This is Roma Street Parkland. For more information you can find it on this link. http://www.romastreetparkland.com/. It is a very beautiful park within the Brisbane City, owned and maintained by the Brisbane City Council. Entrance to the park is free. Guided tour by voluntary guides are available at 10am and 2pm, just wait at the Hub, each walk takes about 1 hour.
This is the map of the park. Part of the park used to be an old rail road which was later on taken in by the Brisbane City Council and re landscape it. You can find a lot of electrically heated barbecue pits around the park. Usage is on first come first barbecue basis.
Get to the Lookout point to get a panoramic view of Brisbane City. You will need to walk through the forest and pass through the fern gully bridge. I felt totally out of the city until I actually went up the the deck and realized I was still in the city. I really walked through the jungle. It's cozy, air is fresh, plenty of lush greenery minus the mosquito and leeches.
The lake is really calm and serene. You will see mandarin ducks doing their routine swim around but still looked fat and well feed, birds resting on tree tops or doing some low level flying around. The park is also famous as a location for wedding photography. So, if you are interested maybe you can get your photographer and come here to make some memorable shots.
I didn't hear any frogs around the lake area. However, I did manage to get a picture a big bluish wannabe frog leaping off the wooden deck.
This is a shade made of steel and wood structure. It is also covered with "Lady's Slipper". One thing to highlight is that, there is a lot of Australian Eastern Water Dragon all over the park sun bathing and charging up them selves. You might also find one in this shade. If you happen to bump into one on your way, don't be afraid, they stay clear when you are close.
There is a really huge variety of flora and fauna in the park. If you are a scientist, landscape artist or gardener, you can test your knowledge here naming all of them. Flowers are designed and groomed in various forms and shape. Do check out the horticulture calender at their website to find out which flower will be blooming during the month of your visit.
You can find this native plant in the park. This is the Kangaroo paw. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. These perennial plant is noted for its unique bird attracting flowers. The tubular flowers are coated with dense hairs and open at the apex with six claw-like structures: from this paw formation the common name "Kangaroo Paw" is derived. (wiki)
You can also find Kangaroo alike bushes. It is really cute and nicely trimmed. I just trying to be cute beside this cute kangaroo. Around this area you can also find elephants, caterpillar and others.
It is ok to walk your dog in the park, just make sure that you collect your dog pooh pooh. The degradable plastic bag is available at the entrance. Very thoughtful. At least I don't have to worry about stepping on one mine.
Apparently, a lot of mummies come to the park to exercise. How? Geared up with their strollers, they run around the park with their babies. It should be very interesting if there is a mama stroller race.
All the waters are recycled to run the park. There is a 400,000 liter water tank stored underneath a field. These water are used to water the green and recirculated through the lake and the little water streams. I really wish I have a big cascading mini water fall like this to be the landscape beside my house. Water flows all around the park and the sound of the water flow has a very calming effect.
The Brisbane people are really lucky to have such a big beautiful park to detach themselves from the hustling city life. If you would like to mediate, maybe this is a good spot too. So, do check out Roma Street Parkland when you drop by Brisbane.
