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Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens |
The Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt. Cootha are Queensland's premier subtropical botanic gardens. These 52 hectare gardens are situated seven kilometres from the city centre.
The Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens contain subtropical and Australian flora in a setting of lakes, ponds and streams. Mt. Cootha also hosts a planetarium and an impressive lookout across the entire city.
Upon moving to Brisbane after living in Singapore for a year,
we noticed a marked similarity between the two cities. Both have an
abundance of beautiful and lush parks and gardens adorning the
cityscape. These are great places to breathe in the fresh air and get
back to nature, simply invigorating. One such place in Brisbane is the
Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens. It's a wonderful place to visit all year
round. In winter we've watched the desert plants flower with
a colourful display of life, whilst the deciduous tress have shed their
autumn leaves.
In summer, the rainforest canopy provides a cooling
reprieve from the midday sun, as does the Fern House. On several
occasions we've wandered through the tranquil Japanese Garden, through
the fragrant herb garden and the glorious rose garden which is a sight
to behold when the roses are in bloom.
Take a wander through the gardens on a weekend and you're likely to
catch a glimpse of a newly wed couple after they've exchanged vows on
one of the weeding lawns under the shade of a tree.
For plant and flower enthusiasts this is a great place to hone up on
your knowledge and for those that are just learning, there is plenty of
information provided to get you started. If horticulture is not really
your thing and you have a penchant for photography, you can't really go
wrong here either.
Highlights include:
- Tropical Dome
- Fern House
- Japanese garden
- Bonsai House
- Arid Zone & Cactuse House
- Exotic Rainforest
- Australian Rainforest
- Lagoon & Bamboo Grove
- Temeperate Garden
- Fragrnt Plant & Herb garden
- Australain Plant Communities
- National Freedom wall
And did I mention the Cosmic Skydome Planetarium ??? At first we thought
this was just for kids but if you have a fascination for the stars and
just want to know more, here's the place to do just that! The
Planetarium has been recently refurbished and uses a Zeiss Star
Projector to recreate images of Brisbane's night sky (apparently that's
a really cool projector!). There's also a Display Zone featuring
artefacts and displays, such as fragments of asteroids and spacecraft
models along with some awesome images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Updated 20.7.06
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Brisbane Shopping
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In the city, shops are open until 9pm on a Friday night and in the suburbs, until 9pm on a Thursday evening. On Sunday, stores are normally open from 10am-4pm in the city. If you need something outside of these shopping hours, there's always
a service station or 7-Eleven open to meet your pressing, urgent needs.
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Fun Stuff
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When looking to dine out in Brisbane, it is helpful to understand the different
precincts for
restaurants in Brisbane.
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