Newstead

Within easy walking distance of the famed Breakfast Creek Hotel - a flamboyant Victorian structure which has been described as 'the very soul of Brisbane' - this equally-colourfully named club lies in the historic Newstead precinct of the city heart. Pride of the suburb is Newstead House, Brisbane's oldest existing home, built for pioneer Darling Downs squatter Patrick Leslie in 1845. Set in superb grounds overlooking the mouth of the creek, Newstead's glory days came in the ownership of government bigwig and socialiser Captain John Clements Wickham. Apart from his fame as a gracious host, he reserved a place in history as first mate aboard the Beagle when Charles Darwin combed the world for evidence to support his beliefs on the origin of the human species. Culture vultures can hitch a ride on the Hail and Ride bus which follows the Art Circuit loop through Fortitude Valley, New Farm and Newstead.