Story Bridge ~ Goodwill Bridge Circuit Walk - January 2022

The Story Bridge is going to feature heavily in this post.

Here we go again, another bloody urban stroll... except this one is actually a pretty good one I reckon, actually it turned out to be one of the best walks that I've done with Sam in the last few years. This is another walk that we did while we were breaking our journey from Bundaberg to Melbourne up in Brisbane for a few days last Christmas. Once again Sam and I headed out into the humidity pretty late in the day today, hoping that the late hour would both take the edge off the heat while at the same time the changing light might help my photos a bit. After walking through the fairly quiet Brisbane streets we started this walk at the Botanic Garden gates at the end of Edwards Street and immediately headed to the Brisbane River where we walked the floating walkway north for awhile.

We started our evening stroll at the northern entrance to the Botanic Gardens off Edward Street.

Late afternoon on the Brisbane River.

The Story Bridge was in view for most of the walk.

Story Bridge

For the most part this walk stayed fairly close to the water.

Approaching the bridge we looped inland a bit to get onto the bridge walkway.

We now walked the beautiful riverside path north all the way to the Story Bridge. This path is a shared path it was pretty quiet this afternoon so we didn't really have to worry about being dive bombed by my lycra clad brothers and sisters and the path made for beautiful walking. The views over the river and of the ever looming Story Bridge in the early evening light meant that I was struggling to walk more than a few metres at a time without stopping to take yet another photo. After passing through the Eagle Street Wharf Precinct we soon arrived at the bridge, our route now heading inland and looping around to gain the walkway on the north side of the bridge. 

We crossed the walkway on the eastern side of the bridge.

The view downstream from the Story Bridge.

I got some love from the bridge climbers!

It's brutal... but I like it.

After descending from the bridge we passed beneath the road to reach the Brisbane River again at the Captain Burke Park. 

After crossing the Story Bridge we passed beneath the bridge and walked north down to meet the Brisbane River again, this time at Captain Burke Park near the Holman Street Ferry Terminal. Once we were back down near the river we started a fairly long (well relatively) walk south beside the river. With the sun now pretty well set, the light was constantly changing now and the walk along below the Kangaroo Point Cliffs was particularly pretty. The Brisbane council lights the cliffs up with some fairly subtle mood lighting and there was also the occasional rock climber scaling the coloured cliffs tonight. It wasn't just the Kangaroo Point Cliffs that was catching out attention though, the view back towards the lights of the Brisbane CBD also looking pretty sweet from this side of the river. 

Captain Burke Park.

Captain Burke Park.

Brisbane on a sultry summers evening.

Looking back across the river towards the CBD.

Some of the nocturnal locals were starting to come out. 

Leaving the cliffs Sam and I continued our journey south, passing beneath the Captain Cook Bridge before crossing back over the Brisbane River again this time on the Goodwill Bridge. Arriving back on the north side of the river near some old strangler figs that had been draped in fairly lights, once again a fairly simple thing but a beautiful effect. We now followed the Bunya Walk north beside the Brisbane Botanic Gardens to eventually arrive back at our start point at the botanic gardens gate at the end of Edwards Street. Wandering back up through the fairly quiet early evening CBD streets to our hotel I couldn't help but reflect on how much I enjoy these CBD early evening walks, Sam and I have done them in Melbourne, Singapore and now Brisbane and they always seem to make for memorable strolls.

The Kangaroo Point Cliffs.

The sun going down over the Brisbane River.

The Kangaroo Point Cliffs.

The Kangaroo Point Cliffs are a popular rock climbing spot.

The Kangaroo Point Cliffs.

The CBD was fully lit up by now. 

Kangaroo Point.

The Captain Cook Bridge.

They are sculptures...

Crossing back over the river on the Goodwill Bridge.

There are more great views from the Goodwill Bridge. 

The Dirt.

According to my GPS we walked around 7.9 kilometres and climbed about 115 metres on this easy walk, unfortunately I've lost my GPX file from this walk so I'll have to make do with a screen shot of my Alltrails map on here. Obviously being a city walk there were ample opportunities to stop for a drink or a feed along the route and also plenty of spots for a picnic. I suppose the only minor issue with the walk as we did it is that you need to be a little aware of your personal security when meandering along some of the quieter sections of the stroll after dark, Bunya Track was almost deserted as we walked north back up the river and it felt surprisingly remote considering we were in the Brisbane CBD - I never felt unsafe (I'm 6'3" and pushing 130kgs though!) however I'm not sure if it would be a good idea for Sam to walk along here on her own at night (that doesn't mean that I think that is a good thing - it's just an unfortunate fact of life). I used my Alltrails App and my GPS maps on this stroll tonight.

Relevant Posts.

Brisbane Botanic Gardens Walk, 2022

Fairly lights on the fig tree on the north side of the Goodwill Bridge.

Stinging up some fairy lights is a pretty low tech thing - however the effect is beautiful. 

Returning along the Bunya Walk.

Bunya Walk.

Finishing up our stroll with another look at the Story Bridge.

I've lost my GPX file from this stroll so I'll make do with the screen shot off my Alltrails map.