Budget Brisbane’s chic and cheerful – Clare Fitzsimons gets closer to nature for way less in one of Australia’s finest cities, forking out a surprisingly small amount for her stay
Sitting on pale yellow sand decorated by imprints of dozens of tiny silver gull feet, with the Pacific Ocean lapping around my toes, the first hint of an orange and red dawn appears on the horizon.
It’s hard not to think in cliches at moments like these and while “the best things in life are free” is an overused phrase, it does sum up my surroundings pretty perfectly.
Watching a sunrise on the Australian coast is one of those priceless moments people pay a fortune for – but you don’t have to. We all know getting to Oz is never going to be cheap but there are ways to make that once in a lifetime trip Down Under cost not much more than a week in Spain.
I’ll admit the thought of doing Brisbane on a budget at first brought visions of the I’m A Celebrity camp – with all those terrifying spiders, and snakes. But I needn’t have worried as the east coast city’s plush hotels and apartments are remarkably affordable, costing from £79 per room a night.
We stayed at the Oaks Brisbane on Charlotte Suites (from £94 for a one bedroom apartment sleeping two and £141 for two bedrooms) and it was the perfect place to rest up after the 24-hour flight. I flew with Singapore Airlines, with a three-hour stopover at Changi and yes, it’s a long flight, but wasn’t as bad as I’d feared and soon the jetlag was gone.
Brisbane hosted the British & Irish Lions earlier this year and there’s an Ashes Test this December, not to mention the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics, but a slew of free and cheap activities are also on your doorstep. From the botanical gardens, the famous Brisbane sign and the Wheel of Brisbane (like the London Eye but a lot faster), to miles of riverside to wander for hours – and it was all delightfully spider and snake-free.
Not a walking fan? You can jump on the CityCat, which is a boat service ferrying people along the Brown Snake, as the river is known, all for just 50 cents a trip – that’s less than 25p.
This budget friendly approach is not unique to boat services. Trains are the same price and are incredibly easy to use as I discovered when I split my trip and moved south an hour or so to the Gold Coast and the idyllically named Surfers Paradise (with that beach and sunrise).
The accommodation was very affordable there too. We had a two bed suite at The Island Gold Coast, just a few yards from the sea, and its rooms start at £91.
Food prices are similar to Britain but portion sizes are enormous and most meals easily feed two. There are plenty of bargains and special offers to be had – The Island, for instance, does a weekend bottomless grazing lunch (delicious) in its rooftop bar with all food and drink included for less than £40.
In fact, whatever and wherever you choose to eat, from bargain burgers to high-end fine dining (Donna Chang restaurant in Brisbane is a real gem if you’re splashing out), you are pretty much guaranteed to get food with a view.
One of the best was at Joeys, atop a Brisbane cliff with fabulous food you’ll have earned after the steep climb up the steps to get there.
And while that restaurant brought a smile to my face, it was real joeys that warmed my heart during a visit to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary along the Gold Coast.
Hopping excitedly over to eat from my hand, the pint-sized young kangaroos were undeniably cute and even the much larger and slightly more intimidating adults were very gentle and happy to be petted while they munched away on food pellets.
Animal interactions are a huge part of this park, and even locals will often come to the entrance for a morning coffee and to watch (and feed) the lorikeets.
Here for free, even before you go in, staff will give you a small plate of liquid nectar, to which parrots are partial. Next expect flurries of green feathers flocking over in seconds, hanging on the plate, your arms and often your head. A pair of the birds even decided to get a little amorous and start smooching while scrabbling about in my hair – a very odd experience.
But the highlight of the trip was four-year-old Kiki the koala.
Queensland is one of the only states which allows people to hold koalas and the Currumbin is one of the leading animal conservation sanctuaries with its own wildlife hospital treating 16,000 animals a year – including 500 koalas. Kiki was brought over and, while I was grinning like a child, she was placed in my arms for a cuddle and a photo, clinging to me like she was a baby – or more like I was a tree. The park is a bit of a splurge at around £35 for entrance and the koala experiences starting from £30, but it’s easily a full day out and something I’ll never forget.
Even if you don’t leave Brisbane, you can still meet a few of Kiki’s rellies on The Koala and River Cruises (costing just over £55) which takes you up the river to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This time I stroked the equally adorable five year-old Fraser, fed kangaroos and saw everything from dingoes and wombats to crocodiles and snakes.
If wildlife isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other fascinating excursions that won’t break the bank. A trip to Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre takes you back 60,000 years to learn about the ancestors of the first nation people. Going on a walkabout, the guide relates the history of the people and their connection with the land.
Jellurgal is known as the Dreaming Mountain and a Dreaming Story is a tale told through the generations as the people don’t believe in writing down their language so everything is passed on by oral tradition.
Whatever you want from a holiday you can find in Queensland. From thrill-seeking to beach-lazing – the state enjoys more than 300 days of sunshine a year. A day trip from Brisbane to Tangalooma Island Resort on nearby Moreton Island takes you to the white beaches of the third largest sand island in the world (the top two are also in Oz) where you can spend the day sunbathing and watching the enormous pelicans bob along the coastline.
Despite visiting in Australia’s winter, the temperatures were remarkably similar to a British summer, regularly in the 20s.
If views are your thing then the Story Bridge Adventure Climb is the place for you. It’s pricey at £75 but as one of remarkably few climbable cantilever bridges in the world, definitely worth it – even in the very fetching jumpsuit you have to wear.
If that’s not enough of an adrenaline rush, try a kayak trip along the Brisbane River (costing just over £35). Having read the river contains bull sharks, I was a tad nervous. It didn’t help when my brilliant guide from the Riverlife Adventure Centre showed me how to get back into the kayak if I fell out (which largely seemed to be belly-flopping onto the top and wriggling about like an eel).
Despite my fears and a few large wobbles, I managed not to fall in and the sense of achievement (and yes, relief) was palpable on returning to the pontoon 90 minutes later. Shark-infested river survived.
That’s what Australia is, a series of unforgettable moments you’ll be regaling your friends about for years.
And while not all the best things in life are as free as that sunset, they’re a lot closer than you’d think.
Book the holiday
Singapore Airlines offers return flights to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, from Gatwick and Heathrow starting at £1,114 in economy; £2,884 in premium economy. singaporeair.com Rooms at the Oaks Brisbane on Charlotte Suites apartments start at around £94 a night. oakshotels.com Rooms at the ibis Styles Brisbane Elizabeth Street hotel start at around £79 a night. ibisstylesbrisbaneelizabeth.com.au Rooms at The Island Gold Coast hotel in Surfers Paradise start at around £91 a night. theislandgoldcoast.com.au
More info at queensland.com