My suburb has a mountain on one side and high-rises on the other. And the odd python

April 27, 2026 — 4:59am

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Every morning, I am woken by birdsong. An absolute cacophony of kookaburras, currawongs, magpies, butcher birds and other tweeting, squawking things that start about dawn.

My back garden is frequently trespassed by scrub turkeys, possums, and that one unsettling python my neighbours have dubbed “Campbell”, who leaves me the gift of his skin every time he grows another couple of centimetres. We’ve all had a visit from Campbell over the years: sometimes curled in a garden bed, but sometimes hanging on the front screen like the arm of an overenthusiastic religious pamphleteer. Somehow, he always finds his way back to the bushland behind our houses.

The other thing I can hear in the morning is the Western Freeway, as I’m only a kilometre from the notoriously chaotic Miskin Street roundabout. I live in Toowong: West Toowong to be precise, which is where my story of “two Toowongs” begins.

To the west, in the foothills of Mount Coot-tha, you’ll find suburban cosiness, wildlife, a community garden, and an........

© Brisbane Times