A tourist for a day

Rachel Smith's latest blog post is a great promo for local tourism. We moved to Brisbane five years ago and love adventuring and so always find it amazing when we talk to Brisbane locals and discover we have seen more of Australia (or even South East Queensland) than they have. There is a fantastic selection of interesting, beautiful and exciting places and activities within reach of Brisbane and a small budget.

So here is my selection of five great active things to do with your family in and around the City on a Saturday:

• Gather the family and cycle to the station and catch the train to Shorncliffe. Cycle to Redcliffe for a swim and grab something to eat. An easy and pleasant ride for all.
• Take a long walk through Tooheys forest. You can walk, jog or cycle more than 5km from one side to the other. A mate even saw a koala there recently.
• Do a Citycycle tour of Brisbane's bridges. Hire a CityCycle for the day (just $2.50 by credit card via the Internet before you leave home)  Take in the Kurilpa Bridge, the Go Between Bridge, the Goodwill Bridge and the Victoria Bridge without leaving a cycle path. If you plan your trip you could pick up lunch at Southbank or the West End on the way. Just find a convenient docking station close to an eatery.
• This is a past favourite that we will soon be able to do again - Catch the ferry to New Farm park where the kids can have a ball in the great playground on the north-east side. Catch a bite to eat or a coffee before catching the ferry one stop back to Sydney Street Ferry Terminal and take a walk along the (previously) floating walkway to catch the most amazing views of the Storey Bridge in the late afternoon. You can finish off with sun downers at a place along Eagle Street while you wait for the ferry home. This could also be done on a CityCycle.
• Pretend you are in Europe for the day and visit the museum, Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Gallery, an easy walk from the Cultural Centre Busway Station. The exhibitions at the GoMA are some of the best family outings we have had - but make sure you get there early, they are very popular.