Immerse yourself in nature – and burn a few calories while you're at it – with a visit to the lovely
Tinchi Tamba Wetlands.
A stroll through this atmospheric reserve makes a wonderful antidote to another hectic week of deadlines, mobiles, televisions, iPods and fast food. In other words, it provides a nice, healthy escape from the rat race.
Situated on the edge of
Moreton Bay, the wetlands encompass 380 hectares of dry eucalypt woodlands, casuarina forests, paperbark swamps, inter-tidal flats, mangroves, saltmarshes, grasslands and swamp pastures.
As a conservation area, Tinchi Tamba contains birds that you'd otherwise not expect to see in Brisbane, like jabiru, avocets and magpie geese. Plus, there are collared kingfishers, sea eagles, eastern curlews, royal spoonbills, brown honeyeaters and migratory shorebirds to feast your eyes on.
Crabs, frogs and lizards also call the reserve home, ensuring that if you walk slowly and keep quiet, you should find plenty of interesting fauna to offset the attractive flora.
Walking, though, isn't the only option. You can also throw out a fishing line, launch a canoe, eat at the picnic tables and wait patiently at the bird hide.
To look at a map of the tracks, which range from one to nine kilometres,
click here.