User:Beni MC
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Beni MC's guide
Hi all! I'm Beni MC. Just to put a personal touch on this, I thought I'd share my favourite things to see and do in Brissy or, as I call it, BrisBEN.
Brisbane is a river city and the Brisbane river has some gorgeous spots to walk along or have a picnic or just chill out to the sound of water. I thoroughly recommend a walk along the river and then a ride on the City Cat ferries back to your start point as a great way to spend a day. It's also a rather hilly city so you can get pretty good views from just about anywhere and, on special occasions (like New Years), most locals walk to their local highspots to watch the fireworks and party with their neighbours.
The South Bank area contains the museums, art galleries and state library as well as a human-built beach and markets on the weekend. It's also the home of the Queensland Performing Arts Complex and the Convention Centre where many events take place. Further along the river are public barbeques and play areas at the bottom of the Kangaroo Point cliffs where people often abseil and climb. A pedestrian bridge (the Goodwill Bridge) connects the South Bank area to the Botanical Gardens in the Central Business District of the city and is a great way to get from one place to another. Walking along the river in the Gardens gives you a good view of the Kangaroo Point cliffs and the Story Bridge (possibly Brisbane's most famous landmark - walk over it at dusk to catch the flight of the fruit bats!). New Farm Park is a large park further along the river and is a popular meeting place for Brissy people to have picnics and meet up with family and friends. The CS community here has met there a few times for fun and games and most weekends you can catch some of us there. The Powerhouse is also close by and offers some great cultural and artistic entertainment.
The 'other' Botanical Gardens are on the way up to Mt. Coot-tha, the local high point, and are also thoroughly recommended. They are the more elaborate Gardens, the one in the City being more of a park. You can find the Planetarium out at these Gardens and the plants are displayed in an organised fashion complete with name tags and specialised areas such as the Greenhouse for more tropical species. Mt. Coot-tha itself is actually a high ridge rather than one peak and all the television and radio stations have their towers up there. The end closest to the City has a great lookout, a restaurant and a few shops. Lots of people seem to get maried up there but that's their problem - I just go for the view! There are also walks and waterfalls. You can catch a bus up there but it's much easier to get someone to drive.
One of my personal favourite things about Brisbane is our live music scene. We have a community radio station here (4ZzZ) which was the first FM rock station in Australia and it has been a great motivator and support for the musicians and artists of this city since 1975. Check them out - before I discovered CS I can easily say that 4ZzZ was my favourite community. Because of them we have a great live scene and you can check out some of our bands through my myspace page. My favourite venues in Brisbane include the Zoo, the Tivoli, the Jubilee Hotel, Ric's and the Troubadour.
Also worth checking out are the Roma Street Parklands, the Spring Hill baths, the Valley, West End and so much more.
As for what time of year to come here, Spring would be my recommendation mainly because of the flowering Jacarandas and Frangipanis and also because of the Valley Fiesta, a weekend of celebration of live music that incorporates most of the venues in the Valley and has main stages in some of the streets (that they close to traffic of course!) Valley Fiesta is just about my favourite weekend in Brisbane every year - I love it. There are a heap of other festivals in and around Brisbane too. Have a look at the information in the festivals section here.
So, that's my story I guess. I also love going up to Mt. Nebo and Mt. Glorious (see the info above) and getting to the Sunny Coast for a swim when I can. And I love my local football team, the Queensland Roar. Our homeground, Suncorp Stadium, is a great venue for any code of football and often hosts concerts as well.
Welcome to BrisBEN. Enjoy!
