Every city, Brisbane included, has a secret life bubbling away just below the surface (and at times even on the surface) that the majority of residents go about their everyday business without noticing.
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And it is what goes on behind the scenes in a city – the unexpected finds, the different and quirky places - that adds a richness and texture to its life that the in-scene can only dream about.
While it may come as some surprise to many to hear that Brisbane is in possession of a host of interesting little (and big) places, tucked away and populated by characters that are far removed from the usual suspects, it is absolutely true.
You only have to scratch below the surface to find the cheese factory in a suburban house, an unofficial taxi museum on an industrial back street, a wetland in the middle of suburbia, the remnants of historic graveyard behind a sports stadium.
Want to know more? Here are 20 samples of Brisbane's secret life and where to find them:
Brick houses in suburban Holland Park are unlikely places for cheese factories but that's where you'll find Pandelyssi owner and third generation Cypriot cheese maker Patrick busy churning out haloumi, fetta and ricotta with his shiny new machines.
The Skukum Lounge is Brisbane's first bar within a bar – a tiny cabin located at the edge of the groovy alpine woods themed cocktail lounge beloved as The Junk Bar.
It may not be in the inner city but this surely qualifies as Brisbane's most colourful laneway – a tiny traditional slice of Africa with an Ethiopian eatery & Oz espresso bar in its midst, just off a 1960s shopping strip.
An artificial wetland plonked right at the rim of Coorparoo's commercial centre, Bowies Reserve is a small and surprising retreat from the bustling revamped shopping centre nearby.
Few who pass the glass doors of MacArthur Chambers Hotel would know that it was from this building that General Douglas MacArthur directed the Allies in holding back the Japanese invasion of the entire Pacific region. And it is this office, which remains just as it was when he left, that forms part of this intriguing little museum.
A careworn staircase just inside the Mirchh Masala Indian Grocery store leads to the Chaat Court, a secret Indian street food court that peddles the most authentic (vegetarian) street food to be found anywhere in Brisbane. And chaat is the name given to those savoury snacks that are served from roadside stalls and food carts throughout India.
Originally built on the hill in 1939 as one of many similar gravity-fuelled water reservoirs to service their surrounding suburbs, this concrete tower ceased commission in the late 1980's and was sold to a lateral-thinking private buyer at auction in 1992.
Tucked away on a treed hill behind the XXXX Brewery is one of Brisbane's oldest residences – a bishop's residence dating from the 1860s (not open to the public), with a gorgeous stone onsite chapel that dates from the early 1900s.
Venture to the Global Food Village market in Logan Central to find the cheapest fresh produce around Brisbane and where crowds are a melting pot of African, Arabic, Indian, Asian and Islander.
The remnants of Brisbane's first pioneer cemetery can be found nestled behind the gargantuan bulk of Suncorp Stadium, in a pretty little Christchurch churchyard that could be straight out of an English village.
Brisbane's oldest church still in operation, designed by pioneer architect Augustus Pugin, stands among modern skyscrapers in the heart of the CBD and inside is an extraordinary camphor wood statue of Saint Mary MacKillop.
Just off the Bruce Highway at Deagon lies an exquisite temple within a retirement home, where on Sundays visitors can enter an ancient Chinese world of ancestral worship as priests in splendid traditional garb go about their rituals.
Yellow Cab Co Buranda
Surrounded by factories, workshops and Frank's Oysters, out back of Woolloongabba is this cab depot with a curious stash of vintage yellow taxis from throughout the ages stored on site as well as the quirky Cab Rank Café.
The Inala Civic Centre is standard Oz suburban mall out front, with a shopping square out back that could be straight out of South East Asia, packed with multicultural eateries, grocery and fish markets and with locals playing Chinese checkers at tables under the trees. Corsair Ave Inala.
Within the historical Queensland Parliament House buildings is Brisbane's oldest library, containing books and journals from the days of white settlement and the penal colonies.
Every second Friday, the Polish Club at Milton plays host to this authentic little market, the place to pick up Polish salamis, rye bread and locally made Pierogi and all manner of pickled vegetables as well as handicrafts, to the tune of Polish folk songs playing in the background.
Secreted on a tiny patch of green overlooking Newstead is this 'shrine' to the once grand ballroom which graced the top of the hill and whose landmark lit-up arch could be seen from afar at night.
On the southern outskirts of Brisbane is this ethereal Tchaikowsky-esque lake, a magic dappled water world traversed by boardwalk that feels a million miles from urban life and just happens to be nearby the magnificent Chung Tian Temple.
One of Brisbane's best kept seafood secrets lies in the inlet of Cabbage Tree Creek. Here, dotted along the Sinbad St stretch can be found a line-up of fishing trawlers who moor here after their prawn catching adventures at sea.
This little pocket of preserved history off the M3 is more than a collection of buildings but fascinating and real window into yesteryear that is decked out as if the residents still lived there, right down to the lifelike mannequins in period dress.
The post originally appeared on Must Do Brisbane
