Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BRISBANE
POP 2.15 MILLION
Brisbane's charms are evident: the arts, the cafes, the bars, the weather, the old
Queenslander houses, the go-get-'em attitude. But perhaps it's the Brisbane River itself -
which broke so many hearts when it flooded in 2011 and 2013 - that gives the city its edge.
The river's organic convolutions carve the city into a patchwork of urban villages, each
with a distinct style and topography: bohemian, low-lying West End; hip, hilltop Padding-
ton; exclusive, peninsular New Farm; prim, pointy Kangaroo Point. Move from village to
village and experience Queensland's diverse, eccentric, happening capital.
WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
Imagine the shocked faces in 2011 when Aussies flicked on the nightly news and saw swirls of brown river water
flowing through downtown Brisbane! Wild weather across the Sunshine State caused major inundations, with Aus-
tralia's third-largest city recording its biggest flood since 1974. Boats, pontoons, ferry docks, the city's excellent
Riverwalk walkway network and even a riverside restaurant were all picked up and carried off downstream. More
than 30,000 homes in low-lying suburbs were swamped. The clean-up was quick, but then in 2013 it happened
again - not as severe this time, but still devastating for locals who had just finished scraping the river mud out of
their houses from 2011. The Brisbane River: defining and defiling the city all at once.
History
The first settlement in the Brisbane area was established at Redcliffe on Moreton Bay in
1824 as a penal colony for Sydney's more recalcitrant convicts. After struggling with inad-
equate water supplies and hostilities from the displaced local Aboriginal population, the
colony was relocated to the banks of the Brisbane River, the site of the city centre today.
The new site suffered at the hands of numerous crooked warders and was abandoned in
1839. Subsequently, the Moreton Bay area was thrown open to free settlers in 1842, mark-
ing the beginning of Brisbane's rise to prominence.
By the time of Queensland's separation from New South Wales in 1859, Brisbane had a
population of around 6000. Huge wealth flowed into the city from the new pastoral and
gold-mining enterprises in the Darling Downs, and grandiose buildings were erected to re-
flect this new-found affluence. The frontier-town image was hard to shake off, however,
and it wasn't until the 1982 Commonwealth Games and Expo '88 that Brisbane's reputa-
tion as a cultural centre came into being.
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