Up early to watch us come into the dock at the cruise ship terminal in Brisbane. It is located out past the airport to the east of the city center.
I did manage a quick Facetime visit with family in St Albert, AB just as we were approaching the dock.
Showers then up to the buffet for breakfast. It was quick & easy then back to the room to grab the backpack & change shoes etc. as we prepped for our day trip into town. We had been in Brisbane just over a year ago so we knew our way around the city.
Celebrity supplied complimentary bus transportation right to the downtown area of King George Square so we were off the ship at 8:30 sharp. Through the terminal after a bit of a hike, then onto an awaiting bus. We departed at 8:45 and arrived at 9:20 a.m.
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| Brisbane City Hall |
Kelly needed a few supplies so we found a pharmacy and picked up some shampoo, reef safe sunscreen and some soap. We continued a trek through the hi end area and ... oh look..... a Tiffany store!! I had purchased Kelly some hoop earrings many years ago but sadly, she lost one of them a while ago. So.. they just happened to have a set available so now she is in her happy place once again! She did seem to enjoy carrying around the little blue Tiffany bag as well :-)
We continued our walk towards the Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the many beautiful churches along the route we took. This is the Cathedral of St Stephen that was recently renovated... simply stunning.
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| Cathedral of St. Stephen |
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| The flowers at the back had a fantastic aroma! |
There was a geocache close by so I headed for that and quickly found it, then it was a stroll through the Botanical Gardens. We also got an geocache in there as well. It was humid with a 32 degree C temp as we made our way to one of the many ferry stations that lined the river. Using the MyTanslink app, we quickly figured our route & departure times for these ferries.
We jumped on at the QUT terminal (easy tap on/tap off with a CC) and enjoyed the breeze as the ferry went down the river towards our destination of Howard Smith Wharves. Turns out they just changed the fare schedule and it's .50 cents a ride all throughout Brisbane's transportation system!!
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| River views... spectacular! |
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| Arriving at Fellons |
We grabbed a cold beverage and enjoyed the coolness of one of Fellons big air conditioned halls. Our primary reason for returning to Fellons was two fold, firstly we really liked the area and secondly, we had arranged a meet up with someone I had met on the internet... yes sounds strange doesn't it but it really wasn't.
Many years ago (early 80's) I had worked for a small airline operating out of Minstrel Island and had met & lived with the Carder family of Ed, Margit, & son's Scott and Grant. Lots has happened to the family since my time there but I had moved on in my flying career and have not been in contact since. Well I recently joined a Face Book group re: Minstrel Island and had made a post about the hotel there. Turns out Scott's daughter Jessica saw it and connected with me seeking any information about her grandparents (as both had past before she was born). She was seeking some family history and perhaps some closure.
Long story short, Jessica and her family live in Brisbane so we arranged a meet up. It was good to explain to her my memories of the family and the activities during my short stay. We met her partner Mark and three year old son Rosco and had a nice lunch at the pirate ship play area at Fellons. Both Kelly and I really enjoyed it and we hope to one day, meet again.
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| Myself & Jessica |
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| Kelly, Dave, Jessica, Rosco & Mark with the Story Bridge behind. |
I had made a blog about my time on Minstrel Island for Jessica and I'll share it now for those interested in the back story at https://minstrelisland.blogspot.com/ We said our goodbyes and jumped back on the ferry toward North Quay Terminal. The river ride was great and we had a good conversation with one of the deckhands that had previously cruised on the Edge as well as worked casinos back in the day for Royal Caribbean.
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| The just completed Star Hotel. |
Once back at the city center, we headed to the shuttle bus and once aboard, it departed within a minute!...Great timing again! BTW the buses where very nicely appointed... unlike some of the band trip units we have seen!
Back on the ship at 15:37 after the usual security screening and it was time for a dip in the main pool. Very refreshing then back to the room to change for happy hour at the Martini Bar. We met up with a few "regulars" and enjoyed the conversation and activity reports from everyone.
We went to Cyprus Room for dinner and after some initial table confusion, had a nice meal with them. They took good care of us.
It was time to visit the casino for a bit of entertainment but it was closed due to some maritime law forbidding any gambling unless in international waters. Oh well lots of time for that. Off to the theater for the evening show by the ships performance group... very entertaining and the place was jammed.
Kelly was fading fast and my pedometer for the day was reading 16,000.. it was time to hit the rack again!
