- Brisbane sightseeing uncovers attractions which make the Queensland capital, sandwiched between the tourist areas of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, a destination in its own right.
Brisbane (pronounced BRIS'bn) is Australia’s third largest city and the capital of Queensland.
But because it lies between the more popular Queensland tourist destinations of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, and the Great Barrier Reef lies along the state’s northeastern seaboard, Brisbane tends to lose out as a tourist centre.
Yet Brisbane has its own unique attractions: a well-sited and comprehensive cultural centre, heritage buildings more than a hundred years old, and an unhurried lifestyle more in keeping with the country than that of a modern, vibrant metropolis.
Brisbane's learned to swing
In years past Queensland was pretty much Joh Bjelke-Petersen country, to the states south of it an almost derisory term arising from the name of its long-serving premier who, together with the conservative National Party (formerly the National Country Party), once held undoubted sway over Queensland.
No matter how people in other states considered him, Bjelke-Petersen was actually extremely popular among his constituents who kept him as their Premier until 1990, when he finally lost favor with the state’s voters.
That Queensland is a conservative wowser area is belied by the swinging Gold Coast and Brisbane’s own restaurant scene and nightlife.
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