Mount Coot-Tha/Botanical Gardens

I meant to post this blog earlier but I didn't.  Deal with it.  Don't worry, it''s mostly pictures.

This weekend I decided to walk to Mount Coot-Tha.  It's the highest peak in Brisbane and gives a pretty good view of the city.  It's about a two and a half miles from my house so I lathered on some sunscreen (a lot of sunscreen), and hit the pavement.  On the way up the hill I happened upon the Brisbane Botanical Gardens.  It was free admittance so of course I had to check it out, and I was not disappointed.  The Gardens, which appeared to be run by a group of delightful elderly women, was spectacular.  I walked around the whole park just looking at the wildlife.  There were certain sections dedicated to certain plant life, like an arid section (I have no idea how they keep it arid, it's been raining for days here), a jungle section, Australia country, the fern house, the Bansai house.  It was really a very cool place.

Here are some pictures.

Arid country.  It's like a little piece of SoCal (Southern California to the layman) in Brisbane.

Bio-Dome.  If you've been wondering where Pauly Shore has been living all these years, it's here.

Inside the biodome.  Pretty wicked.

Water Dragon.  There were literally thousands of these in the park.  This was one of the bigger ones, but every step you took you would hear the scurrying of the little ones as the ran away.

Did a double take here.

Ibis.  They are viewed as somewhat of nuisances by Australians.  They just hang around outdoor cafes and restaurants scavenging.  I find them quite beautiful but I'm sure in a couple of months I will hate them too.

Ibis among the Bamboo.

Kookaburra.  I don't think he's in a gumtree though.

Saw these spiders everywhere.  They would often make there webs across walkways.  I let one bite me in an attempt to gain super powers but all I got were a couple extra eyes and the ability to repel people.  Total ripoff.

Flower of the plant variety.

When they grow old enough they fall off the trees and become Hedgehogs.  But really I'm not sure what this is.

Plants and water.

Giant stick bugs.

Sighting of the day.  When I showed these pictures to the lady at the front gate she said that it was a Goanna and that I was lucky to spot one, although she also said that this was probably a baby and they could get much bigger.  It was the biggest lizard I had ever seen in the wild.

On the road.

Again.

Photography coutesy of pleasant Asian couple.

Okay, so after an hour or so walking around the botanical gardens I continued my walk up to Mount Coot-Tha.  They didn't really have a walkway for pedestrians and it wasn't a very scenic route getting there but once I reached the observatory it was pretty nice.  There are a couple of restaurants and some gift shops.  After taking some pictures I sat down with a cup of coffee and did a crossword puzzle while surveying one of Brisbanes finest views.

Brisbane in all of it's glory.

View that doesn't show Brisbane.

I clearly just found out about my camera's panorama feature.

Cafe.

Met a Japanese father and son at the summit.  They took my picture and I took theirs.  Very nice people.

Good day.