Brisbane, Australia (short layover) 2017

Several 24h in Brisbane (2017/18)

• Capital of Queensland, third largest city in Australia, in the Northern East of the country

Personal opinion:

• While I would not include Brisbane itself on my holidays if I were a  foreigner for a few weeks in Australia, there are gorgeous beaches to explore nearby (1-3 h by car)
• Nevertheless I had the feeling Brisbane could be a nice city to live in and I enjoyed my days there

Places visited:

• a) Downton
• b) Mount Coot-Tha 
• c) Byron Bay
• d) Gold Coast
  

a) Downtown:

• While not in detail, I had the opportunity to walk around Brisbane during my first day
• Views from both sides of Brisbane river:

• City Botanic Gardens: great place for walking, jogging, picnics, couples, reading a book...

• Streets Beach: man-made beach right next to Brisbane wheel

b) Mount Coot-Tha:

• During the first evening I visited the highest peak in Brisbane at almost 300m, 10km West, which offers great views of the city (despite of this bad photo)
• Lovely forest for trekking and mountain bike
• There are several waterfalls around the Mount (I did not have time for this)

c) Byron Bay:

• During my second day we rented a car and went for a roadtrip towards Byron Bay (already in New South Wales), a paradise with plenty of secluded beaches, nature and wealthy little towns
• It took us slightly over 2 hours to reach Whites Beach but it was completely worth it

• Nearby we visited Cape Byron and its Lighthouse, where the views are very impressive

d) Gold Coast:

• On the way back to Brisbane we stopped in the Gold Coast for lunch and we could spot a huge beach that gets also very popular

• Both areas are very popular for surf but while the Gold Coast is more touristic and closer to Brisbane, we preferred Byron Bay by far