Back to Brisbane!

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So, sometime overnight the seas really calmed down. A little. We think it happened either when we left the Tasman Sea and entered the Coral Sea or else we sailed out of the reaches of the depression we'd been experiencing. Either way I could shave my legs in the shower this morning and I had an appetite. We went up to Terrace about 8am when we should have been docked. We weren't. According to the nav map on TV we'd gone well North of the mouth of the Brisbane River and we were looping back down past the inside of the island that blocks the mouth of the river from view from the sea. We were supposed to have picked up our pilot hours ago and we don't know when that happened or if in fact it has happened. Once we entered the river, we saw a pilot boat near us and assumed the pilot was already aboard. The Brisbane River is very winding and full of u-turns. I know because I drove the Mirimar cruiser the last time we were here! I just checked that day's blog entry and I don't make any mention of that ! I don't know if Clay posted any photos of it either. Shame on me! Captain Matt invited anyone who wanted to drive the boat to the wheelhouse on the boat ride back down river from Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. About 5 of us took up the offer and I was one. If was a highlight of the trip and I can't believe I didn't write about it the day of! I think I have to go back and edit that entry now. Anyway, as hard as I found it to keep that little boat between the banks with all the twists and turns I can't imagine bringing Sirena upstream as far as Portside Wharf. As we were eating breakfast Julie came over the intercom to say we'd be docked at least 45 minutes late and for the people on tours not to stay in the lounge but to come back 45 minutes after their tour time. The complimentary shuttle into town was supposed to start at 9:30am. They did not clear the ship until 9:45am so the first shuttle bus left at 10am. That was fine but we were very glad that we had not made our Viator reservations for today and instead had done that excursion last month when we flew in here! Fingers crossed for Cairns where we have booked an excursion to depart 1 hour and 40 minutes after our scheduled arrival. If we are always an hour and a half late, we'll miss that day trip! I recall that shortened port stays were a consistent problem with  Oceania from 2015. Oh well.

We were on the first shuttle bus. There were at least 2 waiting when we got out because of course they were waiting for us and we were late. That meant that we didn't have to wait for a bus too. Good news. So, the bus let us off on Ann St. right in front of Central Station and the war memorial eternal flame. This was on the same block where we stayed last month! Good news as we knew our way around. I wanted to focus on Brisbane history in the CBD this time through. I knew there were only 2 original convict built structures and I thought the first was the Old Windmill. There were red-shirted volunteers to give out maps and answer questions. I cornered one and he didn't recommend the windmill base that remains. He suggested instead the Commissariat Store which is still in use as a museum. Since it was the furthest point we wanted to visit we headed instead to Brisbane City Hall  Museum. I should point out that the volunteers were offering free guided walking tours but I didn't see anyone take them up on the offer. Clay had Googled this morning for specialties to eat here and had come up with Noosa Chocolate Factory Rocky Road and Doughnut Time filled doughnuts. We found both in the first 2 blocks walking! We bought some candy to go and we stopped and ate the massive doughnut. We got It's Always a Gay Time. It was amazing.

Our next stop was at the Brisbane City Hall and Museum of Brisbane. This turned out to be a treasure trove and it was all free! We went up to the 3rd floor for the Museum and saw signs that you could get a free timed ticket for a guided tour up to the clock tower. We had heard the clock go off when we were eating our doughnut so we got tickets for 11:15am. We went to browse some of the Museum and when I went to the restroom, I saw signs about a signature wall from WWII military people who had passed through the basement men's room. It said to go to the desk and request a free timed ticket. We went back and got tickets for 11:30am. Both tours were very interesting and we were glad we did them. The building was built in 1930 and recently refurbished hence the basement archaeologic discoveries. We learned about Brisbane tuff. Douglas MacArthur commanded the Pacific war from here in Brisbane and armed forces from all over the world came through here. The MacArthur Museum was the last thing on our list since it would bring us back near the shuttle stop. We took a free city circulator bus to as close as possible to the Commissariat Store. It wasn't too close because William St was closed and he had to drive on the Riverside Expressway. We got on by City Hall and got off at the exact opposite side of town on his route with no stops in between! We walked back to the Commissariat Store and had to go down a bunch of stairs through a park full of horrifying lizards to get a full frontal view of the building. It is the only remaining intact convict labor built building in Brisbane. They wanted $7pp to enter and Clay wanted to see the MacArthur Museum and it was about 2pm and past lunch time so we passed. We got a lesson from a local about threatening lizard behavior on our way through the park. He said if one rears up on its back legs, run. OMG! We went back up through the park and by the Treasury Building we found a street market full of food tents. Clay had seen a big bratwurst at the last square where we ate our doughnut but it was too early then. Lunch problem solved. We walked back through the Queen Street Mall to get to the MacArthur Museum. We found the MacArthur Chambers building but signage was scarce for the Museum. We found 2 plaques on the outside of the building and an Apple Store, a Woolworths and a food court in the building but we had to search it twice over to find the Museum entrance with signage indicating it is only open 3 days per week and today was not one of them. We do know better than this and since Clay knew he wanted to visit, I can't say why he hadn't looked it up online prior to finding the place. Lesson learned again, I guess.

We just walked back up through ANZAC Square to the shuttle stop and got on the 3pm ride. It takes about 20-30 in traffic and another 15-20 minutes from the bus drop at Portside to the ship. We got back about 4pm and all aboard is 6:30pm and sailaway is 7pm.

Fingers crossed for some smooth sailing! Tomorrow is another sea day.. I forgot to say that last night when we got back to the cabin we found our invitation to the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet that one of the board members arranged. It is tomorrow at 5:30pm. The same night that we have our first Sirena specialty restaurant reservation at 6:30pm. I really hope for very smooth seas tomorrow. The day after that is Airlie Beach on Whitsunday Islands and Clay is booked all day for a catamaran cruise to the Great Barrier Reef where I have big plans for a hopefully vacant guest laundry room! We'll be anchored that day anyway so even if I have competition for the facilities I should be on more or less solid legs for the exercise.

We plan to eat at Terrace tonight. We went out on the balcony for sunset and some of the drinks we bought in Sydney. We watched the Brisbane River flowing past on its way upstream instead of down. It must be nearing high tide! I will go ahead and post this now. If anything newsworthy happens I'll either add it later or tomorrow.

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