ABOUT BRISBANE

With a population of around 1.8 million Brisbane is Australia’s largest growing capital city.

Located in south east Queensland, Brisbane is the third most popular Australian city and it’s not hard to see why when you explore the “cosmopolitan” lifestyle and delve into it’s “quirky” side. Brisbane is unlike any other city in the world with it’s very own style of home, the Queenslander is an older style home made from timber with a large semi closed in verandah, and it’s man made beach right in the centre of town.

THE WEATHER… Brisbane has a humid subtropical climate experiencing hot and humid summers whilst the winter months are generally dry and mild.  An average winter day can reach around 15.7 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) and in summer the weather is usually around 25.5 degrees Celsius or 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

POPULATION… With almost 2 million residents Brisbane is a city that is growing fast. It has a large multicultural population with around 22% of it’s residents born overseas. Brisbane caters extensively to the needs of its large population by providing significant modes of transport including; private car, bus, taxi, rail and ferry system. All health related matters can be easily seen to given Brisbane’s eight major public hospitals, four major private hospitals, specialist centres and many general practices.

BUSINESS… In all of Australia, Brisbane has one of the most fastest growing economies which no doubt has to do with it being a major business centre for large-scale Australian companies and international corporations who hold contact offices in the city.

The primary business sectors in Brisbane are related to: food and beverage, tourism infrastructure, information and communication technology, logistics and distribution, creative industries, aviation, manufacturing as well as life sciences.
SUBURBS… Brisbane is made up of 5 major suburban districts – inner city, northern, eastern, southern and western.

Inner City Brisbane – Residing in Brisbane’s CBD has only been a recent occurrence however it is now hugely popular. The majority of the housing is multi-storeyed apartments with very few stand alone homes. Inner city Brisbane is a cultured suburb and is made up mostly of single people and couples who have no children.
The highly popular Royal Queensland Show, also known as the “Ekka”, is held here once a year.

Northern Brisbane – The northern suburbs of Brisbane are the older, more popular districts for families. With its reserves, parks and golf courses it’s easy to see why this area of Brisbane is more child friendly to the neighbouring inner city suburbs.
Here in the north the elite blend easily with the working class with multi million dollar mansions snuggled amongst worker’s cottages that remain in their original, not modernised state.

Eastern Suburbs – Scattered along the banks of the river are the eastern suburbs of Brisbane where the properties sprawl across the beautiful land. The eastern suburbs were once regarded for being an industrialised area with dairies, sugar mills, tree plantations, orchards and wool scouring and tanning.

Today the rural lands are more residential with restaurants, cafes and up-scale shopping though some areas of the bush land continue to remain untouched. For instance the Brisbane Koala Park can be found in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane and is part of the Brisbane Koala Bushlands. The Brisbane Koala Bushlands are a part of the Koala Coast Network, a network that contains one of Australia’s most important koala habitat areas where the land is undisturbed and the koalas remain protected.

Southern Suburbs – The Southside of Brisbane was once a heavily industrialised area but has become one of Brisbane’s most fashionable, highly populated areas and is home to one of Brisbane’s most popular tourist destinations, South Bank.
South Bank accommodates many prominent attractions from South Bank Parklands where the Queensland Conservatorium can be found amongst cafes and restaurants. The Wheel of Brisbane (a 60 metre tall Ferris wheel) and the Nepal Peace Pagoda which was erected in time for the World Expo ’88 which was held in Brisbane. To the cultural and education hub featuring The Queensland Maritime Museum, Queensland Cultural Centre as well as Griffith University.

Western Suburbs – The suburbs in the west of Brisbane are generally picturesque and semi-rural. It is relatively close to all the action of the Inner City Suburbs but is a more tranquil environment perfect for cattle and sheep farms or lovingly restored ‘Queenslander’ homes.

The city of Brisbane has so much on offer from world class attractions to heritage listed local and national parks.

Brisbane is a “foot friendly” city with over 1200 kilometres of walkways, pathways and bikeways to explore. Scattered amongst the many pubs, bars, nightclubs and shopping boutiques are sights to be seen for free. Brisbane offers many fun and free activities – take a wander through world class galleries, picnic in many of the beautiful parklands, get a history lesson in the museums, take a trip to the State Library on a Sunday get your flick fix with free national and international movies or simply let your hair down and enjoy the free for all live music gigs.

Brisbane has played host to many large scale cultural and sporting events. In 1982 the Commonwealth Games were opened by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip, at Brisbane’s QEII Stadium,  the World’s Fair was held in many locations across the city and was dubbed “World Expo ’88 – Leisure in the Age of Technology” and in 2001 the Goodwill Games (an international sporting competition) held their last ever competition in Brisbane.

The city of Brisbane was named after the river in which it’s banks the city sits upon, the river in turn was named after a former Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane. Whilst the city has been affectionately nicknamed “Bris Vegas” for its cosmopolitan lifestyle and popular night life the Indigenous Peoples of Australia call refer to Brisbane as “Mian-Jin” or “Place shaped as a spike”. The spike reference no doubt relates to the fact that Brisbane is a hilly city. Brisbane, in fact, is just east of Australia’s most substantial mountain range (The Great Dividing Range).