I packed for heat and humidity, and for about 18 hours, Brisbane delivered. It was muggy, warm and sticky all at once, and I was thankful for the brief respites from the weather when I tucked into the shops at Queen Street Mall. But despite my desire to explore, I found myself a little stumped of things to do in the city beyond said shopping district. Turns out, those with a sense of wanderlust need to branch out of the city centre to satisfy their yearning for more, and in that respect, Brisbane was a little different to many other capital cities, which could distract me with enough things without me having to leave town.

But this wasn’t a bad thing. I know this because I loved the little discoveries I made as I meandered beyond its city limits, to suburbs like Newstead (where I savoured ‘Queensland’s best brownies’ at Dello Mano cafe – and yes, they were good) and Paddington (where I wandered around admiring the weatherboard cottages off – and on – La Trobe Terrace). I got my husband coffee from the well-lauded Bellissimo Coffee in Fortitude Valley and trekked to the best food markets I’ve been to in Hamilton.

In Paddington, I walked up and down the streets with vigour, entranced by the sprawling antiques store right atop La Trobe Terrace, something which brought me back to the novel that inspired my visit to begin with (Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden). I shopped at Paddington’s cool and quirky boutiques, where I unearthed things like Pineapple Salad Servers at Green Tangerine and the cutest baby boots and moccasins at Cocoon Petite Living. And when the days drew to a close, I headed back into town, where I nourished myself with dumplings at New Shanghai (which you can see the Chinese women making in the window!) and traditional British fare at the Pig & Whistle (think pork pies, scotch eggs and steak and Guinness pies, washed down with beers or cool cocktails like their delicious passionfruit mojito).

The saying goes that if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. I escaped the Brisbane heat and in the process, found some of the hottest venues the city had to offer.

Australia