After a recent falling out with my local child care centre, I needed to find another centre - stat!…read more I needed a centre close to my home, but most importantly a centre that was professional and fun! All of the children here seem pretty happy, and the staff are extremely professional and very friendly. The centre is clean, air-conditioned and they have great facilities including an outdoor, undercover playground and a sandpit! My daughter who is 2 has been attending this centre now for four weeks (3 days a week) and I couldn't be happier. If you are looking for a great child care centre on the Northside make sure you drop into Goodstart Learning on the Boulevard.

Currently involved with a wedding expo. The update is beautiful and they have kept the heritage…read morestyle look. Pipe organ is plain awesome and I am happy to be the first petson to drive a car inside since the revamp. Can't wait for this to get started

I remember my Grandfather telling me that when he arrived in Brisbane around 60 years ago this was…read morethe tallest building in the city...which as a kid and even now amazed me as almost all of the giant structures in its vicinity dwarf it considerably. Its one of those buildings that you just have to check out if you get the chance as there aren't too many of them left. Buildings like City Hall offer us a beautiful look into this city's past, showing us the architecture of the time and how far we have come, allowing us to imagine how things were when our parents or grandparents saw them with their own eyes. I was fortunate enough to take a good look around the inside of this place before they started the restoration/renovations a few years ago and I remember telling myself 'wow, this is breathtaking, I want to live here, move out council officials I'm moving in!' - Unfortunately that didn't happen...but my attempts at staying there for an extended period one day went quite well until my friends and I were kicked out...No I am not a squatter although I suppose you could label what we were doing as that...We had decided one day to get into the lift, take it to the top of the clock tower and see how long we could stay up there without being asked to leave. You see the view from up there although obstructed by the architectural monstrosities of today is still worth the trip. I hope they will allow the public to go up into the tower once more as last I heard they restricted access long ago (maybe the restorations will change that). I cant wait to see what they have done with the place!

Omigoshness. I look at Kidspace and think about my childhood spent roller skating across the living…read moreroom in a cramped apartment in Hong Kong and want to cry. We are so lucky in Australia to have so much space to spend on our children. When it comes to parklands, I'm pretty grateful for all the public parks across Brisbane but Kidspace in Chermside really stand out. It's been designed for all ages. There are picnic tables with BBQs and easy access toilets (including disabled facilities). For the older kids there are wide paths for riding, scootering, skating and a half sized tennis court as well. The play area is shaded and there's a great fort suitable for babies, toddlers and younger kids. Southsiders take note: This family friendly park is worth the drive.

The 7th Brigade Park is huge, apparently one of the biggest parks in Brisbane. It runs from Newman…read moreRoad in Geebung, all the way through to Murphy Road and Chermside Shopping Centre. I have only just recently discovered this park is all connected and now I've started walking through the park to the Chermside Library or Shopping Centre. There are two playgrounds or play areas, separated by large sports fields, trees and bicycle and walk paths. At the Newman Road end of the park, there is a playground and exercise equipment, as well as BBQ areas, shelters and lots of space for large groups. There are toilets down this end too. Towards Chermside Shopping Centre, along Murphy Road, there's a huge play area called Kidspace. Kidspace covers an area approximately the size of 5 homes and includes a large undercover play area, electric BBQ's, toilets, shelters, bench tables and seating. There's also a basketball ring and half court and a tennis court with a rebound wall. There is parking at both ends, and the gates to these parking lots are open from 6am to 9pm. A network of shared bicycle/walk paths run throughout the park, and there are exercise stations along the pathway - hurdles, chin ups and sit ups to name a few. 7th Brigade Park is also dog friendly. Dogs are allowed throughout the park and there are a couple of specific off-leash areas for dogs.

This might seem like a strange place to Yelp, but going to watch a court case at the Law Courts is…read morea really interesting way to spend a morning or afternoon in Brisbane. Now I'm not touting this as entertainment as the cases you see are often of a very serious nature, but if you have any interest in the workings of the law or functioning of society, go along. Not all cases are open to the public, but all you have to do is go up to the front desk when you first walk in and find out what's on. It's a bit hit and miss--some days it might be all really boring stuff, but on other days you could get lucky and wander in on a murder case. Be mindful that the general atmosphere there is quite somber and there are a few rules of etiquette to observe. Firstly, dress respectfully. Try to wear a decent pair of shoes and modest clothing. Secondly, you may enter a court room at any time, but you must nod/bow to the judge upon entering and make your way quietly and directly to a seat. Thirdly, make sure your mobile phone is on silent! Lastly, be mindful when leaving the courtroom that you don't go talking loudly about the case as you don't know who might be within ear shot, eg. Friends or relatives of someone involved. I think this is something that everyone should do at least once, a) because it's interesting and b) it's good to know how these things work, as it's not quite how it looks in the movies!

Ferny Grove Recycling & Waster Transfer Station is the rubbish tip for the north side of Brisbane…read more There's been many a trip through my life where I've visited to dump all stuff that can't be put in the wheelie bin or picked up by road collection. In these instances I've had to pile up the trailer and do it myself. Depending on how much you are recycling and throwing away you will have to pay. So it's very important that you keep those free tokens that the BCC leave in your letterbox once a year. The staff you'll really encounter are the ones in the booth at the entry and exit of your journey. It isn't like the tips you see on television with their mountains of refuse, it's a big concrete pit where items are thrown into and then crushed so there nobody wading through it looking for little treasures. Just junk.

In recent years, Brisbane has undergone a city wide upheaval. Once upon a time, where Brisbane…read moreSquare stands now used to be a park. A nice humble square of grass that bordered the mayhem of the Queen Street Mall. It was a lovely place to go to roll around in the grass, take a short time out, or to meet someone. I fondly remember a couple of protests I went to there as well. When the bob cats and bulldozers moved in and tore up the grass, I was furious. I was convinced it was another case of tearing up public space for commerical ventures. I had a mixed reaction when Brisbane Square was unveiled. There was no greenery anywhere. Some eateries (Coffee Club is one of them, no less) and a few shops had opened up. I was right! However, to soften the blow of losing a beloved park, they had built a state of the art library there, and had installed some recycled public art works there. I don't exactly know what they are, but they look like old school colanders that have been welded together into giant balls. They are scattered throughout the square and are actually pretty cool. You can climb up on top of the big ones and chill slightly above the rest of the city goers. The Brisbane City Library is famous now. It's a dominant feature of the city scape, thanks to those giant lego block architectural features. The facilities are fantastic, it's all brand new, spick and span, and it has a cafe inside for when your brain and eyes want to zone out from all the reading you're getting into. As a side note, Brisbane Square becomes a market place on Wednesdays. It's the best for having a deliciously tasty lunch, or getting your farm fresh fruit and veggies while you're in city centre. Bonus! So it turns out that Brisbane Square, despite there being no grass, is still a great place to take a reprieve from inner city hustle. Now, when a friend calls to ask where to meet them, I will usually reply that I'll be sitting on one of the balls in Brisbane Square.

Brisbane Square used to be what we all considered a park - but it was never a park, just a vacant…read morelot owned by developers that was used as a thoroughfare / lunch spot by city workers. Due to this I was pretty relieved when I saw there's still plenty of public space after the development was completed (I also thought it was pretty nice of them to let it be a park while they were figuring out what to do with it). The Brisbane City Council and Brisbane City Library are pretty big tenants, along with Suncorp bank, so that has probably influenced the amount of public use. There's no more grass, but there are great community markets and plenty of benches to eat your lunch if you need a fresh air break. It's also pretty much right on the river if you feel like taking a stroll afterwards.

This entire area of Brisbane is known for koalas and other native fauna, but you'd be hard pressed…read moreto see them in the neighborhoods. Thankfully this park sits right in the middle, a beautiful wild and wooded area. It's open during the daylight hours and is popular for group meetings and picnics. You must visit the Daily Hill Koala Centre on your visit near the entrance. The one-way road rings the park to various parking areas with gazebos and public restrooms. There are fields with open grass for games. The real draw for me was coming here with my friend in the twilight hours, when the wallabies were active and all over the fields grazing. They're wild but it was possible to get close enough for photos and to watch them. This is a natural and free place to visit, so if you're nearby it's worth stopping in.

After experiencing many birthday parties and barbeques here growing up, I returned the other day…read morefor the purpose of introducing a backpacker friend to some of our native fauna. I had forgotten how enormous, and how fantastic, the place is. When you drive in you are taken on a one way ring road which loops around the park area in the middle, most of which is hidden among trees, but there is also a clearing where many games of amateur cricket, bocce and touch footy take place. It's a very popular spot, with many families taking advantage of the numerous free barbeques and picnic tables scattered throughout the lofty gum trees. The park area is just one aspect of the reservation however, outside the ring road the trees stretch on and it is here that you can explore the many winding trails that run through the bush. The trails are popular with cyclists, walkers, horse riders and joggers, with some of them dedicated specifically to one form of transport, while others are for general sharing purposes. The best thing is that when you arrive you might be tricked into thinking, by the appearance of the often packed car parks that the place is crowded, but it's very spacious and there are so many trails and paths that you rarely see an unfamiliar face. You can just huddle in with your own group and feel like you have the place to yourselves. By the way I should mention that, much to my tourist friend's delight, we spotted a couple of wallabies, one of which had a joey peeking out from her pouch. It's definitely a great place to take any international visitors you might have.

This is a great community library that has a lot of events focussed for children and parents. They…read morehave regular weekly events including Children's storytime, Toddler time and Crafty Kids. The library also has a training area for adults, where they hold training sessions for Introduction to Computers, eBay: an introduction, Discover Email, Digital Photo Editing and more. There are a number of meeting rooms which can be booked out for any type of meeting. There is a weekly meet up for people who want to play Boardgames on Friday nights, called Critical Mass, and I've seen a number of knitting and crotchet clubs meet up there. These days libraries are more than just shelves of books. The Chermside library has about 20 or so computers that patrons can use at their leisure. The kid's section is really interactive, with a space theme and educational games to play. There are also two XBOX 360's available for anyone to play, as well as The Coffee Hub where you can sit back with a book or newspaper and have a coffee and cake.

Having had to move to Brisbane during those formative and…read morepainfully awkward teenage years, I remember too well how much of a refuge this place had been for me. Away from the oppressive 30+ degree summer days and the reluctance to stay at home. I came here to use the internet, hang out with my brother and to devour mostly everything on the shelves. What my brother loves most about this place is that he could rent out the xBox and play in the game centre for hours. (Which completely defeats the purpose of GOING to a library but whatevz.) Like Matilda I would rapturously borrow books (Always reaching the 25 limit) and spend many rainy afternoons perusing the stacks. The sense of community in this library is great, They regularly hold meetings for organisations as diverse as the camera club to programmes for parents and kids. Right next to the chermside pools and a hop skip and a jump from Westfield shoppingtown, Chermside library makes for a great place to visit.