We just had a lovely time walking through the gardens. I love that cities devote land for people to…read moreenjoy. Full of trees and birds, this sanctuary lets you get away, even for a small while, away from the bustling city life. There was lots to explore. I honestly didn't even know how long were were in the park.

This is just a short walk from our hotel, so I strolled around it twice yesterday's Once after…read morelunch by myself and then again after dinner with my husband. It was much busier during the day, which surprised me somewhat. Beautiful foliage, beautiful birds, next to the river, lots of benches and places to take a break. It is well maintained. At night, the main paths were lit well, although the path right next to the river was very dark. If I lived in Brisbane, I would go here often just to relax, read, or enjoy the beauty. And it's completely free to enjoy!

A good place to go for a walk on weekends. Lots of diverse plants and animals there. And they also…read moreoffer free walking tour several times a week. The place is really big. You can walk for several hours. Also picnic area they offer.

Beautiful place to spend a rainy afternoon. Fairly quiet with plenty to do. Spent a couple of hours…read moreexploring and didn't even touch certain sections. You must however visit the Bonsai house - my favorite!

Beautiful gallery space, and it's free. Great to pop in if you're on the Gardens Point campus, or…read morejust in the botanical gardens. Heck, it's a short walk from the CBD too. The artworks change often and quite often of a much higher standard than I'd ever have expected from a university gallery. They also have a small selection of books and post cards, usually related to current exhibitions.

This Art Museum is an undiscovered gem in my opinion. I used to visit regularly when I was on…read morecampus, and some of my favourite artists held exhibitions here (no, it's not just students). The collection is beautifully displayed and curated, and the space is small but jewel like. Take half an hour out from being a hard drinking, hard playing uni student and cram in some culture. You won't regret it.

Recently, my wife and I had the opportunity to watch a Culture Club concert at the Brisbane…read moreRiverstage and it was AWESOME!!! Okay, Boy George was great, but the venue was very cool as well. The outdoor amphitheater atmosphere was lots of fun (especially since it didn't rain). The overall size of the venue wasn't too large, making it feel very cozy and intimate (it also helped that we had GREAT seats - close to the stage vs. the lawn). Venue staff was helpful and efficient. Slight negative was the sound system. However, given the fact that this is an outdoor venue, you really can't expect the acoustics to be the same as an indoor arena. We probably just noticed this because we had just attended a Cure concert at the Maverick Center (Salt Lake City, Utah) a couple weeks prior and had commented that the sound/acoustics there were FANTASTIC. Not a fair comparison, I know, just an observation. Oh, and the stroll through the park to/from the concert was also very nice. We would not hesitate to attend another concert at the Brisbane Riverstage again!!!

I have a theory about the Riverstage as a venue - that is, it's fantastic for the audience and not…read moreso great for the performer. As I say it's only a theory, not being a performer per se, at least not on stage, but I reckon unless it's aboutely jam-packed we as audience have the luxury of moshing down the front, grooving on the grass, lolling around a little further up the hill, or drinking and fagging away over in the licensed area. This means we get a great experience wherever we go, but the performer only gets the really solid feedback from the jammy bit at the front. Mind yo,u I have seen some really packed crowds where this isn't the case eg Fallout Boy and Parkway Drive and I'm sure there are many, many others. Anyhoo, as I said, excellent venue, day or night, plenty of room to move and easy to get to, right next to QUT, in the Botanical Gardens, a short walk from South Bank over the Goodwill Bridge and much better for dancing since they changed those dumb brick pavers over near the stage to the now much softer concrete :).

The end of Brisbane's mildly cold but sunny winters and beginning of our stinking hot wet summers…read moreis signalled by Parklife, the first event on the festival season calendar. Thousands of barely dressed revellers descend on the city's beautiful botanic gardens...and proceed to to do their best to trash it. Luckily, the festival is pretty well planned and the gardens suffer no lasting damage. They even have some great green initiatives, with $1 drink and food tickets given for every cup, bottle and can collected and taken to a recycling tent. The music is usually an eclectic mix of various dance artists with last years festival including big name acts from Australia and overseas playing electro, dubstep, drum and bass, house, techno and plenty of underground styles. It's not an event for the faint-hearted, with massive queues to get in, get drinks, and visit the port-a-loos but its well worth it for the awesome atmosphere and great music. Ticket prices go up every year but as yet, they're still pretty reasonable and usuallymuch better than the other festivals of the season.

Soundwave is a good music festival for people who don't usually like music festivals. It's easy to…read morebe put off the whole festival concept if you have an aversion to fluorescent colours or if you've just watched too many hordes of drug-effected wankers bounce around the festival grounds like sweaty little pogo sticks. The difference is that with Soundwave, it's all about the music. Of course there are still wankers here and there, but the crowd is predominantly made up of loyal rock and metal fans who genuinely want to enjoy the shows and perhaps do a little headbanging. As somebody who isn't into metal music, I was a little nervous going to my first Soundwave a couple of years ago. I shouldn't have worried though; I found plenty of acts I enjoyed and had a really good time. I'm going again this year and looking forward to it. The festival is held at the RNA Showgrounds, so it's walking distance to the Valley for those who want to debrief over a cold beer. Food prices are still exorbitant and visiting the toilet at a festival is never a positive experience, but all in all Soundwave makes for a fun (if heatstroke filled) day.

Soundwave is an annual celebration of rock, pretty heavy metal and punk music. It originated in…read morePerth and started touring capital cities in 2007. It was first staged in Brisbane's Botanical Gardens but for the last three years has been at the 'Ekka' showgrounds in the Vally in February each year. If you're into some heart pumping screamo and hanging with a heap of hardcore music lovers, this festival is a must. I ran a stall at the last Soundwave and absolutely loved the vibe. There are lots of stages, spread across the huge showgrounds; necessary, because it's LOUD and there are more than 90 acts - yes 90! Expect circle pits, walls and surfing, but I think the crowd's generally really well behaved and mostly they're really there for the music, not the scene, which can be quite the exception to the rule at festivals these days. It's a long day and you need to move fast between the spread out stages to catch your favourite acts but it's a great buzz. The only downside is the mobile connectivity, which is notoriously bad at the Ekka grounds, so unless it's improved lately, try not to lose your friends.

The line up at Sunset Sounds is usually pretty impressive; the year I went, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,…read moreMoby, and Grizzly Bear were headlining, while local acts like Little Red, Sarah Blasko and Bertie Blackman stole the show during their sets. Staged in the city botanical gardens, Sunset Sounds is a chilled out festival for those who are after a festival experience that is youth oriented without being obnoxious. The main demographic is probably 18-24 year olds who shop at General Pants and wear floppy hats. Most of the attendees are quite friendly and chilled out; no one pushes in an attempt to get to the front of the stage, and when a great song is playing people are generally content having a boogie on their own. What could have been better handled was the lack of good food stalls; besides the usual satay stands and pizza stalls, there wasn't much of a range when it came to dinner, and my festival companions and I were left chewing somberly on cobs of corn. I'd have to say the best thing about Sunset Sounds is the line up, while the worst is probably the amount of young girls wearing shorts so short and so tight they may as well be naked.

My upbringing was heavily laden with astrological lessons. If I hear the terms 'conjunct',…read more'squared', or 'retrograde', my mind will spiral back to my teenage years where I spent a lot of time sitting at the kitchen table studying planets and their relationships to each other. As I underwent my astrological education, I developed a deep fascination with astronomy. This astronomical intrique led me to the Planetarium. I'm almost embarrassed about how many dates I've had there. I blame adolescent discussions regarding the 'mysterious qualities of Scorpios'. The cosmic skydome is where it's at. They have shows on there all the time (they play 2-3 times per day, so enquire ahead of time). Currently there's a show on called "Cosmic Collisions" which I like to think of as a space version of Demolition Derby. When you go to a show in the cosmic skydome, you walk inside the darkened dome and look up. You'll be sitting under an imitation black night sky. The lights are choreographed in a certain way so as to highlight details like certain constellations. And that's the boring stuff. To the Big Dipper and beyond! The shows usually cost between $10-$20. The Planetarium also has a mini theatre where you can watch documentary shorts about space related subjects. You can also take in factoids about space from the posters that hang along the walls of Star Trek inspired walk ways. Don't forget to check out the Planetarium store on your way out. This place is FULL of cool nerdy space toys. I think it's by far the best toy shop in Brisbane. Who doesn't love dehydrated space food?

Ever wanted to sit under a blanket of stars? Ever wanted to go somewhere romantic under the stars?…read more Learn about the solar system? Learn about the Mars Mission buggy thing... this place is for kids and adults, and it's undiscovered... not that many people know it's there, it's all hidden away across the car park of the Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens. I love this, it's my dirty little secret getaway on a hot summers day. They have the cosmic skydome, an educational experience or walk if you may. They have a display zone, it's free, you can sit and see hubble telescope pictures or learn things about Mars... they show different things every now and then... there isn't a time limit, you can stay there all day. In the skydome there are shows, they last maybe 30 minute in length and you sit and learn about black holes and cosmic collisions, there are kids shows as well scheduled, tickets are very cheap too, mostly under $10. There is a kid in all of us, this is where you unleash your inner kid. I love love love it, and will be taking my children there for years to come.