How to experience the Brisbane River

Kayaking on the Brisbane River. Photo / T&EQueensland

The Brisbane River is a long, muddy thing. Beautiful, but dark with mud and silt, its colour has earned it the nickname of the "Brown Snake" by locals, who live, commute and party along its length. Passenger boats ply the river at all times of day (these are called CityCats, KittyCats and SpeedyCats), as do kayakers, and the party boats at night.

So experiencing the river is a must-do. Early in the morning, take a sunrise kayaking trip. Riverlife runs trips through the day - they work with the tide so you'll never be working too hard (or at least you'll get the hard part out of the way first, so your paddle home is easier). Trips will either travel to the Story Bridge, a heritage-listed traffic bridge that crosses the river or to South Bank, an artsy district where the city centre used to be (catastrophic floods in the 1800s saw the city shifted to a more protected spot across the river). On my early morning paddle, there were azure kingfishers flying low through the mangroves that line the river, joggers and their dogs taking advantage of the beautiful morning weather, and rock climbers scaling the 25m cliffs at Kangaroo Point, a former quarry that now serves as a playground for adrenaline junkies. riverlife.com.au

If paddling is not for you, head to the Howard Smith Wharves in the evening. The wharves were abandoned in the 1960s when Brisbane's port moved downstream, and sat empty until a few years ago when the whole area was redeveloped for bars, restaurants and nightlife. Now it's a thriving nightlife spot - rooftop bars, fine dining, beer gardens and craft breweries line the river. howardsmithwharves.com

Felons Brewing Co. holds a prime spot with a view that looks up at the Story Bridge, across to the city lights, and down on to the water. This corrugated iron former warehouse is now home to an on-site brewery and gastropub with a zero-waste goal - it has a 91 per cent landfill diversion rate, and is still climbing - that means food scraps are composted on-site and turned into fertiliser, cooking oil is recycled into biofuel, and spent grain from the brewing process becomes farm feed.

Amid the huge vats of fermenting beer, a DJ spins tracks in the evenings, and the dining hall fills up quickly and is heaving by nightfall, and with views across the riverside walkway, it's a great spot for people-watching. The menu for food and beer focuses on local and sustainable ingredients - the fish is hand-caught, the beer is made from Australian hops and malts, and even the flour in the pizza dough is sourced from Queensland (and fermented with a dash of their ale).

The beer menu includes classic IPAs, lager and pale ale, and a "natural ale", cider and a mean sour made from strawberry and dragon fruit that will knock your socks off. They also offer tasting paddles, brewery tours and beers to go.

Brisbane's Story Bridge. Photo / Richard Greenwood

The menu is delicious too - a spicy Thai prawn salad that was spicier than I could handle, a crispy-skinned, line-caught coral trout, the teeny but delicious Coffin Bay oysters (you'll find these South Australian oysters on menus across Australia), and a mushroom pizza that was almost too much for us to finish, but we proudly made it through with pure hard work and determination. felonsbrewingco.com.au

Afterwards, take an evening stroll along the Riverwalk, a pathway for pedestrians and cyclists that zigzags above the water between the Howard Smith Wharves and the area of New Farm. Nearly a kilometre of boardwalk will take you past bars, food trucks and beer gardens, and families and couples picnicking as the sun goes down.