It may not equal Basil Fawlty ’s nominated Hanging Gardens of Babylon or herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain but the view from my balcony offers visual pleasures year round. Happily for me it’s an elevated view taking in Brisbane’s ever-rising skyline and the city’s famous undulating topography, fast being transformed by apartment blocks but still surprisingly green.
I’ve always been a sucker for a view and one of the clinchers in choosing my current abode was the outlook it promised. I have not been disappointed. With my shutters flung wide open I am privileged with a dress circle view of weather events, festivities, and the daily life of Brisbane. There’s the Riverfire Festival in September; random fireworks displays throughout the year; an endless stream of aircraft of all shapes and sizes delivering their human cargo towards Brisbane airport, or taking travelers away from the city; news choppers covering the drama of the day; fighter jet flypasts on Anzac Day or others commemorative events; a nightly parade of squabbling flying foxes heading out from their Perrin Park roost on their nocturnal foraging forays on backyard pawpaw and mango trees; dramatic storms in summer; skyscrapers peeking through fog in winter; or, last month, in the lead up to the G20, the nightly play of lasers on city buildings.
In recent days we’ve been spoiled with dramatic storms, rare views of high-rise buildings misted over by steady rain, some amazing rainbow displays and eerie light shows on clouds and city buildings cast by the setting sun.
Sole Sister 