After our day at sea, this morning we cruised into Moreton Bay past Mud Island and into the Brisbane River. The main port and Brisbane Airport is located on opposite sides of the river at its entrance. Most of the larger cruise ships cannot do this (you have to be small enough to sail under a bridge) but as we are a smaller ship, we sailed on up the river to a newer cruise terminal near downtown. Regent is offering a free shuttle from the terminal to the downtown area for those not on tours today.
Brisbane is the third most populous city (2.3 million) in Australia and the capital of the state of Queensland. It is one of the oldest cities in Australia, founded in 1821 and also initially a penal colony. During WWII, Brisbane served as the South West Pacific Headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur. Today the Brisbane River is lined with heavy industry, including a refinery, paper milling, metalworking, and railway repair. On the white collar side, Brisbane is home to most major Australian and international companies. Its port on Fisherman’s Island at the river mouth handles container freight and exports, such as, sugar, grain, coal, and bulk liquids. Brisbane is a popular tourist destination , as it is a gateway to the popular resorts towns of Gold Coast to the south and Sunshine Coast to the north.
Today, I did the same excursion as we did back in 2010 because we enjoyed it so much. As we had a rain shower just before the tour left, Rebecca opted out of going on the tour. Instead she will do some laundry. The ship provides self-service laundry rooms on each most decks. We get free laundry service but she likes to do some of her stuff instead of sending it out. I elected to do the afternoon (1:30 pm) “Highlights of Brisbane and Lone Pine” tour so I could workout in the morning. Our coach took us on a tour of the city where we saw the Parliament House, Treasure Building, City Hall, old Customs House, and Cultural Center. The Cultural Center is next to where the 1988 World Expo was held and houses the State’s Art Gallery, Performing Arts Complex, a museum, and library.
Then we headed for the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This is an amazing place. It is home to approximately 130 koalas plus kangaroos, wallabies, emus, Tasmanian devils, wombats, dingos, kookaburras, and other species of Australian animals. The koalas were so cute and for $16 you could hold one while having a photo taken. Koalas sleep over 21 hours a day as the eucalyptus leaves they eat require a lot of energy for them to digest. How they sleep without falling out of the trees is amazing. We also walked out in a field with kangaroos and try to feed them some pellets. You had to watch as you tried to circumnavigate all the kangaroo do-do! We were advised to stoop over to their level when feeding them or they may try to kick us. A fully grown (6 foot) red kangaroo can kill a human by kicking him with its hind legs. I GOT REAL LOW! The emus would walk right up to you and can run short distances at up to 50 mph. I again thoroughly enjoyed this two hours at Lone Pine.
This is the link to the photos I took today.
https://goo.gl/photos/zs59T1TbdY5xZ2S79
Last night we enjoyed a wedge salad and turkey with stuffing in Compass Rose. I tried a piece of the veal liver but it was too chewy. We did go to hear Juliette Primrose's show. She is a very good violinist and this time we loved her show because the band did not cover her up. She is leaving the ship today so will be getting new entertainers.
Tonight we have a 7:00 pm reservation up in Prime 7 with Susanne Peters. I'm ready for a good prime ribeye or NY strip. I have them bring me one of each to look at before cooking so I can select the one with the most "marbling" (fat in the meat). Marbling makes a steak more tasty and tender. We will not be going to the show as it is featuring the ship's production company which we do not care for. Bring back the Jean Ann Ryan Company, PLEASE!
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