2025 – 07 – LUMINUS at Gladstone Botanical Gardens

“A multi-award-winning light and art spectacular, transforming the Gladstone Tondoon Botanic Gardens into a kaleidoscope of colour over three magical nights.“

This is how the Gladstone Regional Council presents it’s annual LUMINUS lighting display in the Gladstone Tondoon Botanical Gardens. We have not visited the Botanical Gardens during the day or any specific time of the year so we really don’t know what it looks like. Last night we visited, for the second year in a row, at night, their LUMINUS exhibition. We went a second time because we were so impressed with it last year we wanted to see it again. While the lights, effects, and programs are impressive and entertaining, what we really appreciate is the amount of work the staff that put it together must have performed to present it.

If you have read our “where we have been” piece presented on the opening of this website, you will see we have been to many exciting things, we have even been to Disneyworld and EPCOT several times to enjoy their evening light shows. Nowhere have we been that has produced the magical feeling you can experience walking through the Botanical Gardens as they are lit up wit millions of lights, different colors, light art, light crafts, and light entertainment. We only stayed a couple of hours but once again enjoyed it immensely.

Lastly, as you would expect, here are a few pictures I took while we strolled around. Missing this year, at least last night, were the large “Lightening Bugs” that walked around fascinating kids, both big and small. Enjoy the pics.

A river of light
Shining Trees at night
A colorful walkway
An Art display of large air bubbles lit from
inside with different colors
Furniture for the kids
Another Art Display of a Crazy Colorful Tent
An impressive Art Display covering the ground and trees around it. The light light up, dim, change colors, and “move” to classical music. A great watch and listen.
Another Archway of Light to walk through.
We spotted a couple of “Light Angels” talking
with the people.
A walkway of light with colored “icicles” above.
The walk and Icicles change color as you walk through
We also spotted a couple Extraterrestrials walking about. The lights must have attracted them.
Even the ground was illuminated with lights
changing colors and moving around.
It was a cool evening so Nancy found
a warm spot to rest.
A giant butterfly perhaps?
What would any entertainment gathering be without the feed trough? Just about anything you want to eat.
Kids can make irridescent badges using
stick-ons and pens.
Nothing has hotter sales than light toys for kids. If you kid didn’t have one, there was a reckoning to be had.
One of the performing displays. Looks like the
Extraterrestrials are photobombing the entertainer.
What’s up with that?
They may have been misled thinking the performer (first in line) was one of them but had lost its helmet.
A dazzeling move
A good show.

That was it. The Botanical Gardens are located just outside the city in a more rural area, consequently there is not a great deal of parking available. The result is people parking nearly everywhere, and with the Ozzies and the souped up Utes for Outback Camping, it gets pretty interesting. Anyhow, it was again a great show. Some, or many, of the pictures may have been repeats from last year but I wanted to provide fresh pixels for your viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoyed it.

Author: Bill

Bill Rumpel served America as an Air Traffic Controller, a Commander of forces, and as an advisor to our country's senior leadership in peacetime and combat in the US Air Force for nearly, forty years of his adult life. Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm and living most of his early years working hard or enjoying the outdoors, he has devoted his retirement years to telling stories based on true events with an intriguing mix of fiction and adventure. His books are published in 14 countries and in 9 different languages.

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