JUST two hundred years ago the view from what is now the Mount Coot-tha lookout was continuous forest to the coast some twenty kilometres away. Only a small penal colony stood where the city now stands. Only in recent decades have the high rises sprung out of the ground to tower into the eastern sky. The five tallest buildings have all emerged in the ten years since I last stood on this lookout.
In stark contrast behind me stood the sprawling forests of the D'Aguilar Range sweeping westward to northward. The forested ranges have been perpetually preserved, confining the grey city to the coastal lowlands. The range separates it from the vast farmlands of the Brisbane Valley on the other side.
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