Glindemann Park
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During our recent two week holiday in Brisbane, I took daily early morning walks in the neighbourhood around Mt. Gravatt, where our son Arun lives.
I was enamoured by the sweet smell of the jasmine flowers that grew bountifully in virtually all the hedges of the homes I passed by; the other flower that captivated me was the Tibocina – I have two large bushes in my home garden in Petaling Jaya but the flowers in Brisbane were twice the size of my flowers at home.
I also looked forward to getting up early for my morning walks because I was fascinated by the many birds I saw feeding especially on the Bottlebrush (Callistemo) trees along my route – in particular, I loved seeing the beautiful multi-coloured Rainbow Lorikeets – very active birds who tested my patience because they would fly off just as I pressed the shutter of my camera.
On our last day in Brisbane, I decided to go for one more walk to try and get more photographs of the Lorikeets – that was when Arun suggested that we walk over to the nearby which is accessed through Logan Road or Lawn Street. It proved to be an excellent suggestion as virtually hundreds of Lorikeets were to be found chattering away excitedly in the trees in the park.
I wondered whether it was their mating season – I saw them flying away in groups but when they settled down to rest on the branches they were always in pairs. I took many photographs. Much has been written about the park being a playground for children - it has good facilities (swings, slides and a web-like rope structure for climbing) and for picnicking families. I, however, was attracted to the trees and the well laid out, gently winding, flat cycling paths which would also be enticing as walking paths for older folk, especially those with joint problems – my wife Angie loved this.
As we were leaving I walked over to a small creek that flowed through the park and discovered more photo opportunities. The creek was beautiful, bordered by flowering shrubs, trees, ferns and tall grass. A few iguanas disturbed by my arrival scampered and leapt into the water and swam away. A pair of courting birds sat on one of the many tree branches that drooped over the creek; this pair appeared oblivious to my approach and appeared to be posing for me, allowing me to take several pictures before they flew away.
These birds were coloured in blotches of white and deep blue; back home in Malaysia, I contacted my pal Dr Samuel Ong (a keen bird watcher and photographer) to identify the birds – to my disappointment he replied "
alas these are Aussie birds and I cannot identify them" – so to readers out there, I will be grateful for an expert opinion. As a signboard at the entrance to the park informs, the park is named after Conrad and Magdalene Glindemann, early settlers in Brisbane who cleared large areas of land to create a dairy that their family ran for almost 80 years.
The visit to was a wonderful ending to a memorable two week holiday in Queensland.
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187473 - 2023-06-16 03:00:37