South Bank Parklands

South Bank occupies the site of World Expo 88 on the Brisbane River, redeveloped after the fair into a public park of gardens, promenades and restaurants facing the city skyline across the water. Its centrepiece is Streets Beach, a free public lagoon with a sand beach and lifeguards, built in the middle of the city and open year-round. The Arbour, a walkway of steel curves covered in bougainvillea, runs through the park, and a Ferris wheel, a rainforest walk and the Nepalese Peace Pagoda from the Expo remain. The Queensland Cultural Centre, holding the art gallery, museum and library, sits at the northern end, and CityCat ferries stop alongside.

History

South Bank was a meeting place of the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples, became the focus of European settlement in the early 1840s and from the 1850s the business centre of Brisbane, until the floods of 1893 drove the business district to higher ground north of the river and the area declined into theatres, boarding houses and industry. The Queensland Cultural Centre rose here from the 1970s, the site hosted World Expo 88, and when the government planned commercial development afterwards a public campaign won it for parkland, opened on 20 June 1992 (Wikipedia, South Bank Parklands).

Highlights

• Streets Beach - a free man-made swimming lagoon with sand and lifeguards.
• The Arbour - the bougainvillea-covered curved walkway through the park.
• The Nepalese Peace Pagoda - a survivor of Expo 88.
• The river frontage - promenades looking across to the Brisbane skyline.

When to go

April to October for Brisbane's dry, mild season; summer is hot and humid with afternoon storms, though the lagoon is busiest then. Weekend markets run along the river. The lagoon closes periodically for cleaning.

Things to know

Streets Beach is popular and crowded on hot days, particularly school holidays. The park is entirely artificial and urban, not a nature experience. Restaurants along the promenade are priced for visitors.

Nearby

The Queensland Cultural Centre is adjacent; the city centre is across the pedestrian bridges.

Key facts