Tuesday 24/2/2015 Day 49 Arrived in Beautiful Brisbane

Another hour went back last night and then before we knew it we’d arrived in Brisbane at 9 a.m., were shuttle bussed to the city centre and found the South Bank.  Brisbane was another lovely surprise, made all the more enjoyable by the 28C all day.  Next came a little bit of essential shopping and a visit to an art shop for a hog brush and charcoal pencil by special request of Easa. So we made our way around the Queen Street Mall. Every stop we made, we asked for the next.  In the grocery shop we asked for directions to the art suppliers, success,  in the art suppliers we asked for the best place to eat Moreton Bay Bugs, and found an al fresco restaurant that served not just the Moreton Bay Bugs (like little crabs crossed with lobsters), but also massive, really massive prawns and melt in the mouth calamari like I have never tasted, with no crumbs, no batter just a very buttery garlicky sauce.

Now we have shuttled back to the ship, had an hour in the hot tub at the same time as the sail away party and are now preparing for dinner watching The Way We Were with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. I went to see this for the first time about 40 years ago with my dear mum, while I was still at Manchester University. I remember it all so well, even our bus journey from Cheadle to Withington and back.  The movie had quite a lot of significance then (students, idealism, turbulent relationships, challenging the political Right), but now it’s just lovely to watch.

We have also just left beautiful, clean Brisbane for a sea day up the east coast towards Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday islands. This will be the third of four stops around our 9 days in Australian waters, the final one being Darwin on 2/3/2015.  Airlie Beach info looks very different – coastal, coral reef, white sand, turquoise sea.

Dinner finished and tonight was such a good night for a visit to the Palladium. The singer was Bruce Morrison and he did a pretty comprehensive tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musicals. By the end I felt as though I’d been to the Phantom again.  Stirring stuff.

Bye for now. Back tomorrow.