Sunday, April 8, 2012

EASTER SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Today it has been so quiet on our street.
Easter Sunday and there's no-one around.
I guess it's because the school holidays have fallen on both sides of Easter this year.
Everyone has gone off to the beach to take advantage of the lovely weather after a wet Summer
and left us alone-ish in our little suburban patch.

A little outing was what we needed this afternoon so we set out for the city for a walk  around Southbank Parklands hoping for some good photos tonight of one of the city bridges lit up especially for Autism Awareness Week.

This is what we found.....



This is where all the people were !


All sunning themselves and swimming at the beautiful artificial beach in Southbank Parklands.


By the time we arrived many were packing up their picnics, towels and eskys as the afternoon began to cool down but there were still a few hardy characters swimming.


It is a little more than a year since floods devestated large portions of the parkland and the beach area was severely hit.

The bouganvillea walk beckoned in the distance.


This specially constructed pathway winds through the Parklands.
Each of the supporting pylons is a different shape. Cables are strung between them and bouganvillea is trained along the cables.


As you can see it is only just beginning to flower in some places
but when in full flower the effect is stunning.



A yellow  roof  provides shelter from sun and rain in some of the more open sections.
 
 


Some sections have better coverage than others.
 
 
 




This section is relatively new and the plants are just beginning to run along the cables.

But lovely bouganvillea is not the only plant to grab our eyes today.

Dramatic heleconias peeped from behind the lush green foliage





and flowering gingers were at their showy best.


Lovely umbrella- shaped Poinciana Trees provide welcome shade



Bottle Trees that store water in their trunks
and delightful gum trees too.


I'm not really fond of the modern use of grasses as landscaping plants


Just looks like the garden is over run with weeds to me !!


This new section was constructed for viewing live performances.



We walked over the Goodwill Pedestrian Bridge taking in the view of the city.


Not a bad for a city that was only settled by Europeans less than 200 years ago !


We waited for night to fall - about 6:00pm these days - and as we travelled home the bridge came into sight.

Decorated in lights to a design painted by an autistic teenage boy.


Sorry about the blurred photo.
 The CityCat was travelling quite fast as we sped under the bridge.

Home for bacon and egg toasted sandwiches for tea.

Cheers.
Posted by Picasa

13 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your beautiful city. I have learned so much today. I hope you had a wonderful Easter, as I begin my Easter Day Celebrations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Helsie! It looks like you had a wonderful day. What a beautiful park and swimming hole. I'd love to sit there and people watch and maybe crochet a little! Nice pictures. Happy Easter to you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful post Helsie! Happy Easter to you and Hubs! What a stunning park and swimming lake! I would love to walk around it and just take in all the beauty. Your city is really nice...to Americans anything that is 200 years old is really old. Thanks for sharing all these fantastic photos. It's quiet here today too. Most of our neighbors are gone to visit family. If it warms up enough I'm going to sit out on our porch. It's been sunny here but cool.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow.Wow.Wow is all i can say.What a beautiful area.So impressed.Thank you.It's been a cold damp Easter Sunday here in North Wales.

    ReplyDelete
  5. beautiful! all that sunshine and blue skies! The bouganvillea walk is divine, I should love to see that.
    Here in England we watched the egg-rolling competition down the tor :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love Brisbane, and the weather has been superb!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a gorgeous park, gorgeous structures and plantings. Thanks so much for sharing.
    Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love your photo tours as I know they have been constructed by a genuine inhabitant and not by a marketing company or some tourism authority. And yes, it is amazing to think how much can evolve in just 200 years.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a beautiful holiday you had. Guess what, I'm seeing lots of your trees and flowers down here in Florida. Must be a seaside weather thing we don't have up north in Chicago. And yes, it's our finally week, I'm sort of ready to get back now that I've been told my tulips are all in bloom. Glad to have popped by to check in and know all is well.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, that is a super idea, that bougainvillea walk! Fabulous!

    I think you'd be able to really enjoy the spectacular flowers when they are up high like that. I don't like them down low because of the prickles tho!

    And I loved your pics of the artificial lake beach thing. Wonderful.

    Lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Helsie, that park is so beautiful! I absolutely love your pictures. We're having typical April weather in the UK at the moment, sun,grey clouds,showers,wind - you name it.x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Everybody leaving you in the quiet while they go elsewhere - sounds like bliss.
    What beautiful flowers you have. it al looks so luxuriant. Are there smells too? From the trees as much as the flowers, I mean? Whenever I'm in southern climes, the first thing I notice is the smell of cypress trees.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Foody: Strangely no, no scent that I noticed anyway. Bouganvillea is all colour and no scent .. and yes it is nice to have some peace around you in the suburbs though I must say our neighbourhood is quite a quiet one.
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete