Day 12

When Beate called up to Isabel telling her breakfast was ready, I awoke as well. I spent some time on the computer and cleaning before heading off on my excursion into the city. I had planned to visit the City Botanical Gardens across the river. I walked through South Bank Park (which you’ve seen lots of photos of) by the river. There were considerably more people about since it was the weekend. I headed along the Arbor (curly, spiral metal structure with flowers) towards the pedestrian bridge. I crossed completely to the other side, to begin walking through the Gardens.

The first section I happened upon was the mangrove, filled with white and grey mangrove trees, birds, waves from the water, and a slight smell in the air that reminded me of the ocean despite the lack of salt.

There was a boardwalk over the water and it was comfortable to sit there on a bench with my eyes closed just listening. The tide was going out, so you could see all the wet sand with the baby mangrove shoots popping through. I could see sailboats on the river, kayakers, and the huge stone cliffs on the opposite side. Instead of sticking to the path directly along the river, I headed up the stairs, picking a wooded path. It was on a dirt trail, with all sorts of tropical trees around me.

I ended exiting on a huge lawn next to two small ponds with ducks and a statue. Crossing the lawn I proceeded to walk through a bamboo alley, and then to the other end of the park admiring the huge, green trees, flowers, and palms.

Near the entrance that leads straight into the heart of the city, there were larger ponds with huge fountains shooting directly up into the air, about 14 ft tall. I got sprayed with some mist.

There were lots of birds around, plenty of ibises (the white and black bird from an earlier post). I saw my first wild kookaburra, the first I saw at Lone Pine.

I exited the park and walked past the QUT campus, Queensland University of Technology, the Parliament:

and the Old Government House.

There are a lot of universities here; I walked past Southbank Technology on my way home.

I cannot put into words the great joy I felt at seeing all this natural beauty. I love nature with all my existence, simply put, it makes me incredibly happy. On the way back through the park I walked by the river and headed into the mangrove again, to sit there eating an apple.

I headed back across the river to South Bank and lay down on the beach. It was warmer in the sun, I still had a short sleeved sweater on and rolled up long pants, but some people were swimming. I stuck my toes in the chilly water. I spent nearly an hour there, just daydreaming, before heading back.