Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

It is five a.m. and I am sitting on the patio watching and listening to the rain falling. The temperature is a cool 63 degrees. I woke about an hour ago and watched the dawn light gently lighten the white vertical shades covering the windows of my bedroom. The lightening of the sky was heralded by a profusion of birds merrily calling to each other that this was a new day. There were at least four different bird species singing away, though I couldn’t see any of them from the bedroom window.

Brisbane is the third largest city in Australia, as well as the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland. It is set close to the Pacific Ocean and is situated on the Brisbane River. Brisbane is 1,011 km (628 miles, approximately Houston to Amarillo, TX) North of Brisbane, and 4,384 km (2,724 miles, approximately Los Angeles to New York) east of Perth.

This area of Australia was originally inhabited by the Turrbal people whose ancestors migrated to the region across the Torres Strait from Papua New Guinea. The first western explorers arrived in 1823 and this led to the establishment of a harsh penal colony in 1824 at Redcliffe, 28km to the north. It was established at the direction of Sir Thomas Brisbane who was Governor of New South Wales from 1821 – 1825 and whose name was used for the new city. The colony was moved to what is now the location of the Brisbane Central Business District in 1825, and free settlers were permitted from 1842. It was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony, in 1859.

Population of Brisbane is 1.8 million, slightly less than Houston’s population of 2.1 million. Brisbane at 1,804 square miles with an average of 916 people per square mile is significantly larger and less crowded than Houston’s 580 square miles with an average of 3,701 people per square mile. Both cities have a humid subtropical climate though Houston’s mean minimum temperature at 45 degrees f (seven degrees C) is five degrees lower than Brisbane and the mean maximum temperature at 94 degrees f (34 degrees C) is 8 degrees warmer than Brisbane. Rainfall in Brisbane is 114.6 cm (45.1 inches) some 22.5 cm (8.9 inches) less than Houston.

Laurie Lawrence swim school

Every Saturday morning Colin takes Chloe for a swimming lesson at the Laurie Lawrence swim school along with friends Duncan and their Chloe. The children and parents are in the pool together and the children learn breath control and survival skills. They learn how to swim underwater and the feel of their own buoyancy. In this lesson Chloe was encouraged to jump into the water from a submerged ledge and towards the end of the lesson to jump from the edge of the pool towards Colin’s outstretched arms.


Roma Street Parkland.

The World’s largest subtropical garden in a city center. The gardens were developed on the site of the Roma Street railyards. We walked through the gardens and played with Chloe on the swings and slide and climbing frame.
The Spectacle Garden was indeed spectacular with vibrant colors from many colorful and unique subtropical flowering plants. Other parts of the park were arranged so that each area focussed on a specific type of subtropical flora. Around the lake the plantings focussed on wetland species, the forest recreates a subtropical rainforest and the Arid Garden focusses on plants that thrive in the arid interior.