When The Drifters recorded Under the Boardwalk, clearly they'd never been to Brisbane - a city that may be rife with boardwalks but none that you'd want to hang out under unless you were a soldier crab or mangrove root.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In Brisbane boardwalks don't come with distant parks, carousels, hot dogs, French fries or amorous activities on blankets (at least not to my knowledge), although they are a useful place to be when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof and the streets get so hot you wish your feet were fireproof (as is often the case in Brisbane).
No, instead boardwalks in and around our fair city are an entirely different affair, found mostly in our bountiful wetlands, with distant birds, kangaroos, hot frogs and crabs on mudflats. And, without a plethora of manmade attractions, they make a cracking good way to escape the everyday and discover new, strange, secluded and ethereal words that exist right on our doorstep.
With this in mind, here are the best and most beautiful places in and around Brisbane to take time out for an hour or a day and tramp (above) the boardwalks:
Tabbil Ban Dhagan Mangrove Boardwalk
There's almost nothing to compare to this ethereal uninhabited stretch of Nudgee fronting Cabbage Tree Creek. Boardwalks meander through clumps of mangroves and alongside lovely seascapes...more
Berrinba Wetlands
This state of the art family friendly trail through some reclaimed wetlands in the Logan region is a best kept local secret, with outlooks over billabongs and lakes, with bonus picnic facilities & BBQs...more
Tinchi Tamba Wetlands
Nearby the more famous Boondall Wetlands is this lesser known (except to anglers), yet stunning wetland on a bend in Pine River, with an other-worldly she-oak forest, bird hides and kangaroos...more
Wynnum Mangrove Boardwalk
A series of interconnected accessible-for-all boardwalks takes visitors on a tour of a tranquil water world of eerily breathtaking beauty that feels a million miles from anywhere...more
Billai Dhagan Track
The most popular track through the Boondall Wetlands is a level 2km walk that is dotted with indigenous totems as it snakes its way through a fantastic variety of landscapes..more
Purga Nature Reserve
On the outskirts of Ipswich is this secreted track less travelled – a short circuit through the largest remnant of Swamp Tea Tree that still exists in Australia, with the chance to spot roos & wallabies...more
Point Halloran Reserve
Take a boardwalk stroll at Victoria Point alongside Jurassic-like forests, swamps and bird ponds to join up with a wet'n'wild circuit via red gums and tea trees to the lunar like red claypan flats...more
- This article first appeared at Must Do Brisbane.
