Brisbane: Roma Street Parkland

Our destination after walking through the Brisbane CBD was the 11-hectare park known as the Roma Street Parkland. I mentioned it in the meanderings post, but felt that our delight in the park deserved its own footprint.

Located in an area that, for thousands of years, was used by Aboriginal people for meetings and ceremonies, today it offers locals and visitors alike a different kind of meeting space. It was developed in 1995 on land that in the 19th and 20th centuries was used as a railway goods yard.

In addition to extensive pathways and boardwalks that twist and turn … go up and down, there are recreational areas, such as a children’s play area and an open air theater. Of course, the primary focus is the colorful flora in well-tended beds.

The highlight, for us, was the Spectacle Garden in which, a nearby sign explained, that over 16,000 flowers are planted each year. Scampering around the grounds were Australian brush turkeys and water dragons … giving us something other than plants on which to focus our attention on occasion.

A riot of color in the true sense of the word.Read more