanic Gardens.  We were lucky enough that our hotel, the Royal on the Park Hotel was located directly across the street from the Botanical Gardens.  It was a beautiful old hotel, full of luxury!  

(HINT:  click on any of the pictures to enlarge them!) 

The first thing we did was visit the Botanic Gardens across the street. 

A little history about the Gardens:  

City Botanic Gardens history

Queensland's Heritage Register recognises the City Botanic Gardens for their natural, historic and cultural values.

The gardens' plant collections include the first Queensland native plants to be formally planted. Visitors to the gardens will also see exotic plants. Some exotic plants were imported in colonial days to establish crops for the new Brisbane colony. Artists have also created number of heritage features at the gardens.

Gardens' development

Part of the riverside site where the gardens are located was originally a botanic reserve. It was established in 1828 to provide food for the early penal colony.

The City Botanic Gardens officially opened in 1855. That year, the botanic gardens' curator Walter Hill was appointed as the first superintendent. He began an active planting and experimenting program. This included:

• trailing crops and plants from around the world to determine their suitability for growing in subtropical climates
• introducing mangoes, pineapples, pawpaws, custard apples, sugar cane, tobacco, ginger, coffee and many types of nuts and grape vines to Queensland
• establishing ornamental plant collections in the gardens for visitors to enjoy

Major redevelopment of the gardens took place in 1987. Redevelopments included building an information centre, upgrading the paving and converting the former curator's residence into a restaurant.

Plantscaping and developments continued in 1989 with the construction of the Riverstage.

Having worked at Tropical Gardens, a (now defunct) greenhouse and wholesaler of tropical plants, I was absolutely fascinated by the flora and fauna here!  There were so many plants that just "grow" here!  These are plants that we can't grow outdoors here in Wisconsin, and many of them, we can't even grow indoors without a tropical greenhouse!   They're just so incredible!   I recognized so many plants, but had a difficult time remembering their names as I haven't worked at the greenhouse in almost five years.   There's going to be a lot of pictures here, but seeing as I took almost 1,500 pictures on our trip, you're really only getting to see the best of the best!   

Our first view of the Botanic Gardens!  How GORGEOUS is this?!  

Some of the ferns are HUGE!   How I would dearly love to have these around the Mik Deck & Dine!  

I am absolutely fascinated at the Staghorn Ferns that grow on the trees here!  When I worked at the greenhouse, we had some that would be attached to wood so you could hang it on your wall! (and they cost a fortune!).  Here, they just grow on the trees like they're supposed to!   They're actually a "parasite" of sorts, because they need another plant to grow on.   I took a boatload of pictures of these ferns.  

The Bamboo Grove is a collection of 23 bamboo species and was planted to commemorate the bamboo collection that was lost in 1937. The loss occurred when the gardens' Fern Island attraction was drained and filled as a result of mosquito complaints.  (Seriously?)    They are so beautiful!  I know they are incredibly fast growing and will take over, if not pruned consistently and properly, but I sure would love to have the climate that would allow some in our yard!  

In the picture below, if you look closely, you can see some larger birds in the tree near their nest. 

The birds in the tree above are the same species as the one below.  There were a boatload of them at the Gardens!   Unfortunately, I do not recall the name of this particular bird.

The tree below was planted in 1849!  That makes it  169 years old!  WOW!!!

  

I really don't think there is anything more beautiful or exotic as a Bird of Paradise blooming in it's natural environment!   Just another one of God's incredible masterpieces!   

More Beautiful ferns! 

Check this guy out!  He really wasn't too afraid of us, but would move if we got too close!  I can't imagine living someplace where these creatures are just right there in your back yard!  I'm not sure what kind of lizard this is, but he sure is cool!  

The stairs on the trail were quite uneven and not easy to go down, but what a beautiful path! 

Hey to all my former Tropical Gardens co-workers!  Your absolute FAVORITE plant below!  Yep, those are Peace Lilly's, a/k/a SPATH!  

The brother/cousin/uncle/aunt of the other lizard?   Too cool to find them all over here!   

Not sure what the deal was with the piles of dirt here, but I'm guessing that it was loaded with bugs and these birds were having a field day!  

The Botanic Gardens wind around the Brisbane River so the next pictures are all about the river!  The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland and flows through the City of Brisbane.

The tree below was so cool looking, we just had to take a picture of it!   I have no idea what it is.  Maybe someone will comment and tell us?  The first picture is a close up and the second picture is of the whole tree.  

We're guessing that someone was living aboard this particular "vessel!"  

We are sitting on a particular park "bench" that had seats facing in opposite directions.  Kind of cool!  (Well, actually quite hot!  It was in the mid to upper 80's while we were here! )

They have some funny looking bubblers here!  (For anyone not from Wisconsin that's reading this, what you call a water fountain, we call a "bubbler."  !!!  And yes, we tried it, and yes it worked!  And yes, the water tasted funky (at least compared to what we're used to!) If you look closely at the bottom of the bubbler on the left side, you can fill a "cup" for your dog!  

Need a bike?   There are plenty to rent here!  Just swipe your card and off you go! 

We had dinner at the Buffalo Bar, which advertised as having "American" burgers.  While they were awesome, they were still a bit different from what we normally get here in the States.   Abby decided to get herself a "boozy" milkshake.   She said it tasted a lot like the Grasshoppers that Joe and Marty used to make when we'd go camping!  

Greg had the "Big Bird" which was a chicken burger with bacon (different bacon than what we're used to), gigantic onion rings and lettuce.   The buns are more of a brioche bun, which seems to be the norm in Australia.  Oh, and we never did see any iceburg lettuce anywhere, even in the grocery stores! 

I had the "Lionel Sternberger" which was a Wagyu beef patty, bacon, cheddar, lettuce and pickles.  it also came with jalapeno mayonnaise, which I had them put on the side, as I'm not fond of spicy stuff.  I must admit, I absolutely LOVE the little baskets the french fries came in! 

Abby got potato wedges and dusted chicken wings (dry wings, versus wet BBQ type wings).  

All of the food was quite incredible!!!!!  Great place to stop and eat dinner!   Most of the restaurants have an open area and seeing as there were no bugs, we sat outside to eat and enjoy the warm air and fresh breeze!

The trees across the street from the hotel really fascinated Greg (and me, as well)!  The way the roots grow above the ground really makes them showstoppers!   The trees have obviously been here for many, many, many years, as those roots have grown all around the wrought iron fencing!  

The trees are HUGE, as can be seen by Greg standing here in front of them!  

  
More ferns growing on the tree!  

This has got to be the largest Dracaena (corn plant)  I've ever seen!  

And more amazing GIANT plants (ferns?)!  I'm not even sure what these are, but they are incredible and were all over the parts of Australia we visited!  

Here's a close up of it!  

And finally, a couple pictures of me and Greg in front of the roots of those incredible trees!  I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so you get to see two of them!  

The next entry will be all about the Australia Zoo (a/k/a Steve Irwin's zoo!)  Crikey!  

Hope you enjoyed viewing the Botanic Gardens in Brisbane!  I can tell you, without a doubt, I wish I was back there!  

Love, Peace & Prayers to all! 

Julie