Big Feathers

Big Feathers is a sculpture in the Queen Street Mall which was commissioned by the Brisbane City Council in 1999. Located in the heart of the mall, near Jimmy's, it was created by Sydney-based artist Bronwyn Oliver. Made from aluminium, the sculpture consists of two large and intricately constructed aluminum feathers which are suspended on overhead wires.

The associated plaque details how the image of the feathers floating downwards connects the earth and sky. Like birds, people flock together to socialise, preen and display. Given that the Queen Street Mall is the premiere gathering place in the city, the associations of how both people and birds use their "plumage" is represented in this piece. As the plaque says "'Plumage' attracts attention, displays status and virility, beauty and availability, and indicates belonging to one group or another." Also, the feather brings an image of the natural world into the city centre.


Bronwyn Oliver was born in 1959 and passed away in 2006. She has contributed in a very unique and significant way to visual culture in Australia, with a large body of public works over her 20 years of producing sculpture. I feel blessed that we in Brisbane were recipients of one of her works in the public domain, and that it has made it to such a prominent place in the mall. Again, I wonder how many people pass underneath each day, not knowing that a feather like touch is just above them!

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Jimmy's on The Mall

Jimmy's on the Mall is a restaurant and bar between Edward and Albert Streets in the Queen Street Mall. Effectively an Al Fresco cafe, they offer both a modern Australian (read beer, steaks and seafood!) and Asian influenced menu, and are open every day from breakfast until very late in the evening. There is seating for over 200 patrons, and they are licensed.

Meals range in price from around $10 for entrees, $25 for mains and $8 for desserts. Opened in 1984, Jimmy's has become one of the mainstays of central Brisbane. It is actually operated by the same crowd that runs the Pig 'N' Whistle pub restaurants within the city. There are both outside and inside seats, although the bulk of the seating still is undercover.

If you want a fairly laid back experience and want to watch the multitude of people who frequent the mall on a weekday or weekends, Jimmy's is a great place to go for lunch. Its also a great place for a late night snack or drink, and for a long time was a stop off point within the city for that last bite, due to it being one of the few places that was still open. There are now a number of cafes which do the same thing, but at least with Jimmy's you know you've got an original.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

The Myer Centre

The Myer Centre is one of the premier shopping and entertainment centres in Brisbane. Located at 91 Queen Street and spanning from the Queen Street Mall through to Elizabeth Street it is a six floor shopping complex. The Centre is home to close to 170 stores, including the largest Myer department store in Queensland, as well as Target and Coles. It opened in March 1988. A full centre directory can be found on their web site. The centre is open most days with store trading mainly from 9:00am - 5:30pm and extended hours on Fridays.

Aside from shops, the Myer Centre also is home to an eight screen cinema complex on the top level. Underneath the centre is four levels of car parking, and the Queen Street Bus Station is located on the lower ground level. A major food court is also contained on the lower levels, and coffee shops and eateries are interspersed amongst the specialty shops on most levels. If you can't find something to suit your tastes in either food, goods or fashion, then you're not trying hard enough.

There are two other things I like about the Myer Centre, and they relate to history. Architecturally, the facades of the buildings facing the Queen Street Mall, all date back to the turn of the century. The former Myer store used to be directly opposite the current location, and those facades have similar architecture. The second piece of history is personal. I remember coming to Brisbane in the 90's, and one of the highlights for me was going to what was then known as "Tops", a kids entertainment area on the highest level, and riding the dragon rollercoaster. Sadly, this was all removed when it became unprofitable, although interestingly enough in this case, the dragon has been up for sale!

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Busking in the Queen Street Mall

On any given day as you wander down Queen Street Mall, you can find street performers sharing their talents with tourists, visitors and shoppers. Busking is alive and well within the city. Saturdays seem to be draw a reasonable number, and they are dotted throughout. They range in variety from musicians, such as the blind saxophonist, aboriginal didgeridoo players and the seminal guitarists, through to mime artists, balloon artists and street artists sharing their wares. Most derive their income from using their talents, and some are very good.

To busk in Brisbane, particularly in the Mall or at Southbank, you need to get a busking license. Brisbane Marketing provide a fact sheet on how to go about getting the required permit. Auditions are held quarterly, and there are no limit to the number of permits, but you do need to meet their criteria. Busking is defined as playing a musical instrument and/or singing, conjuring, juggling, mime, mimicry, dance, puppetry, performance art, recitation and other appropriate theatrical and visual forms.

There is an excellent article on Buskers in the Mall by Hideki Kubo. He includes recordings of the various performers, including "Mark" who plays Charlie Chaplin and has been doing such here for 9 years. He is particularly good with kids, and spent a few minutes cleaning up my boy with a feather duster after he put some money in the slot. Hideki has also interviewed is Mister Balloons, David Pearson, another long time performer. The balloon sculptures he comes up with in extra quick time are quite amazing. How lucky are we that for the cost of an Aussie gold coin, we can get some great live performance which brings smiles to all.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Broadway on the Mall

Broadway on the Mall is located at 170 Queen Street Mall. The centre holds many specialty shops over four levels, with a focus on fashion and bridal. There is also a large Harvey Norman electrical retailers store, as well as a a food court on the basement level. There are a number of cafes and restaurants spread across the levels. It spans from the Mall through to Adelaide Street. Natural sunlight helps light the centre via the large overhead glass atrium. It is open every day with normal Brisbane shopping hours, generally from 9:00am through to 5:00pm.


As I wandered around, I became enraptured by Winnie Bridal, on the top level. If you were planning a wedding in Brisbane, this looks like it would be a great place to get ideas. Its on the very top level, with a wide bay window displaying the various available dresses. Designs are by Winnie Yeung, a French trained Haute Couturier who has won multiple Fashion Awards, and has established herself as a Hall Of Fame Fashion Designer in Australia.

If I go here, because I'm a bit of a nerd, I go to Harvey Norman mainly to see what's the latest and greatest in computers and TVs. If you want to see big screens, and all you've got time for in your busy schedule is city shopping, this is a good place to get an idea. Its also slightly nerdy fun to ride up and down the escalators. It seems it was designed so that if you want to look around you got fed upwards, ever upwards, and then to escape you have to wind your way down past everything. Brilliant marketing and design.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Visitor Information Centre

The Brisbane Visitor Information Centre is located in the lower Queen Street Mall, between Edward and Albert Street. The centre is open everyday from 9:00am, generally to around 5:00pm. It is open until 7:00pm on Fridays. It features a wealth of information about what's on in and around Brisbane, and features booking desks, interactive touch screens, brochure and map racks, automatic tellers, as well as a transport information window for local transport schedules and ticket purchases.

The Visitor Information Centre is run by Brisbane Marketing with the assistance of Brisbane City Council. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, even with the large influx of tourists which are generally found there each day. There were over 4 million domestic visitors to the Brisbane region last year, and around 800,000 internationals, so having a centrally located information hub is incredibly important. You can see why it is so busy!

This is really a fantastic resource not only for tourists but for the people of Brisbane as well. You can find out so much here. They have a booking centre for travel and tourism bookings, and I really love how they've set up the interactive touch screens. Its like a big computer screen on glass, which you just touch to browse around with. Very cool, and if I can get the hang of it even with my latest lack of affinity with computing technology, then anyone can.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Rankins on the mall Newsagency

When people talk about a meeting place in the City, they generally arrange to meet up at the intersection of Queen and Albert Streets, smack bang in the middle of the Queens Street Mall. You might say "Meet me outside Hungry Jack's", but you're more likely to say "Meet me in front of Rankins". Rankins Newsagency has been a mainstay of the Mall since it first opened in 1982. Originally, located in the section between Edward and Albert Street, they have changed location 3 times to their present position.

If you check their web site, you find that the original owner has been there for 25 years plus. Quite an effort in the retail game! They are open 7 days a week, generally from 6:00am through to Midnight. Aside from newspapers and magazines, they also sell lollies and chocolate bars, transport tickets, lotto tickets and phone cards. Their position is on one of the prime pieces of real estate in Brisbane, with a huge pedestrian traffic flow which passes each day. With the refurbishment in 1999, the area is also well shaded with the large overhead glass panel.

My sister told me that I should write about some of the more cultural aspects, and the type of people around the city. When you stand in the middle of the mall you see all types. Today, there was a bit of a Goth and Emo convention going on, which was pretty cool. My son is quite social, and there's nothing funnier than watching kids dressed in black sulking, trying to ignore a kid who keeps coming up to them and saying "Hello! How are ya?"

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Brisbane Arcade

Brisbane Arcade is located at 160 Queen Street Mall in the Central Business District. It houses stores which sell award-winning fashion, fine jewellery, bridal accessories, homewares and antiques, along with having some fantastic cafes. This happens to be all in the one elegant, heritage shopping galleria. It covers three levels: basement; ground; and balcony. It spans from the Mall through to Adelaide Street.

The Brisbane Arcade was built in 1923 for Dr James Mayne, and his sister Miss Mary Emelia Mayne, part of the infamous Mayne family. The site was previously occupied by the family home. The Arcade was designed by Richard Gailey (Junior), who is regarded as one of Queensland’s most prolific and important earlier architects. Despite the infamy and enormous wealth of their father, these children were quite philanthropic in donating back to Brisbane. The Arcade continues to be operated today by the Trustees of the estate of Dr James O’Neil Mayne and the estate of Miss Mary Emelia Mayne. The brother and sister were two principal benefactors of the Queensland University, enabling relocation to the St Lucia campus. Operating proceeds from Brisbane Arcade are for the direct benefit of the Medical School of the University.

Like many sights within Brisbane, with your dose of shopping you can also get a dose of history. In this case it is both unique and fascinating on both fronts. The shopping in this mall is upmarket, and most stores are incredibly well presented and sophisticated. The architecture within the mall is spectacular. The history is also enthralling. The Mayne family amassed incredible wealth, but the deathbed confessions of murder by their main patriarch, Patrick Mayne, brought into question the original source of the wealth. However, the children in their own rights did not deserve the disapproval and disdain they received due to the actions of their father.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

Pig 'n' Whistle Pub Queen Street Mall

At the Edward Street end of the Queen Street Mall, just outside Queens Plaza, is the Bristish themed pub the Pig 'N' Whistle. The Queen Street establishment is open from 7:00am until late, almost guaranteeing you can get a Guinness at almost any time of the day. They specialise in gourmet British food (although I wonder if there is such a thing!)

The pub has varying breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, with a good variety of reasonably priced fare. They also have a good wine and beer list, catering for most tastes although quite generic in nature. The pub is available for functions, and was a well known haunt for the Barmy Army during last years Cricket Ashes series. They also show English and Scottish Premier league football on large screens within the drinking area.

With today being St Patrick's Day, there has been a distinctly Irish feel around the city. Many people are out and about with the green and luck of the Irish. Alledgedly there are more Irish here in Brisbane than any of the other capital cities of Australia. And although it is a British oriented pub, you can be guaranteed that in the evening they'll be as Irish Green as any of the other pubs around the city.

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.

The Queen Street Mall

The Queen Street Mall is a pedestrian thoroughfare which runs through the centre of Brisbane, from Edward Street to George Street. Spanning two city blocks and around half a kilometre, the Mall is the premier shopping precinct within the Central Business District. These three photos show shots as you progress up the mall, beginning at Edward Street.

There are many iconic shops located throughout the Mall, and a raft of shopping locations. If you want to shop in Brisbane this is where you go. It is also a common meeting place, with many people meeting where Albert Street would cross the Mall at the Hungry Jacks or Rankins Newsagent. Although most of the mall is open space, there is a large overhead panel at this location, which it makes it good for shade from the sun and cover from the rain.


As I continued up the Mall today taking these shots, I was amazed at how much greenery is around in the city. There are a number of large trees, and many raised garden beds. There's also ample seating so you can sit and wait and people watch. At the top end of the mall a performance stage often showcases bands, street performance and street theatre and surprisingly or not, it usually is quite good. Whenever an Australian Idol comes to town its always packed!

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post.