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June 15, 2026 — 5:00am
By my count, there are 17 streets in Yeronga West that begin with the letter O. Deep breath: Orama, Orari, Orcades, Orestes, Oriana, Oriel, Orient, Orlando, Ormadale, Ormonde, Ormuz, Orontes, Orsova, Orvieto, Osterley, Otaki and Osric.
So why the Os?
According to Dr Michael Macklin of the Annerley-Stephens History Group, the streets were part of the Rhyndarra Estate built by William Williams, manager of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, in 1889. Williams named them after Orient Line cruise ships, which ran the crucial London-Brisbane postal service and all started with O.
The “O-zone” occupies the part of Yeronga where the river bends. First inhabited by the Jagera people, the area was known as “yarung ba”, which translates as “sandy place”. A network of lagoons originally ran alongside the shoreline.
After European colonisation, the fertile land was largely used for agricultural purposes, with the lagoons serving as a rubbish dumping ground. Once filled with waste, the lagoons were eventually topped with clay and transformed into parkland and sports fields.
In 2016, I moved back to Australia after eight years in London. I ended up in Brisbane, looking for a place to settle. Choosing to live on Brisbane’s southside was pure chance – my partner at the time got a job in an Annerley cafe and the first rental we found was nearby.
Before moving to the area, the furthest south I had ventured was the occasional trip to Moorooka in search of a good Ethiopian restaurant. Back then, it felt like a trip out to the ’burbs, with nothing much to note apart from the car yards lining Ipswich Road between Yeronga and Moorooka.
But settling on the southside with a young child, I found myself quickly tied to the area.
My son started kindy, then primary school, then high school. I separated from my partner, moved between rentals, and got to know the surrounding suburbs: Annerley, Fairfield, Yeerongpilly.
I discovered that the area is only five kilometres from the city – not quite the outer limits I had once imagined it to be.
The street I live on now is close to the Sanitarium factory on Ipswich Road.
In this part of Yeronga, there is the almost-constant aroma of cereal products wafting over from Moorooka. Sometimes it smells like popcorn, sometimes it is fruity, but mostly, it is the indisputable smell of Weet-Bix. The locals have become adept at knowing which products are made on particular days of the week.
Compared with the neighbouring suburbs, Yeronga is fairly quiet. Wedged as it is between Ipswich Road and the river bend, there is no obvious centre to the suburb, no particularly iconic landmark. However, several possible contenders bring the community together.
Take the Brisbane Corso Reserve, made over the top of those lagoons from long ago.
The narrow strip of parkland winds along the riverbank and is loved by local walkers, joggers and cyclists. Visit the area, and you’ll find hidden pockets with stunning river views, playgrounds for kids, and barbecue facilities. Come Halloween, some of the riverside mansions morph into imposing haunted homes for the local kids to explore.
Next, consider the schools. Yeronga State School opened in 1871 and Yeronga State High School followed almost 100 years later, in 1960. Both have played a part in attracting young families to the area, with the high school widely awarded for its specialist programs. The targeted support for students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds has helped build a strong local community that has come together for grassroots movements such as the “Free Mojgan” campaign for former student Mojgan Shamsalipoor, an Iranian refugee taken from the high school by armed immigration officials in 2015.
There’s also the pool, one of Brisbane’s underrated gems. I swim at least once a week, year round, with a small group of friends. Visit the day after a big storm, and the pool will be full of eucalyptus oil from the surrounding trees. Last year, a duck family took up residence; the year before, an Olympian (open water swimmer Chelsea Gubecka).
The former industrial zone on Hyde Road was once the manufacturing base for Taubmans paint. Since closing in 2015, the Paint Factory has been a creative space for several of Australia’s leading artists, including Richard Bell, Judy Watson, Gordon Hookey and Vernon Ah Kee. An escape room operates out of the premises as well, and it’s a hub for the annual Anywhere Festival. Council has approved a proposal to turn the 34,000-square-metre site into an “integrated arts village”, with food and drink outlets, theatres, shops, services, and hundreds of apartments. Watch this space.
The biggest downside to the suburb is, of course, flooding. Floodwaters have bedevilled Yeronga’s growth since the 1890s, submerging large tracts in 1974, 2011 and again in 2022. Luckily for me, I have never lived close enough to the river to have been affected.
Perhaps this risk is the price we pay to live in a suburb that otherwise has so much going for it.
