Beautiful Brisbane

Farewell Gold Coast

Almost two years ago I wrote about our week in Brisbane and how much we enjoyed mooring so close to this lovely city. With no real plans, we decided to repeat our journey and left the Gold Coast late on Tuesday morning. The weather closed in as we cruised north past Paradise Point and into the main channel, enjoying lunch as we passed Calypso Bay and Jacobs Well. We continued up past Russell Island and, as the sun set and dark approached, we dropped anchor at Potts Pint, the top end of Macleay Island. Many people live on Rusell and Macleay Island and commute to work on the ferry or fast cat via Redland Bay, south of Brisbane, but it was calm and peaceful where we moored.

Under the Story Bridge

The captain raised the anchor early the next morning and we continued across Moreton Bay, entering the shipping channel and notifying Brisbane Harbour Control before entering the busy port. We ate breakfast as we chugged along, watching tugs manoeuvre big container ships, bouncing in the wake of the Tangalooma Express on its way in from Moreton Island. We passed under the Gateway Bridge and followed the City Cats upstream, arriving at Dockside Marina just before 11am. Later in the afternoon we took a walk around Kangaroo Point, stopping for a drink at the Story Bridge Hotel.

Anne and Silvano came for morning tea

On Thursday morning we caught the ferry into the city and walked to the information centre to check out options for exploration. We returned to the boat just in time for our visitors to arrive for morning tea! We had a quick lunch, then hopped on the ferry again to visit the Macarthur Museum, a most informative guide to Brisbane during World War II and General Douglas Macarthur's role in turning the tide of war from his office in the building, which has been kept intact and looks most impressive. From there we walked along the waterfront and under the Story Bridge, enjoying a drink at the newly refurbished Howard Smith Wharves, continuing along the riverfront to Sydney Street where we took the City Hopper across to our marina and home.

Mary Mickillop

 We started Friday morning with exercises; a challenge when the wash from passing ferries rocks us around! After breakfast we headed into town again to take the Brisbane City walk, a most informative free walk from the information centre to the town hall. We learned about the demise of the Regent Theatre, the history of Central and Tattersalls Arcades, and the lovely St Stephens Church with the beautiful statue of Mary Mackillop made entirely of camphor laurel - the whole chapel smells divine. We walked through Post Office Lane and heard about the female prison of the convict era, then along Anzac Square, admiring the many monuments and beautiful trees. We left the tour at the town hall (as we had visited it before) - we were keen to catch the river cat to Regatta for lunch at the pub! After lunch we returned by river cat to Eagle Street then caught the cross-river ferry to "our" side and home.

The New Farm markets are on Saturday morning, so we caught the hopper across to Sydney Street and followed the river around to the park. Every type of food imaginable is available there and we enjoyed walking past the stalls, sampling the tasty morsels on offer. We bought food for a delicious three course meal and returned to the boat for a lazy afternoon.

Footy at the Gabba

We started Sunday with a walk across the Story bridge and up to Fortitude Valley, once a disreputable area on the edge of town, now cleaned up and showing off its lovely heritage buildings. We did some shopping and returned the same way - all up, a 6km walk! Later we walked to the Pineapple Hotel for lunch, joining crowds of Brisbane Lions supporters (and a few in red and blue) on our way to the Gabba. We enjoyed the game from seats high in the stands, but the result didn't go the way we had hoped! Nevertheless the experience was great and we returned to the boat through the street of Wollongabba and enjoyed pizzas for dinner.

The city view from the river cat

Monday was another busy day, starting with our exercises, then breakfast and a walk past the Kangaroo Point cliffs to Southbank. We spent many hours at the Maritime Museum, learning all about the history of shipping on the river and in Queensland, touring the warship Diamantina and climbing down into the dry dock. It is a fascinating place! We caught the river cat back to Eagle Street and enjoyed a coffee on the waterfront before taking the cross river ferry and walking home. After lunch we ventured out again, this time taking the ferry to Sydney Street and walking up to the New Farm shopping village to stock up with food ready for our journey back to the Gold Coast. We bought some fantastic steaks, which we enjoyed that night, watching the lights on the Story Bridge take over as dark settled.

Dawn at the Story Bridge

The captain was up early and ready to go by 6:15am. We slipped away from the marina and down the river, leaving the river mouth just before 9am and continuing across Moreton Bay in perfect conditions. We are taking the Canaipa Channel back, and we passed the top of Russell Island and dropped anchor at Canaipa Point just after 1pm. There are a few other boats here, but it is quiet and peaceful with the view of North Stradbroke Island to enjoy. Tomorrow we will continue south, with a night at Tipplers, off South Stradbroke Island, before we reach the Gold Coast on Thursday.

Beautiful Canaipa Point and North Stradbroke Island