In between the mainland and North Stradbroke Island, Moreton’s most famous, are smaller islands laid out across the bay. These islands are close enough to Brisbane that many of the residents commute to the city on a daily basis. Continue reading →

A trip to the Queensland can be exciting and fun. At first you may be draw to the beautiful Gold Coast region with its incredible beaches and if you are choosing to stay in this region you will truly enjoy it. It is very lovely. If you are making the trip all the way to Australia from another country then you will want to make sure that you experience all that this corner of the world has to offer and therefore it would be a sin not to take in the many wonderful attractions and items of interest in Brisbane as well. Continue reading →

There was a time when you would only hear about Melbourne or Sydney when someone was talking about jetting off to Australia . Most people hadn’t heard about the Queensland, Brisbane, or the other surrounding areas. Of course, they were popular with those living in the region but those on the other side of the world didn’t have any clue as to what they were missing out on very simply because these regions were not being publicized as tourist areas. Continue reading →

Prior to European settlement in 1824, Brisbane was home to the Jagera and Turrbal Aboriginal clans. The initial settlement in the Brisbane region was formed in Redcliff, Moreton Bay, and north of where the city of Brisbane is presently. This was the initial desire of Surveyor General John Oxley when he was surveying the region on board his ship the ‘Mermaid’ in late 1823. The ship was anchored off Bribie Island when the crew noticed a group of Aborigines and one who seemed larger sized than the rest on the shore. This was an ex-convict named Thomas Pamphlett, one among four men who had left Sydney early that year on an ill-fated journey to sail south in order to purchase Cedar wood. Pamphlett and another comrade survivor, Finnegan, had been living with the Aboriginals for many months until they were noticed. They told Oxley that there was a massive river in the vicinity and interested Oxley set off in a whaleboat to investigate, with a small crew and Finnegan as a guide. He found the river the next day and named it in attribution of the Governor of New South Wales at the time, Sir Thomas Brisbane. He thought the red cliffs at the north of the river was the most ideal location for a new penal settlement, however in 1825, less than a year after the convicts arrived the Redcliffe site was deserted mainly because Brisbane had a more dependable water supply and was surrounded by a bend in the river, suggesting escape was a lot more complicated. Continue reading →