Brisbane 1 of 4

We woke early and prepared for a day trip in Brisbane, Queensland sunny capital city. The Sea Princess moored in the Brisbane River and we could see the city from the top deck as we headed to the Horizon Court for an early breakfast. Following this 10 minutes walk along the riverside promenade to a Rivercat terminal. Today was a completely different Brisbane morning from the very wet and dreary morning we experienced on our last visit here, in 2018. At 8.30, the sun was shining and a gentle breeze greeted us as we strolled to the riverside terminal. The Brisbane River has a great transport system with Rivercats and other ferries departing every 20 minutes throughout the heavy peak periods and many locals use the service to travel to and from work.

Our Rivercat trip took about an hour and we were surprised at how long and winding the Brisbane River is. The scenery varied from palatial riverside mansion style homes, tall unit buildings, condominiums, parklands and skyscrapers of offices and commercial buildings. We passed several teams of energetic rowers training along the river, private yachts moored in some bays and heavily loaded trawlers returning from a night of fishing. We sailed under the steel framed Storey Bridge which was built in the depression years and not only provided work for many unemployed men but created a mateship between men in the 'town', a pride in the city. The bridge links the western and eastern riverbanks and its' completion increased the interactions between two towns once separated by the river.

We alighted at the North Quay Terminal and walked to the Queen Street Mall area where we stocked up on some toiletry items that we'd deliberately not pack due to lack of space in our suitcases. Most passengers had done the same thing and waited until Brisbane to buy shampoo, canned drinks etc. The plan for the day was to visit the Brisbane City Hall and climb the clock tower so we headed in that direction.

City Hall was built in the 1920's in what was once a water hole that had dried up. It was a major undertaking for the fledging city and is still an impressive building today. It was opened in 1930, just two years before Sydney's Harbour Bridge construction and until 1963 City Hall was the tallest building in Brisbane mostly due to a council ruling that no buildings could be built any higher than City Hall. Today many buildings tower over this site but it's still an impressive building to view. City Hall was designed to impress" and today though it is a heritage listed building, it is still a working building with the Brisbane City Council chambers and offices occupying many rooms. It is also home to the City Mayor and the Deputy, a magnificent Concert Hall, the Museum of Brisbane, an art gallery and several rented offices for commercial and private enterprises. The outside appearance is one of a Greek Parthenon-design with a colonnade row of massive hand-carved sandstone pillars. A huge triangular sandstone carved tableau depicting people, animals and flora stands above the main entrance. It was completed by a female and carver who took 2 years to complete the sculpture. The crowning glory of the building is its four-sided Clock Tower which we planned to climb. Looking up at its height we could only imagine how long it would take us to climb it.