Last Sunday we ventured down to the Cleveland's waterfront for a run and a Christmas party with one of our local run groups. After the run, we had a cruise around town and collected some pretty photos to show you the area! (Photos above by Pace Mates run club)
Cleveland markets every Sunday morning where they close down the main street to vehicular traffic.
Cleveland is located about 25 kilometres east of Brisbane in the Redland Shire. It once hoped to be the capital of all of Queensland but Brisbane was chosen because it has a better port. The traditional custodians of the area are the Koobenpul Aboriginal people.
Every now and again we visit these markets where there is art, craft and local produce.
A bit of shade is a bonus on these hot summer days.
Curtain Fig Tree. Being an older area there are some magnificent large older trees.
The Poinciana trees are all flowering at the moment making them look like awesome, natural Christmas trees.
Cleveland is also the home of Cleveland parkrun. It's the place where I did my first ever parkrun way back in 2013. I was playing and coaching lots of different sports at the time but still just love my running and was always looking for any sort of fun run or race. So when I saw a write up in our local newspaper it didn't take much for me to show up and get hooked. I have been doing parkruns ever since. I ran over 40 times at Cleveland parkrun, and it is one of my favorites, but nowadays we like to travel around as "parkrun tourists" a fair bit and love doing different parkruns. (Photos by a parkrun volunteer)
Raby Bay is right next door to Cleveland. It's a man-made estate based around a series of specially made canals that locals now park their boats in.
QTS Raby Bay Triathlon was on the day we were there. This was the finishing shute at the marina. I have done this sprint distance event a number of times over the years, but it wasn't on the to do list this year.
On the main road that connects Cleveland town centre with Cleveland Point there are a number of historical buildings, the first of which is the Grand View Hotel, built in 1851.
Another is the Station Master's Cottage. It was built in 1889 but relocated from its original place near the railway line to this historic precinct to try and keep a lots of Cleveland's oldest buildings together.
The Old School House is now an art gallery and displays some of the old pier.
The Old Court House is now a restaurant and is located in that same historic precinct.
The tide was a long way out today revealing a wonderland of exposed shells and corals on the bay seabed.
Here's a close up of what I could see while the water had receded.
Out at Cleveland Point there's the Lighthouse Restaurant and a nearby (colourful) play area for the kids.
The Cleveland Point Lighthouse was built in 1864. It's an unusual timber-clad, hexagonally-shaped building that's 12 metres high.
So now you've seen Cleveland! Well, at least, you've seen it online. One day, once this whole pandemic thing is over, I recommend heading there to check it out if you ever find yourself in South East Queensland. It really is as pretty as the photos make it out to be.
(All photos taken by me on my Samsung s21 phone camera, except where otherwise specified).
