Cyclists by the river at Kangaroo Point.Credit: Tourism Australia
Alan Western was a professional entertainer from Harrow, London, who immigrated to Australia in the late 1980s with a craving to get back on the stage. So he went along to the Brisbane Jazz Club in Kangaroo Point to audition for the Brisbane Big Band.
“I sang a few songs and the guy said, ‘You’ll do.’ And I’ve been here ever since.”
After 35 years as the band’s vocalist, singing songs like That Old Black Magic and I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Western now additionally manages the Big Band. He is also vice president of the Brisbane Jazz Club, and a life member.
“There is a very special feeling about the jazz club. We reckon the walls are steeped in music,” Western says.
On a balmy Thursday evening the appeal of the venue is as crystal clear as a blue note sung by Ella Fitzgerald. Fans huddle around elegant red-draped tables. Those up the front are close enough to reach out and touch the performer’s saxophone. Behind the band, through the windows, CityCats can be seen gliding by on sparkling water.
Alan Western is the vice president of the Brisbane Jazz Club, which has occupied a former boat shed in Kangaroo Point since the early 1970s.Credit: Morgan Roberts
The club is 55 years old, and has occupied the former boat shed in Annie Street since 1972. It began life as an offshoot of the Adventurers Club, a meeting place for people interested in skydiving and 4WD treks.
“They created the Brisbane Jazz Club as a means of getting a liquor licence back in those days,” Western says.
The venue has survived the 1974, 2011 and 2022 floods, bouncing back stronger each time thanks to the dedication of its supporters. “We had to dig up the floors again in ’22 but the club now is looking better than it’s ever been.”
Like the Story Bridge itself, Brisbane Jazz Club has remained stalwart while Kangaroo Point has undergone radical change.
A traditional home to the Turrbal people, claimed by John Oxley in 1823, Kangaroo Point is one of the oldest suburbs in Brisbane and arguably its most spectacular, with soaring rhyolite cliffs, tended parklands and extensive walkways, not to mention historic human-made structures.
Kangaroo Point packs a lot of great things to do into less than two square kilometres – here are the 12 best.
A word of warning: car parking anywhere near the Story Bridge is extremely limited at all times. But don’t worry: parking a way back and walking or biking in there is all part of the fun.
Kangaroo Point Bridge is a foot and bicycle bridge joining the suburb directly to the CBD.Credit: Nick Dent
1. Walk or ride the new Kangaroo Point Bridge
Mark Sunday, December 15, 2024 in your diary – that’s the day Kangaroo Point Bridge is scheduled to open. The shaded foot and bicycle bridge joins the River Walk to the City Botanic Gardens and Alice Street, speeding up the journey into town from the Eastern Suburbs and offering another spectacular walking and riding route.
The bridge will feature two restaurants. Stilts Dining, an upscale restaurant and bar that pays homage to Queenslander houses, is elevated above the bridge deck. Mulga Bill’s is a café serving pizza and full meals on the Botanic Gardens side of the bridge – the name references Banjo Paterson’s comedic poem about a bicycling enthusiast.
Cyclist and walkers taking the Kangaroo Point River Walk.Credit: Martin K Jacobsen
2. Do the Kangaroo Point River Walk
An essential Brisbane experience, the 3.5-kilometre Kangaroo Point River Walk follows the waterfront from South Bank and skirts the entire peninsula to Dockside, with striking views of the city and New Farm the whole way. The walk passes by public art, parks, playgrounds and historic houses. There are separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists, but they join up here and there, so watch out for fast two-wheelers.
The former Yungaba Immigration Centre, Kangaroo Point.Credit: Nick Dent
3. Stickybeak on heritage buildings
While doing the walk you can also take a gander at the point’s beautiful historic edifices. Lamb House (9 Leopard Street) is a 1908 cliffside mansion that featured on Restoration Australia. The Bungalow (Quinten Street) is a stately 1922 Queenslander, and Alpha Cottage (127 Lambert Street) is a cute 1882 house with a transverse gable roof.
Scott Street Flats (2 Scott Street), huddled next to the futuristic Walan Building, was designed by pioneering architect Elina Mottram in 1925. Cairns Street Cottages (29, 31 & 33 Cairns Street) are 1880s housing for shipyard workers, lovingly restored.
The 1885 Yungaba Immigration Centre (102 Main Street) is a heritage-listed former immigration hostel, now apartments. And St Mary’s Anglican Church is a Victorian Gothic house of worship built in 1873 from Kangaroo Point-quarried tuff. The pipe organ is the oldest in Queensland with some parts dating from the 1690s.
Interior view of the 2012 sculpture Venus Rising by Wolfgang Buttress in Kangaroo Point Park.Credit: Nick Dent
4. Chill out in a park space
Kangaroo Point Cliffs Park is an open green space up on the cliffs next to St Mary The Virgin Church that has a series of lookouts. There are colourful ‘worms’ for kids to climb on, barbecues, a soaring metal sculpture titled Venus Rising, and a clifftop café called Joey’s.
Heading toward the point, you’ll pass C.T. White Park with its plaza under the new bridge. There are toilets, barbecues, a small playground, a restored lookout on the water, and a surprising number of brush turkeys.
Captain Burke Park is the large park on the point loomed over by the Story Bridge. It has sculptures, toilets, barbecues and a playground, and hosts markets and fairs. The sandy Kangaroo Point Beach – yes, inner Brisbane has a real beach – is on its eastern side.
Story Bridge Adventure Climb takes climbers to the top of Brisbane’s famous bridge.Credit: Story Bridge Adventure Climb
5. Climb the Story Bridge
Built in 1940, Brisbane’s famous bridge is open for guided climbs with Story Bridge Adventure Climb (170 Main Street). You’re attached to the bridge via a metal clip the whole way, and are treated to uninterrupted views of the city skyline, suburbs, and the tips of the Glasshouse Mountains. Climbs cost $59-$139.95 and take place during day, night, twilight, dawn and full moon. Cash-strapped? You can simply walk across the bridge for nix.
Medley Kangaroo Point is a cafe built on the former grounds of Yungaba, which served for many years as an Immigration Centre.Credit: Medley KP
6. Have a memorable coffee and café meal
Medley Kangaroo Point (62 Wharf Street) was used as a location reference for the famous Bluey episode The Sign. It’s one of Brisbane’s best cafés with a view, open for breakfast and lunch, Tuesday to Sunday. There are a couple of outdoor tables and stools at hole-in-the-wall Moonshine Coffee Roasters (98 Main Street), but you can always take your brew and your muffin to Captain Burke Park.
If you’d like the city’s skyline as your intimate dining partner then head to Joey’s Brisbane (29 River Terrace) up on the cliffs. The café turns into a pizzeria-bar by night. The Lawn Bar and Café (44 Ferry Street) is near the Riverwalk’s end at Dockside Ferry Terminal, so why not reward yourself with a waffle, a pizza, a flat white or a mojito?
Closer to East Brisbane are gluten-free café Flour Leopard, dog-friendly Hey Joe and popular Cups on Wellington.
Built in 1886, the former Kangaroo Point Hotel became the Story Bridge Hotel around 1941 after the building of the bridge.Credit: Pandora Photography
7. Enjoy a beer in historic surrounds
Visiting the famous and picturesque Story Bridge Hotel (200 Main Street), built in 1886 and owned by the same family since 1967, is a rite of passage. Brew bar Sea Legs Brewing Co. (89 Main Street) is an independent craft brewery also based under the bridge. Further towards the Gabba you’ll find the Pineapple Hotel (706 Main Street), a leading bar for sports fans, with an excellent bistro and a kids’ play space.
Sunsets is a rooftop bar in Kangaroo Point.Credit: Alex O'Callaghan
8. Watch the sunset from a rooftop bar
From Thursday to Sunday, the best way to experience Kangaroo Point is from above. Eagles Nest Rooftop Bar (Level 12, The Point Brisbane Hotel, Lambert Street) has tapas, cocktails, beer, wine and spirits with views of the river, city skyline and Story Bridge. Desert-themed Sunsets Rooftop Bar (95 Linton Street) also has jaw-dropping vistas – you can even see into the Gabba stadium. The Bottomless Sandaze package is a hearty banquet and two hours of drinks for $88pp.
Brisbane Jazz Club’s riverfront position means it has spectacular views but has also made it subject to flooding. Credit: Morgan Roberts
9. Experience improvised music at its Brisbane home
Brisbane Jazz Club (1 Annie Street) gigs take place every Thursday to Sunday, ranging from swing, bebop and cool jazz to big band, soul and fusion, with big names like James Morrison (whose quartet is playing December 12 and 13) and Vince Jones as well as local up and comers. Dinner is available every night they’re open, and the drinks are cheap.
Custard croissants by Christian Jacques Artisan Boulanger up the ante on croissants by injecting French creme patissiere.Credit: Christian Jacques Artisan Boulanger
10. Buy Brisbane’s best croissants at Christian Jacques
Christian Jacques Artisan Boulanger (8 Baildon Street), across the street from the Story Bridge Hotel, boasts a Paris-trained baker whose croissants, baguettes, quiches and patisserie goodies are arguably the best in the whole Sunshine State. Those custard-filled numbers really up the indulgence quotient.
One Fish Two Fish is a seafood bistro in Kangaroo Point.Credit: Courtesy of One Fish Two Fish
11. Get a top-notch restaurant meal
Perhaps because of the dense apartment population, good food is easy to come by in Kanga Point. Mobo Japanese (23 Rotherham Street) is an informal sushi bar and izakaya also serving bao, skewers and sukiyaki. You’ll find fancy fish and chips at One Fish Two Fish (708 Main Street).
Lamberts Restaurant in the Point Brisbane Hotel (Lambert St), open daily for brekky, lunch and dinner, overlooks the hotel’s pool and garden. Fire Kitchen and Bar (15A Goodwin Street) does slow-cooked barbecue and charcoal grill, plus a noteworthy 12-hour smoked beef brisket burger. Closer to the Gabba, An Café does banh mi, pho and other Vietnamese street foods.
Kangaroo Point Cliffs, quarried out by convicts in the 19th century, have enough bumps and footholds to make it a perfect training ground for rock-climbers and abseilers. Credit: riverlife.com.au
12. Abseil the cliff or kayak the river with Riverlife Adventures
Riverlife is a local business operating out of a boatshed that was once naval stores. They offer rock climbing, abseiling and kayaking tours; scooters, bikes and rollerblades to rent; and waterfront event spaces popular for weddings.
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