Farewell Brisbane

View from our cockpit

Time to move on.  

We've had a bit of a delay (don't we always)  This time it was because of some peculiar bug that the captain succumbed to.  He who NEVER gets sick was downed by something nasty but, fortunately, is now on the mend.  

Then, just before hauling up the anchor, we found that we have, again, a %@*$# diesel leak.  This seems to happen each and every time we fill the tanks to above a certain level so it appears that one tank has sprung a leak.  Which one, we have three?  One of which is impossible to get to and the other two more than a little difficult.  For now, we'll just keep the levels down and try to sort something out once we've performed a few exploratory tests. 

Other than that, preparations are complete so we're off down the river this morning.  

Farewell Brissie, we've certainly enjoyed our stay.  


PHOTO GALLERY:

Scenes around the city:

Art in the Park

 

 

Koalas, Kangaroos & Kookaburras

At long last, an opportunity to see koalas! And, oh my, but they are just too cute.

A short distance out of Brisbane is the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where there are over 100 koalas in a gorgeous setting beside a river with the all-important eucalyptus trees growing all about.

They are there, out in the open, all about the park. A good proportion were nestled in branches fast asleep; something they are prone to do an average of 20 hours a day, but there were still many busy eating and a few younger ones romping around quite actively. And no wonder that they've become such a prime symbol of this country; they certainly are cute and cuddly.

Fortunately times have changed for, in the early 20^th century, they were hunted almost to extinction, primarily for their fur which, sometimes, was used for no other purpose than packing material for shipping goods – an old-fashioned version of today's bubble wrap. I cringe at the thought. Happily, nowadays, they are very much a protected species but are still losing their natural habitat to development and the loss of forest so have never quite regained their previous numbers.

Blue winged Kookaburra*

The sanctuary is also home to a host of beautiful Australia birds, snakes & reptiles, dingos, wombats, platypus and kangaroos.  The wombats were constantly fast asleep hence the lack of an action shot and the majority of the birds were in huge wired aviaries making it impossible to take decent photos through the wire (so, a few borrowed pics*).  This country has certainly been blessed with an extraordinary array of the most beautiful and colourful birds.

We listened to a talk on the koalas as well as one on dingos which proved very interesting, the latter dispelling much of the negative publicity we had previously heard of these magnificent looking animals. One large male was all white such as those found further south in the colder, mountainous regions; the others the more common rusty ginger colouring found in the warmer areas.

Another wonderful and memorable day.

PHOTO GALLERY:

 

So soft

 

Well, maybe not everyone

Rainbow lorikeet

 

Relaxing in the true sense or the word

Emu

A mother & her joey

 

Barking Owl

Sea eagle

Crested Cockatoo*

Pink Cockatoo*

Slumbering wombat

White dingo

 

Tasmanian Devil

A great day out

Back in the San Blas Islands of Panama in 2008, we met an Australian chap, Colin Palmer on his boat Reality, prior to him transiting the canal on his way back to Australia. It just so happened that he was wandering along the river walkways in January and noticed Calypso at anchor. He contacted us just before I went off to Canada and we agreed to get together upon my return.

So, apart from our brief trip down to Warwick, having spent the majority of our time on the Brisbane River doing not much else other than taking the occasional jaunt into the city for provisions and a modicum of sightseeing, we were invited out for the day to see some of the country further afield.

Colin, and his wife Ellie, picked us up early to drive us, firstly, down to the famous Gold Coast. We'd heard so much about this region but couldn't see how we were going to get in a visit short of hiring a car; a rather expensive option, or going down by train and staying overnight; an even more expensive option. And so, happily, we were given this great opportunity to explore.

Surfer's Paradise in the background

Our first stop was Southport with its big marinas and anchorages. We walked along the breakwater to the lighthouse which gave us a great view of the narrow entrance between the mainland and South Stradbroke Island, the southernmost end of Moreton Bay. Looking southwards we could see the tall skyscrapers of Surfer's Paradise in the distance. The weather was a bit boisterous with overcast skies and the odd spot of rain but not bad enough to spoil the excursion. Back into the car to those tall buildings.

Surfer's Paradise is a tourist magnet: beautiful long white beaches with all the amenities, shops, restaurants, hotels and playgrounds. While driving around, we saw no less than five theme parks, some would definitely rival the likes of those in the States, even a Warner Brothers movie theme park. Certainly no shortage of entertainment for the holiday makers.

Cuckoo clocks galore

After a stroll along the beach and an all-you-can-eat brunch on the beach front, we headed off into the mountains to visit an artsy-craftsy village on Tambourine Mountain. The main road was lined with intriguing little shops sporting an eclectic mix of crafts; jewellery, toys, trinkets, paintings, fudge, etc. alongside wineries, a brewery, a cheese factory and the inevitable coffee houses, restaurants and guest lodges. Absolutely charming.

Our drive in the mountains included a host of wonderful view sites with everything so lush and green after the torrential rainfalls that Queensland has been subjected to of late.

On the return trip, Colin drove us to a large supermarket to let us buy some of the provisions that are normally too heavy for us to cart back to the boat by shank's pony. This enabled us to grab our supply of flour, sugar, juices, heavy bottled goods, etc. Only another cruiser would understand the value of that kind offer.

 

We then stopped for a quick, light supper in the Chinese section of town. It was sunset by this time and while waiting for our meal, there was such an almighty raucous coming from the nearby trees. Colin told us that these were parrots so I got up to investigate and watched as literally hundreds and hundreds of rainbow lorikeets flew around vying for the branches to settle for the night. These are the same birds as Possum, the pet that I had visited at a hardware shop so often in Kerikeri, NZ. I had no idea that they were so prolific here.

An unforgettable day, thank you Colin and Ellie – it was greatly appreciated.

PHOTO ALBUM:

What a view this must have!

 

Scenes around Tambourine Mountain

 

At the brewery

 

The highly active & observant watchdog watching over........