In the closing week or two at Brisbane we headed out west (and north-west) to the inland must-see spots of Mount Coot-tha and to Slickers horse riding’s near Dayboro.

Alex has been busy working to bring in a little money as well as writing his novel so hasn’t had the chance to write up a new blog entry so I offered to take the reins and update all you lovely people on our latest adventures. I should warn you in advance though, it has been suggested by some that I have a tendency to ramble and so with this in mind I would ask you to stop reading, go make yourself a cuppa and when you’re back make sure you’re nice and comfy.

Okay. Are you ready? Then I shall begin…

In our penultimate weekend in Brisbane we decided to take a trip to Mt Coot-tha, not only does the area have an amazing view across Brisbane, it also has botanical gardens, a planetarium and a good restaurant. Although you could probably visit everything in the space of one day, we actually did it across the whole weekend. On the first day we visited the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. Although not particularly large, there was a combination of awesome photos, cool models and facts that I never knew – for example, did you know that the surface of Venus has been mapped and named? It just seems like an incredible feat to me.

After the Planetarium we nipped into the Botanic gardens, however it was approaching 4pm and we soon realised that many of the gardens within the gardens closed around 3.30pm. So after a short amble through the main park we decided to make our way to the summit of Mt Coot-tha. The view was meant to be quite a spectacle and we certainly weren’t disappointed. You could see so much, from the cluster of the citys’ skyscrapers, to the large outline of Mt Gravatt, the grassy domain of Archerfield airfield and Straddie sitting on the horizon. In addition to the view point, Mt Coot-tha is also home to the Summit Restaurant. Every table is orientated to make the most of the magnificent scenery it overlooks and the food was meant to be quite tasty too, so we had planned to have the Sunset menu that evening. However we had not considered booking ahead and therefore there was no table spare for us that night. Luckily there was space for the following night so we booked up and headed home ready to do it all again the next day.

We drove to the Botanic gardens earlier the next day and were able to appreciate the full extent of the gardens. There was a Japanese garden that both Alex and I loved – simple, tranquil and peaceful – we’d like to have something of our own like that one day. After wandering through there we walked through a path lined with Bamboo – complete with a couple of shiny Pandas and onto the Bonsai House. Now I’ve seen plenty of Bonsai trees in England, often very small and presented as a good gift idea in shops, but none of them had the appeal of the ones we saw in the Bonsai House – they really were mini trees, and how the tree is sculpted as it grows is quite an artform. There are different names for the different ways that one can sculpt a Bonsai and it is important that the style of the pot the tree lives in balances with the shape of the tree itself. I’ve never quite seen the attraction of Bonsai trees before but there was something about the ones we saw then that changed my mind.

In addition to the Japanese Garden and Bonsai House there was also a Fern House, a Tropical Dome, an Arid plain and the beautiful main garden, which consisted of a wide variety of flora from all over the globe.  The fern house didn’t really inspire me, but Alex found them to be quite impressive. They are ancient flowerless plants which have a prehistoric past. There are two types of fern trees which grow in different ways and both are different again to what we would consider as a “normal” tree. The tropical dome had a high humidity and contained a pond with a pretty water lily sitting on it, and the Arid plain contained various cacti and some orchids. One of the orchids actually had quite an interesting method of ensuring pollination as well – it actually traps and drugs the insects that come to it and then only allows them to exit via a route that covers them in pollen.

So after seeing the gardens properly we made our way up to the summit of Mt Coot-tha for a second time, looking forward to the meal awaiting us. We took the opportunity of the remaining light to stare out over the views of Brisbane once more before being seated in the restaurant in time for the sun to set. Now I feel I should mention that the waiter who served us was quite a character but I don’t think I can write a description of him to do him justice so I shall leave it at saying that our night was more enjoyable because of him. The Summit restaurant is quite a fancy restaurant as they go (the type where they place your napkin on your lap for you) and the food was delicious. Our table was allowed us to admire the view as the final light of the sun faded into the distance, giving way to the twinkling lights that is Brisbane at night. The view at night was half the reason of us coming to Mt Coot-tha and it was brilliant. Each time you looked back out over the vast panorama, more and more lights appeared.

Although we had taken a few photos outside in the daylight, we were hoping to get a picture of us together (a rarity so far) with the stunning backdrop. However in order to get the view through the window we couldn’t use the flash inside so Alex fiddled around and set up my camera and at the end of the meal we asked the waiter (not the awesome one) to take our photo. The problem was at this point of the evening the restaurant was filling up and you could tell he wanted to get on with other things, the result was that he didn’t hold the camera still for long enough, consequently giving us a very blurry image. He offered to take another, but the same problem kept occurring. We resorted to the flash to try and get a picture of us together even without the fairy-lit backdrop, however the flash was too bright and made us very pale indeed. Nevermind. After the meal we sat outside looking over the view and talking about nothing in particular. We decided to try and take a couple of pictures, the result is that we now have a picture of us each with the twinkling backdrop – it was just a shame we didn’t get one together.

Then before we knew it Monday had arrived and the week was consumed with working, eating, reading and sleeping.

During our final weekend in Brisbane we went on a Winery Horsetrail. In short, it was amazing. Alex had only been on a horse once before when he was a kid and he can’t really remember details about it so I was hoping that the reviews would ring true and Slicker’s would be a good choice for both newbies and more experienced riders. The ride left around 10am, the group stays together for part of the way before branching into two groups: beginners and more experienced. Although I felt I hadn’t ridden much lately, Daryl (who owns Slickers) encouraged me to join the “big kids” and if I found it too much then all I had to do was turn around and wait for the other group to catch up as the same route is taken but the big kids do it at a faster pace!

I had got on well with my horse, Caesar, so I decided to go with the big kids and I didn’t regret it. There is nothing that can match the feeling of cantering up gentle slopes and galloping across open fields. The group was a mixture of riders: Daryl; a couple of very experienced riders; a rider of similar ability to me; myself; and then Hosam (at least I think that was his name…). Hosam rode a tall palamino, wore a flamboyant shirt and had an attitude to match – quite the character. We made it to the Winery for about 1pm and the other group joined us about half an hour later. Here we enjoyed a delicious lunch, wine tasting, cheeseboard and good company. Around 3.30pm we saddled up again for the return ride. Once back at the yard (around 5ish) I was able to help out (as all the big kids did) untacking, washing and feeding our horses. The perfect end to a fantastic day. Whilst I was still tending to Caesar, Alex returned on Chief in one piece 🙂 Despite a slight stirrup issue he had to deal with throughout the ride, he had enjoyed the day too. We only have a few photos from the day but the memory of it will last a lifetime (I will try not to repeat the story to everyone too much when we are back home but I just had such a great day).