Walking over family ground

In my family, our grandfather was a mystery. He has been talked of, speculated about, but no one could pin down his elusive past. One period we were certain of, was when he owned a large stretch of land.

Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens

Last visit to Brisbane, I walked through the downtown botanical gardens. This visit I ventured through Brisbane’s second and newer botanical gardens located at the foot of Mt Cootha.

A hike beyond the park

I left Fellmonger Park and followed Hilliards Creek under a bridge and reached a modified weir. Steps had been installed to allow fish to come up the stream and pass between the rocks.

Fellmonger Park

Once this was the location of wool washers who used Hilliards Creek to scour wool after it was shorn from sheep. Fenced in were the remains of the buildings where scouring took place, but I wasn’t here for a history lesson, but a hike.

Turtle Swamp Wetlands

While trees were being bulldozed to build more houses, Russell Island’s Turtle Swamp Wetland was preserved. This was a place to soak up the beautiful squiggly bark gum trees, grass trees and paper barks.

Place of the magpie lark

Not far from the ruckus of Brisbane’s Carindale Shopping Centre, I hiked a trail through Tillack Park lined with paper bark trees. The pathway mirrored Bulimba Creek; an Aboriginal word meaning place of the magpie lark. While this was a common bird with a musical call, I only spotted a pigeon.

Among the paper barks at Indiscapes

Located just out of Brisbane in the Redlands area, the bushland setting housed a restaurant. I walked towards the building through paper barks, a tree often used in artwork. Some artists created an entire picture using the outer layer from these trees. Left alone, they are one of my favourite native trees.