Watchwords

Happy New Year!

‘Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.’ – Oprah Winfrey. (Greeting Card Courtesy of 123NewYear.com)

Watchwords

Coming up - lots of events for March 2020 as well as ongoing attractions. See below the quick list for further information and go to pages 1, 2, 3 and 4 for more events. 

  • MOONS: WORLDS OF MYSTERY, one of the planetarium's most popularl shows, was launched in 2014 at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium and is ongoing, as well as a galaxy of OTHER SHOWS and new DISPLAYS for both kids and adults. Check the website regularly for updates and new programs.
  • Discover Brisbane and live the magic with a BRISBANE GREETERS TOUR. A 140-strong team of volunteers provide a free, authentic sightseeing service for locals and visitors on an ongoing basis.
  • Visit the MUSEUM OF BRISBANE at City Hall for exciting new exhibitions. The MoB updates its attractions regularly to both inform and entertain the citizens of Brisbane and visitors to our city.
  • WALK THE BEE GEES WAY between Redcliffe Parade and Sutton Street at Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia – opened by Barry Gibb on 14 February 2013. ONGOING ATTRACTION.

 

The Event: AT THE SIR THOMAS BRISBANE PLANETARIUM - MANY SHOWS FOR KIDS AND ADULTS, INCLUDING MOONS: WORLDS OF MYSTERY, ARE ONGOING WITH NEW ATTRACTIONS ADDED REGULARLY

Date and time: Moons: Worlds of Mystery and other shows are ongoing at the Planetarium. Check the website for dates and times. The Planetarium is closed on Mondays. Find out Planetarium opening hours.

Venue: Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha.

Ticket price: Bookings are highly recommended, especially during Queensland school holidays. Shows are subject to change. The booking office opening hours are: Tuesday to Friday: 9.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m.; Saturday: 10.30 a.m. – 6.30 p.m.; Sunday: 10.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. The booking office phone number is 07 3403 2578. Find out about how to make a booking and show prices. For safety reasons, there is no admittance or re-admittance after shows start. The Planetarium recommends that you arrive at least 30 minutes prior to a session to purchase show tickets.

What’s happening: The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium entertains and informs both adults and children. All general audience and children's shows include two parts; the main feature and a tour of Brisbane's night sky which is recreated in the Cosmic Skydome and presented by the Planetarium's astronomers.

General audience shows (not recommended for children under 6 – see below):

  • The Planetarium’s spectacular show Moons: Worlds of Mystery was launched in 2014 and remains one of the most popular sessions. From volcanoes and geysers to ice-covered oceans and methane rain, moons have some spectacular features. Learn what these celestial bodies reveal about the history and workings of our solar system. Approx. 45 minutes, inclusive of night sky tour.
  • Cosmic Collisions narrated by Robert Redford. Dazzling and destructive cosmic collisions release energy that drives the growth and evolution of the universe shaping our place within it. A blockbuster show produced by the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Duration: approximately 45 minutes, including a projected night sky tour.
  • The Search for Life: Are We Alone? is narrated by Harrison Ford. Are we truly alone in space? Is there any form of life out there in the vast cosmos? These are the questions posed in this show. Duration: 45 minutes, inclusive of the night sky tour.

For the enjoyment of audiences, General audience shows are not recommended for children under six. Everyone attending a general audience show must be able to remain quietly seated for 40–50 minutes and that can be difficult for some children.

If you think your children would be unable to sit quietly for that long, we recommend attending a Children's Show such as:

  • Perfect Little Planet. Children will love this show as they learn about our solar system through the eyes of a family of aliens on vacation from another solar system. Recommended for children from 5 years. Duration: approximately 40 minutes, inclusive.
  • Secret of the Cardboard Rocket. Embark on an outstanding adventure as two children spend a night touring the solar system alongside their ship’s navigator; an astronomy book. Recommended for children from 5 years. Duration: approximately 45 minutes, inclusive of night sky tour.
  • Tycho to the Moon. Tycho to the Moon is about Tycho, a dog who doesn't just howl at the moon but wants to go there. Blast off on an amazing ride into space with Tycho and his young friends. Recommended for children from 3 years. Duration: 35 minutes, inclusive of the night sky tour.

 

The Event: BRISBANE GREETERS FREE AND AUTHENTIC SIGHTSEEING SERVICE

Date and time: Ongoing. Check the website for departure points and tour times at http://www.brisbanegreeters.com.au.

Venue: Various around Brisbane City.

Ticket price: FREE.

What’s happening: Brisbane was the 28th city to join the Global Greeter Network, and in 2014 the greeters welcomed more than 7,000 people to Brisbane for the G20 Leaders Summit held in the city during November. The 140-strong team of volunteers provides a free, authentic sightseeing service to locals and travellers looking to explore Brisbane in more depth than the tourist brochures and tour companies allow.

Members of the team are fluent in 25 languages including Spanish, Russian and Mandarin. For more details about the group’s peripatetic activities, or if you're a resident who would like to join the Brisbane Greeters Team, go to their website at http://www.brisbanegreeters.com.au.

 

The Event: VISIT THE MoB’s (MUSEUM OF BRISBANE’S) HOME AT CITY HALL AND SEE SOME GREAT NEW EXHIBITIONS

Date and time: Ongoing - The Museum of Brisbane is open from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. seven days a week.

Venue: Level 3, Brisbane City Hall, King George Square, Brisbane CBD.

Ticket price: FREE.

What’s happening: The Museum of Brisbane was turfed out of its usual home when the foundations of City Hall were found to be sinking and the building was likely to fall down on us. Now MoB is back where it belongs at the new and improved Brisbane City Hall with a purpose-built gallery on Level 3. From its new location you can see two Brisbane icons: the clock tower and the dome on top of City Hall.

The MoB updates its exhibitions on a regular basis and they are never less than engrossing, informative and entertaining. Find out more about what's happening at http://www.museumofbrisbane.com.au/whats-on and for general information, go to http://www.museumofbrisbane.com.au. There's always something going on at MoB – and it’s free.

 

The Event: WALK THE BEE GEES WAY AT REDCLIFFE

Date and time: Opened by Barry Gibb on 14 February 2013 (love the Bee Gees). The Walk has since proved to be enormously popular and ongoing attraction.

Venue: A 50-metre lane linking Redcliffe Parade to Sutton Street in the town centre at Redcliffe, Queensland.

Ticket price: FREE.

What’s happening: The Bee Gees were a musical group founded in 1958, featuring brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb singing instantly recognisable tight three-part harmonies. Their career record sales totalled more than 220 million, ranking them among the best-selling music artists of all time. The group reached iconic status as a pop act in the late 1960s and 1970s with Barry’s R & B falsetto becoming their signature sound. The brothers wrote all their own hits and also wrote and produced several major hits for other artists.

The Gibb brothers were born in the Isle of Man to English parents, lived in Manchester for a few years and then moved to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia in the late 1950s where their musical career began. The Bee Gees achieved their first chart success with their 12th single, ‘Spicks and Specks’, and returned to the UK in January 1967, where producer Robert Stigwood promoted them to a worldwide audience. In 1997 the phenomenonally popular Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

To celebrate the group’s 30th Anniversary, a new website was raised at http://beegees.com. Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees, and Redcliffe, Queensland was where it all began.

Now Redcliffe acknowledges its famous sons with Bee Gees Walk, a 50-metre lane linking Redcliffe Parade to Sutton Street in the town centre, which is filled with photographs and memories covering the group's 50 year history. On 14 February 2013, Barry Gibb, accompanied by family and friends, was swamped by screaming fans and well-wishers as he unveiled the centrepiece of the tribute, a bronze statue of three barefoot boys, one playing a guitar and two singing their hearts out, and a plaque that read (in part) ‘Bodding, Basser and Woggie...Unforgettable Redcliffe, you stand where we were’.

The town went nuts and the media went into overdrive with live broadcasts from TV and radio crews as choppers hovered overhead. ‘We wouldn't be here without Redcliffe,’ Barry Gibb said. ‘This was our environment, this was where the music was born.’

You too can visit the Bee Gees Walk of Fame. How do you get there? The City of Redcliffe, home to approximately 50,000 people, is a 35 minute drive and some 28 kilometres (17 miles) north-north-east of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane and was the site of the first European settlement in Queensland. After visiting the Bee Gees tribute, you’ll find lots of other things to do in the Redcliffe Peninsula’s sun, sand and sea, with 22 kilometres of sandy beaches and spectacular views across Moreton Bay.

Go boating, fishing, swimming, scuba diving, skydiving or wind surfing and make sure to visit Settlement Cove Lagoon, a tropical water wonderland overlooking Moreton Bay. You can take walks historical, visit the museum, cycle along 35 kilometres of scenic bikeways, and explore pristine wetlands. For munchies, go on a picnic, visit restaurants serving mouth-watering seafood, or maybe wine and dine in fine style with live theatre to finish. From Redcliffe, the unique wilderness of Moreton Island is easily accessible from Redcliffe for day visits and camping. Who wouldn’t want to go there?

The Websites

To celebrate the group’s 30th Anniversary, a new Bee Gees website was raised at http://beegees.com

 

WHAT'S ON NOW? P.4

WHAT'S ON NOW? P.3

WHAT'S ON NOW? P.2

WHAT'S ON NOW?

WATCHWORDS HOME

‘I have only one resolution: to rediscover the difference between wants and needs. May I have all I need and want all I have. Happy New Year!’ – Anon. (Greeting Card Courtesy of 123NewYear.com)