Junior River Loop

The two weeks of the school holidays have come and now they are almost gone. Unfortunately I have spent most of them away with work and the kids have gone to a vacation sports program. I did however have one free day with the kids. I put it to them. "What would you like to do today?" Ummm.........lets go for a ride!

So a short notice, little leg friendly ride route needed planning. Flat terrain is a must as the kids seem to lose interest very quickly when the trail points upwards. Rivers in Australia have very little drop to them so the logical choice was a loop around the Brisbane River.

We drove to West End for a quiet spot to start and what a glorious day it was. Clear and calm, if a little warm. The track along the river makes me a little nervous due to there being no barrier between an overconfident six year old and a splashdown!

We had a quick stop at Southbank for morning tea where several biscuits met their end and plans were made to bring bathers next time for a quick dip in the lagoon.

We then rode past the Kangaroo Point cliffs, which was new territory for me. While we explored the various shelters along the waterfront a heavy shower crept up on us. We took shelter under a large tree but ended up pretty well soaked. Luckily the warmer weather meant that we weren't uncomfortable for long. Leaving our shelter we happened upon a waterfall cascading over the cliffs. We were definitely in the right place at the right time. Very difficult to drag the kids away from this one.

From here we worked our way around to the Story Bridge and had a bit of a search around for the access to the bridge. Exploring with two small kids in tow is always tricky as you can not put too many unnesessary kilometers into their little legs lest they blow up ten kilometers from the car! So with a bit of road cycling past the Story Bridge Hotel, dodging cement trucks ( I must have looked like a duck trying to herd my ducklings along a busy road) causing more hair loss and greying we found the access ramp to the bridge.

Then a cycle through the lunchtime crowds along the north bank walkway to our lunch stop at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately the gardens were off limits with temporary fencing lining the riverfront, so lunch was eaten sitting on the riverbank. Well I ate. The kids were sucked in by that magical pull bodies of water seem to exert on small humans! So ham and cheese shrapnel was being sprayed in the name of safety. It is very difficult to get the right amount of volume while choking down your lunch.

From here we rode underneath the Riverside Expressway and followed our nose to the access ramp for the Kurilpa Bridge. Surely designed by a blind committee, this bridge has polarised opinion on it's styling. Lets just say in my opinion it beats swimming the river, just don't look up at the tangled mess of it's structure.

Photo borrowed from QLD Public Works Dept.

From here we retraced our tyre tracks to West End and managed to climb into the car just as another heavy shower was passing. The ride had been fun as well as surprisingly long in distance. I was very impressed when I noted the GPS read 19.5km. Well, more proud than impressed. The kids had managed the distance with no whinging (apart from Miss 8 blaming me for her leaving her sunglasses behind in the car) and seemed to have gas left in the tank. It certainly helps when there is plenty of beautiful scenery to take in as well as Chicken Crimpy bikkies and chocolate milk to fuel the legs!

I may not have had much in the way of quantity these holidays, but we made up for it with a quality day out.