I had never heard of this place until my father suggested I join him and his partner for a wander…read morearound this park. This park is a bit of a mission to get to for anyone who does not live in the area but is worth the car mileage as it is a great place to hang out, have a picnic and roam around. I was not expecting much from this park but as soon as I entered the park, I realised how beautiful it was. There is something very serene about it, that instantly puts you at ease (so corny, I know). The park is very spacious too making it perfect for any picnic parties, it would be a lovely place to jog or walk around. When I visited the place, I even noticed people fishing from the deck over the Brisbane River, I doubt they would have caught anything good but they looked like they were having fun and enjoying the views. If it wasn't for its inconvenient location, I would visit this park more often as it really is a beauty.

If you like taking your kids to parks with playgrounds aren't guaranteed to be crawling with kids…read morealready, this is one of the secret parks you can still get a spot in. There are many trees around and 2 main sheltered areas with plenty of tables. There is also a boardwalk type play area and a rather large general swing and tyre play area about 20 meters away from the tables. Mostly under shelter too for those hot days. Bring sunscreen, a picnic blanket and some bug spray for hotter days, but mostly it's quite breezy if you're lucky. What I love about this park is that it's situated in the middle of Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood lives. Okay... there isn't a Robin Hood living in this forest, but we're still on the lookout for him and his men. Or my single friends are anyway. There are plenty of dads here with kids, and I keep having to tell them, it's not okay because these ones are probably taken. Besides from the nice atmosphere, there are also BBQ facilities, toilets and lots of bins in case you want to orchestrate a kids birthday party here. There is a pretty big carpark and on the weekends there is usually a coffee van parked in one of the slots for your caffeine needs early Saturday morning. I love this park because it's hidden away and not that many people know where it is yet, for those mums and dads out there looking to take their kids outdoors somewhere for free, maybe have a picnic... this is a pretty good hidden gem of a park really close to the city. Not really that super close to public transport, but it's definetely driveable.

What is there for two recent university graduates do on a Tuesday afternoon other than chill out in…read morePerrin Park and play in the playground? Perrin Park is quite beautiful with is expansive grassy areas, footpaths, fenced area to unleash your dog, plenty of parking spaces, clean toilets, fresh play equipment (some of which is still under construction since the recent flooding), and plenty of trees and shade to rest under. Tucked away in Toowong, this park offers a place to escape. The park is deceptively big with different sections split in the middle by a little creek. There are also some quite fun bike-things to play on. And the best bonus of all is that when I visited it today, there was a mama and a papa duck and 5 little ducklings (one for each star I give this park).

This is the sort of park I wish existed when I was a kid. As it is, I love it as an adult. Why?…read moreBecause finally they've put mini-roller-coasters in parks! Well, not exactly a roller-coaster - but as close enough as we'll get for free in a public park. What is described in elegant fashion by the Totaltravel website as "a pedal powered carson on a circular track" is like a giant toy train on a wheeled closed circuit. Unlike most trains, but similar to vehicular locomotion in The Flintstones, your feet are used to power the train. As fast as you peddle you can't break the kiddie-safe speed, but it's still awesome to ride, like you're a toy human in some giant's train set. I'm not the only immature one, either. The first time I glimpsed the roller-coaster addition to the park and yelled for the driver to stop the car, my companions (in their 20s and 30s) also got out and jumped on. That meant a few of us were late to uni classes. Totally worth it. There's old-school swings (read: new, but not awesome like a giant train) in the playground and there's also a rebound wall and off-leash park for dogs. *This biased review has been brought to you by the creator of the We Should Replace Public Transport With Roller-Coasters Facebook Group.

Got a chance to see the Belle Lume Sculpture and just wow! So very aesthetically pleasing to the…read moreeyes. Very sturdy and beautiful!

From the owner: Over the last 40 years the staff of Natureworks has produced the masters for most of the "high…read morequality" fibreglass life-size animal art currently being sold on the world market. Natureworks has been sculpting moulding and casting life-size wildlife for almost 40 years. The collection of moulds of sculptural features now numbers over 2000 different individual pieces. Casts can be made in a variety of materials from Fibreglass, Glass Reinforced Cement (GFRC), Hard-Coated Urethane Foam and Cold Cast Bronze. New pieces are being created all the time. They can be adapted for domestic use, playground or zoological standard and are designed, reinforced & finished to varying standards as appropriate to its use.

This is one of my favourite escapes in Brisbane. There is enough bushland left here to escape the…read morecity for a short while and be led into believing you're in the countryside. There is also a good chance you'll see monitor lizards, and snakes. I've seen two browns in recent times. Be a little wary--and I think the police should do something about this--but not far from the car park men use the bush as a 'beat'. I hate that part of the park, so escape it and go explore the further reaches. There's a small creek, a bit of a billabong, some different vegetation, and some interesting walking tracks. If you like mountain biking there are some small tracks, but nothing really challenging. I prefer walking as you miss too much on a bike. As said, there is a surprising amount of the natural world left here and it is best appreciated on foot.

Toohey Forest is well known amongst Brisbane rock climbers for its great bouldering areas. For…read morethose who aren't climbers, bouldering is climbing across rather than up and means you don't need ropes or harnesses but is still a great way to get fit and strong and improve your climbing skills. Toohey Forest is the only place other than Kangaroo Point where you can boulder in the outdoors without having to drive several hours away from Brisbane. If you want to give it a go, it's probably a good idea to take a friend to spot you. You might see a few other climbers around but there's always plenty of room for all. Some of the bouldering areas are a bit off the track but its pretty hard to get lost as the park isn't very large.

I used to live in a share house on Hill End Tce, which along with the titular Orleigh St fronts…read moreonto this long and languid riverside recreational area. It was probably the best part of living there, being able to cross the road into a lush shaded hill right on the water. And the renters and homeowners aren't the only ones who can enjoy this feature of their respective abodes, with the area being a favourite hitching spot for scores of backpackers and other wanderers who took advantage on the apparent police amnesty on squatting here in their vans and station wagons. The park is also home to a few friendly (and vehicle-less) local itinerants, like old John, who can be seen wandering shirtless through the suburb with his long Jesus-like locks flapping in the breeze. Apart from the usual barbecue goers, picnicers, parents and children playing, dog walkers, joggers and the like, Orleigh Park also attracts keen anglers, with catches including Rainbow Perch, Catfish and the infamous Brisbane River Bull SHARKS (another reason not to go swimming in the brown water). Last time I visited the park for a friend's birthday picnic, we saw a couple of guys pull in an 80cm baby shark, which they released back into the river. Some of the less discerning fishermen will even eat their catches.

Well done Brisbane City Council - this park has lush green grass, huge spreading trees, shade and…read morewide open spaces for frisbee/cricket, toilets, BBQs, shelter, a well maintained path, plenty of parking, plenty of public transport access and happy people. The park celebrates the river and the good people celebrate it. I love how multicultural the visitors are here. Orleigh is one big beautiful melting pot of West End leisure. Oh and I forgot the Free WiFi!

Paradise Park is (until now, maybe ;) one of Brisbane's best kept secrets. It has a lot to offer: a…read morebasketball half court, a community herb garden, barbecue facilities, a children's playground and the piece de resistance -- a clay cob oven which you can cook pizza in! Last year I made some pizza bases and sauce from scratch and took them, some toppings and some friends down to our little slice of Paradise for some, well, slices of wood-fired paradise. It was a bit of a learning experience. Turns out that to get the best cooking effect you probably want to get there a few hours early so you can get some coals going. Also, a word to the wise, don't use baking paper on your cooking tray or it will stick to the pizza bases during cooking. It can also be hard to get the cooked pizza from the tray, so ideally you want a good metal sliding implement to extract your bounty. A pizza cooking stone would probably hep too. In the end though we enjoyed our pizzas (and easier to extract calzones) immensely and had a really fun time. There was a weird moment about halfway through our little party that we realised that there was a lone figure sitting in the children's playground, nearly motionless (we'd thought it was a trick of the light earlier). Weird. Good pizza though!

Well gee Oliver, I guess if you're going to review this little well kept secret I may as well do it…read moretoo :) Don't hate us locals! We're just trying to share the love! I bback everything Oliver says and more, the vibe of this park is truly lovely, it's like a gentle little patch of a more innocent, peaceful time just waiting to soothe your cares away. I've never tried cooking my own pizza's there, but I'm damn tempted to now - although heating requirement is duly noted.

One of the first things I noticed and found surprising, after moving to Brisbane, was the huge…read morenumber of open green spaces everywhere. Regardless of if I was in the suburbs or in the city, grassy parks and fields never seemed to be far away. Hanlon Park is tucked off Logan Road at Stones Corner. Although not the most relaxing suburb, I really like the park itself. It is sort of wedged in between Lincoln St, Cornwall St, Junction St. Feature wise, the park has a bike track, sporting fields and a playground. The bike track is the highlight for me. It is a really nice ride that you can take at a leisurely pace if you like or do a few laps around the park and backstreets if you want to push yourself a bit more. There is a high degree of tree cover so it is perfect for picnics too. There are a few different cafes to choose from on Logan road a couple of streets down. I have often grabbed a take away coffee then wandered down to the park to chill out for an hour or so.

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!