Park Pick: Roma Street Parkland
Park Place: Brisbane City, Qld
Park Price: Free!
Park Portions: 16 hectares of gardens to explore, including the Spectacle Garden, rainforest walk and plenty more. Eastern Water Dragons basking in the sun, a view of the city skyline and picnic spots galore!
Here there be dragons!
Do you wish that you could visit Jurassic Park for real? Of course you do – we all do. Sadly, the T-Rex can’t be trusted not to break out of his pen and eat everyone.
So who’s more trustworthy than a dinosaur? Correct. A dragon.
Come with us, on a journey to inner-city Brisbane, Qld – where wild dragons potter and play in the Roma Street Parkland.
A wonderland of wingless water dragons await!
The Roma Street Parkland is open daily to visitors, free of charge and is manned by a team of volunteer water dragons who specialise in garden maintenance and scurrying. Occasionally the dragons may outsource to a human workforce to do the grunt work and restock the floral arrangements.
If you’re not quite as adept at scurrying as your water dragon overlords, the Parkland is located a short 10-minute walk from Brisbane city, beside the Roma Street train and bus station. You could park your motor vehicle in one of the many outdoor or undercover car-holds, or bicycle in under the steam of your own human legs.
The eastern water dragon is Australia’s largest dragon species. If it ever decided to investigate its family tree, or appear on an episode of ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ – it may be surprised to learn its ancestors branch from the same dragonian tree as the iguana.
Water dragons lead a very complex life, constantly battling within their hierarchy for who will sit on the iron throne (or the sunniest garden wall) – nodding their heads and slapping their tails in high spirits and with giddy abandon.
The dragons will eat most things – from flowers, to their smaller brethren – however, if you’re peckish as you walk amongst them, you can check out the Parkland cafes.
The Garden Room and Flow Espresso Cafes can both sort you out with an amazing coffee and/or sweet treat.
The water dragon is dapper fellow, sporting a grey to brownish-grey colour with patterns of black stripes along their portions. They display a dark stripe horizontally from the eye extending down the neck, in honour of David Bowie.
In lieu of leg warmers, their limbs are mostly black with spots and stripes of grey. To mix things up, their tails are patterned with grey and black stripes. Just when you think they can’t get any greyer, they add a dash of yellowish-brown, around the chest and upper belly so that they can glitter in the sun like a non-threatening vampire.
If you listen closely, you may hear a water dragon whispering the meaning of life to one of their pals.
They’ve been on the road to enlightenment for ages, and get a kick out of knowing something that you don’t know.
Water dragons are scattered throughout mythology, as they’re gluttons for the spotlight.
It is now generally agreed in high-society, that the tooth fairy is a water dragon.
Also, Father Christmas can oft times be seen to be sunning himself on a large rocky outcrop in the off-season. A coincidence? We think not.
We suggest, dear reader, that you take yourself for a tour of the Roma Street Parkland as soon as possible.
The local water dragons have a lot on their to-do list, and may disappear with a rogue Time Lord on various adventures at any given moment.
Take your camera with you and – if you’re very lucky – they will pose for you, grant you three wishes, and tell you the meaning of life.*
(*meaning of life is from the dragon perspective and views expressed may not align with that of the Brisbane City Council, its affiliates, or employees.)
