If you are visiting or exploring Brisbane with your partner and looking for date ideas, consider booking one (or more) of the wonderful activities and tours offered by Riverlife.com.au My partner and I booked the Illuminated Kayak and Dining experience that was offered by Riverlife on Valentine's Day 2018. I'm really glad we booked it when we did as the sunset slot got booked up real quick and it turned out to be a fantastic experience that we're happy to recommend to our readers! Riverlife offers similar tours that can be booked anytime - not only on Valentines Day. It's easy to book the affordable tour through their website. We drove into the city and found a parking space in River Terrace at the top of the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. Click here for alternative ways to get to Riverlife. From there it's a scenic stroll towards one of my absolute favourite Cafe's named Cliffs Cafe.
Exploring the area around Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane on your way to Riverlife is a scenic treat!
If you are heading to Riverlife along the same path, look for the cliff stairs on the left and walk down - but remember to look up at the view! This area is just amazing to explore so try and arrive earlier so that you don't feel rushed to find it and can enjoy taking in the views around you.
Turning right at the bottom of the stairs, we excitedly arrived after a 150m walk to Riverlife. We walked into the shop to the reception area - it had a lovely vibe about it and the staff were friendly and welcoming. We were given a key to a locker with our names on it which was a super sweet touch! It was great that we could lock some stuff away that we didn't want to take with us on our kayaks.
The lockers at Riverlife had our names on it which was a cute surprise!
Soon everyone that had booked the same kayak tour gathered around for a safety briefing and we were shown how to get onto a kayak easily, how to paddle and more. It was great that we didn't have to have any experience to do the tour and we found the instructions really simple. Next, we stood inline and waited our turn to step down a ladder and get into our individual kayaks.
A Riverlife instructor guides you as you step down a ladder into your kayak
One of the staff members were taking photos for couples that wanted some to remember the kayaking experience with. These were made available to download from the Riverlife Facebook page soon after. I was so excited to step into my river kayak for the first time and couldn't believe how easy it was to paddle as we were shown by the instructors. Once all the tour participants were seated comfortably in their kayaks, we started paddling forward towards to the Story Bridge. The sun was setting and the city lights came on - the reflections in the water were absolutely mesmerising.
Anyone that was falling behind the group or potentially struggling to keep up was coached along with an instructor that was following the group - we felt like we were in safe hands.
We picked up the pace as we got more confident with our newly learnt paddling skills and loved gliding on the water with the fresh air around us. Arriving at the Story Bridge, I was gobsmacked at how beautiful it looked from where we were - it was like seeing it for the first time as I'd never seen it from that viewpoint before. The group paused paddling for a bit to enjoy the scenery and well... with the beautiful view around us, romance was certainly in the air and we shared a kiss under the starry night with our kayaks side-by-side.
With our kayaks side by side, we took a break from paddling to take in this stunning view of the Story Bridge
Time seemed to go so quickly when we were having fun paddling back to Riverlife. Soon we were forming a line to step out of our kayaks. Back at the shop, we changed into our dinner clothes in the bathrooms and headed off to the stunning reception area outside. We were welcomed by friendly staff to a delicious looking buffet and drinks at the bar. The reception tables were set up beautifully with candles and flowers. We felt blessed as we sat down to a very special, romantic dinner. With love songs playing in the background, the river view, stunning lighting, wine and a delicious meal, we were having one of the best date nights of our lives. It's no wonder that Riverlife is also a popular wedding venue in Brisbane!
Scenes from the beautiful dining area and our romantic dinner at Riverlife.
After dinner, we happily strolled hand in hand back to our car - it was a perfect night.
Our tips for this experience: Keep in mind that there's a good chance that you will get wet when kayaking - we are glad we stored a spare set of clothes in the lockers for the dinner part of the date. I also recommend wearing shorts for the kayaking as you will need to climb down the ladder to get into your kayak. It also helps to wear shoes that are comfortable for walking down the steps at the cliffs but ones that you can remove quick and easily before kayaking barefoot (shoes are stored in your locker). Be sure to look at the Riverlife website for the latest updates and details on the different activities on offer to make the best of your experience there. While in Brisbane, keep an eye out on Groupon.com.au for more affordable date ideas! If you book an activity through Groupon using the banners below, we will get a small commission at no cost to you - thank you for supporting our blog if you do!
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