Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane is in the state of Queensland, which covers the northeast corner of Australia. During our journey, we’ve visited most of the states of Australia: Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. We visited Tasmania on a previous visit. The only area of Australia we’ve yet to visit is the Northern Territories, which covers the northwest corner of Australia. With the Northern Territories being such a remote area of Australia, I doubt we’ll ever visit there. I don’t think many Australians have been there either.

Like many of the major cities in Australia, Brisbane (pronounced Brisbin by the Australians) has a beautiful river that runs through it. Since we regretted not seeing Melbourne by boat, the first thing we did was travel up the Brisbane River to see the city from the water. It was the perfect day for a boat ride—hot and sunny. We sat on the upper deck of a small ferry, under a canopy, and enjoyed a leisurely ride with nice breezes off the water.

Unfortunately, when we aimed the camera to take a picture of the view, we realized that we had brought the camera—but not the battery, which we had left recharging on the ship.

Our boat tour took us under the Brisbane Storey Bridge, which is similar to the Sydney Harbor Bridge but doesn’t have the top arch. You can climb the top supporting structure, but we didn’t see anyone walking over it. With temperatures over 90F, we could understand why. The sun was quite intense and would have made the climb most uncomfortable.

The Brisbane River snakes through Brisbane with frequent bends, and each turning of the river provided beautiful vistas. We were told that Brisbane has changed drastically in recent years with tremendous growth, so a great many of the buildings were new. We felt as though we were visiting a brand new city.

The newer skyscraper office buildings and hotels have overshadowed most of the older buildings in Brisbane, which is a shame, since they are such magnificent buildings. The newly renovated Brisbane City Hall, a very impressive building, has a tall tower that used to provide a view of the city and surrounding areas. Now the only thing you can see from the tower are the skyscrapers around it.

Along the river we passed a large home that must have once been a grand estate. It too had large apartment buildings very close to it on three sides. Few open areas remain along the river.

On the south side of the river, museums, art galleries, a huge Ferris wheel, and parks line the river and can easily be reached by crossing one of the bridges from the main business area. The Goodwill Bridge, a new pedestrian/bike bridge, was recently built and provides easy access to the south bank.

Ferries make frequent runs and crisscross the river stopping at multiple docks. They make it easy for residents and tourists to get from one area of the city to another. The free tourist ferry provides a leisurely pace. For anyone in a hurry, the CityCat catamaran ferries travel at a faster pace. Tour boats with commentary and refreshments are also available.

Sitting on the banks of the river, Brisbane is a beautiful setting for a city, but it isn’t without its problems. Brisbane was built on a floodplain. Sudden heavy rains in 2007 caused the river to overflow and flood business and residential areas of the city. With tall skyscrapers and apartment buildings right on the banks of the river, that can be a problem.

We strolled through the open-air market along the river. Later, keeping with our goal of having a leisurely day, we enjoyed a picnic lunch on a park bench and did some people watching. A rock group played nearby, so we had entertainment with our lunch.

Before leaving the city, we stopped at the Brisbane ANZAC war memorial, which sits in the middle of a small park in the business district. A bronze statue of two soldiers representing Australians and New Zealanders killed in Vietnam was added to the grounds, along with memorials from other wars.

To catch shuttle to the ship, we walked back through the city, which has its share of high-end stores (Gucci and Hermes across the street from Woolworths). We were surprised to see that Apple, which usually has a very modern storefront, had opened a store in a building that had previously been a bank with its impressive marble pillars, high ceilings, and crystal chandeliers. Throughout Australia, many former bank buildings now house restaurants, shops, and other businesses. In the UK, that’s what’s happened to many of the churches.

Another thing that we’ve noticed is that each of the major cities we’ve visited in Australia have very grand gambling casinos.

On the shuttle bus we went through some residential areas of Brisbane. It was interesting to see how the architecture has changed over the years and the variety of home styles along the route. As I mentioned, the sun was quite intense and must be that way quite a bit as we saw one shopping center that had long covers for cars to park under to protect them from the sun.

Brisbane was a beautiful city. With lots to see there, we could have easily spent days exploring all it had to offer.

That evening as we sailed away from Brisbane, we attended a party on the back Lido Deck. The band played, and many of the passengers danced. While enjoying the entertainment, John had a beer and I had a tall fruity drink without alcohol they call a softtail. Delicious and without the potential of a hangover.

A full moon lite the sky, and we were delighted to discover that if we sheltered our eyes from the lights of the ship, we had an excellent view of the stars and of Venus. We could see Orion’s Belt and what we think was the Southern Cross, which is only visible in the southern hemisphere. Using John’s binoculars, we could clearly see the mountains and craters on the moon.

It made for a perfect ending to our day.