Year 2 – 24 February 2025 -Brisbane

If anyone reading this and is free in June- mid July 2025 to come to Australia then do contact me as I am short of crew for that month fully at present.

We woke to the planes flying overhead from the airport and also workmen were fixing our pontoon and started their work early. It appeared to be a nice day so we showered and had a leisurely breakfast. I did some washing with the new washing machine which was good.

We decided we would get a cab to the Apollo Ferry terminal and get the ferry right into South Bank in the centre of Brisbane. Our guidebook said “If you live life sunny side up you will love Brisbane. The charms of Queensland’s capital are undeniable: the weather, the arts, the cafes, the bars, the beautiful old Queenslander houses, the relaxed big country feel. But it is the river which makes the city and gives its edge. The river carves the city into a patchwork of urban villages, each with a distinct style. There is bohemian west end, arts-forward south bank, glitzy CBD, leafy and exclusive New Farm. Together they amount to a subtropical capital of great diversity, sophistication and charisma quite unique compared to Sydney or Melbourne”.

We with a write up like that we shall see. We got a cab to the Apollo Ferry Terminal which was more or less the end of the line and the road journey was a lot longer than the actual direct line of sight distance. We got the ferry and it took an hour to get to South Bank. This meant meandering with the river and passing through various districts. There were lots of nice houses each seeming to have their own pontoon on the river. There were areas of old warehouses which had been kept as was with the names on the top even though those companies probably went long ago. The sun shone and it was good to slowly go downriver and we took the Brisbane outskirts in. We came to their equivalent of the Sydney Bridge which you can also climb but a smaller version. Behind it was the main city – see the picture of the day.

We carried on past the city and the river curved round and we saw various old buildings and the maritime museum. We then came across the city beach which has a built-in large pool like an internal lagoon. There were quite a few foot bridges across the river looking very modern and designeree We then came to South Bank where we got off. On this side of the river there was the arts area and a great park which had a tropical forest walkway. We walked along the river with a wonderful vista of high-rise buildings on the other side which had the main city. There was one large building which was curved and had a hole in the centre called Queens Wharf which was opened in August 2024.

We walked along the river and eventually came to Kirulpa Bridge and we then curved inside and came across the Queensland Art Gallery and the Brisbane Museum which we went into and there were various exhibitions, one of which was about a WW1 tank called Mephisto which the Australians captured. Like Sydney there was a very good exhibition about the animals in Australia.  One of which was Great White shark preserved in formalin and which was caught in 1993. It was 2.2m long. When young are born they are about 1.2 long and maturity occurs after 12 years with females being about 4.5 m and males 3.6m. They can live for 40-60 years with the biggest being 7 m and 3,200kg. I would not want to meet them at any time.

There was also a giant squid preserved in formalin. They live at depths up to 1-2 km below the water with immense pressure and freezing water. They can grow up to 14-15m and weigh up to 400kg. They have the largest eyes of any animal up to 30cm diameter. They are not sure how long they live for but some estimate between 4-38 years. They are quite often eaten by sperm whales.

The museum was interesting and we walked on and then decided to cross the river to the city side and we came under the new big building at Queens Wharf. We walked on into the city and found the famous City Hall. It was built between 1917-1930 and it has a large clock tower some 85m high with a 4.8m clock face. (One of the foundation stones was laid by King Edward V111). This was within a large square and we had a refreshing drink. We then went through an arcade or two around Queens Street and had lunch at Jimmy’s on the mall. This was quite good. Malcolm went off to get a present for his wife and Trevor, Mark and I wondered around and had an ice cream. We then went back to Queens Wharf to wait for Malcolm and went up to the 23rd floor which had a terrace where we could look out over the river and city. We found a bar and waited. I sent Malcolm a few messages and he did not ring. Eventually I rang him and another man picked up the phone and Malcolm had left his phone in a cab. We got the man to bring it back to us in town and then he drove us back to the boat. Malcolm was already there and waiting for us. He was very relieved to get his phone back. We had cheese and biscuits.

Our first impressions of Brisbane are very positive. It is a smart wealthy city and lives up to the description given above and we look forward to exploring more tomorrow.

Need/Opportunity Year Two

I am in need of more crew from late April to Mid-July so if of interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com