Australian beauties under the famous Brisbane Story bridge

Keen to be seen as more than a gateway to the Gold and Sunshine coasts, Brisbane increasingly bills itself as a good-time getaway. But once you’ve ridden the City Cats, climbed the Story Bridge and lolled about on the beach at South Bank, what is there left to do?

 

Plenty, claim insiders, who say the best attractions are among the city’s biggest secrets.
Queensland Police Museum: The 16ha Roma Street Parkland attracts all the attention hereabouts but across the road, on the ground floor of the Queensland Police Headquarters, is an underrated museum full of quirky true crime tales and information about policing in the Sunshine State. Among the more colourful exhibits are a china skull-shaped bong confiscated in a drug raid and a stuffed dog hauled into court as the silent witness to a murder.

Unfortunately, a wax voodoo doll handed into police when witchcraft was still illegal in the state has deteriorated to such an extent that it has been removed from display. A simulated murder scene also allows members of the CSI generation to pit their knowledge of blood spatter patterns, shoe impressions and other aspects of forensic science against the professionals.

Bushranger Bikes: The Queensland capital’s ubiquitous ferries are promoted as the ultimate way to traverse the city. But, for an even more exhilarating sense of sun on your face and wind in your hair, I highly recommend joining a Bushranger Bikes tour.

 

Winding along abundant bike paths, back alleys, boardwalks and bridges, these tours explore the city in all its guises, from the sophisticated central business district to trendy West End artists’ digs.

The Gunshop Cafe: If you need convincing that this cafe was a gun shop until firearm laws were tightened more than a decade ago, look for the bullet holes in the polished wooden floor. With cosy indoor, street and courtyard seating, the Gunshop Cafe is widely regarded as one of Brisbane’s best breakfast joints. Chef Jason Coolen is classically trained but can’t resist adding his own subtle twists to dishes. If you like eggs benedict, for instance, you’ll love his vodka-cured salmon with spinach, poached eggs and hollandaise.

The same sense of innovation applies to the ever-changing lunch and dinner menus. Celebrities, including the boys from local band Wolfmother, hang out here, but it’s not a place for autographs. Just drink your coffee and be cool.

XXXX Ale House Tour: It’s not so much a secret as a case of something that’s so blindingly obvious, and so central to the Queensland psyche (despite the present ownership), that it’s often overlooked. The flashing neon sign on the enormous 120-year-old brick brewery looms over Milton Road like a giant expletive deleted.

Tours of the relatively new XXXX Ale House explore the history of this parochial brew and the evolution of the grinning and winking Mr Fourex character before walking visitors through yeasty-smelling operational areas that include filling and packaging lines. The tour concludes with the opportunity to sample different brews, including the original XXX beer, which is available nowhere else.

Emporium Hotel: A flamboyant, flushed-red foyer framed by steel and chrome and smiles. Elaborate, hand-blown chandeliers. Animal prints. Geometrics. Boudoirs decorated in deep chocolate. Endless, endless mirrors. It could be a luxurious harem or high-class bordello: stepping into the Emporium Hotel in Fortitude Valley is a deliciously disorienting experience. And that’s before the early morning rooftop swim, during which we look up to spot a lazy flock of hot-air balloons drifting across the sky

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The bar, with its creative cocktail menu and walls of wine, adds to the sense of unreality and eclecticism. There’s no in-house restaurant but this 106-suite boutique hotel is situated amid a sophisticated shopping and dining district.

Brisbane Jazz Club: Hunkered amid shadows cast by the plush Kangaroo Point apartments, and within walking distance of the orange lights of the Story Bridge, this is the only jazz club in Australia with its own premises.

A gently sloping floor leading towards the Brisbane River gives the eerily buoyant feeling of being aboard a cruise ship and is testament to the Brisbane Jazz Club’s former incarnation as a boatshed. Different styles of live jazz feature every weekend, from 1960s-inspired quintets to 20-piece orchestras and younger, more experimental styles that raise the roof.

Established musicians and upcoming talent from the nearby Queensland Conservatorium feature on the program and the vibe is mellow.

QUT Art Museum: The Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art stand ostentatiously across the river, but this lower-profile museum also has a significant amount to offer. Established in 1945, the Queensland University of Technology art collection is one of the largest in the state, with strengths including Queensland art and other Australian paintings, prints and multimedia works. A busy program of public talks and demonstrations at the QUT Art Museum aims to increase accessibility. Make a day of it by bringing a picnic to enjoy in the City Botanic Gardens just opposite (guided walks of the gardens depart twice daily).

 

Those planning holidays well ahead may wish to note that Old Government House, next door, is undergoing extensive renovations and will reopen in early 2009 with greater access and self-guided tours.