Dec 22 -- Brisbane

It took some doing but we arrived in Brisbane at 1pm, then added another hour for docking and customs and all those other things that happen when you arrive at a port.  Destination Services actually ran one of their tours and sent 4 buses of people off to the Lone Pine koala sanctuary, with included highlights of the city.  Since we have been to Brisbane twice before we went off on our own to a different part of the city. See http://drdavebradley.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-7-brisbane-brisbane-was-unplanned.html
for our visit to the CBD during the ATW cruise.

We docked much nearer to the city than our previous visit.  This is the bridge that keeps the bigger boats out.
  

We took the Brisbane CityCat ferry from the pier to the center of town.

 Although Cynthia doesn't want to live in Brisbane, she wants to live in this house.

A ferry terminal.  Stops at these locations were almost like a bus stop, a very quick in and out.  Yes, there were ropes and ramps but they were handled very quickly.  And the Cat was fast where it was allowed, nearly 30mph.

 Artwork along the Brisbane River

 This time in Brisbane we visited the South Bank, a redeveloped area across the river from the CBD full of family things.

 Not a zoo, just a regular inhabitant of South Bank.

The Brisbane Eye

Christmas was in the decorations.  But not in the air.  It was 87F with the sun overhead and hot.  Even in Florida for Christmas it's a little cooler than normal, and the sun is low in the sky.

South Bank has a big swimming pool, very popular on the very warm Friday before Christmas.

Australia's finest lifeguards demonstrating their concentration on their duties as well as heroic man-spreading.

 A big Christmas market sets up here.  Lots of music. 

The backside of the large display at the swimming pool. (The front side is visible in the pool picture above at the far end of the pool, middle.)  They show movies nightly on that screen for the families.  There are lots of places to get something to eat further in from the river.  Restrooms and lockers mean you can spend the whole day here.

The ship overnighted in Brisbane although everyone had to be back aboard by midnight.  We stayed to ensure that bunkering was completed.  We had to give up Kingfisher Bay stop because of this, but I don't think there was ever a chance of not cancelling a port once we left 9 hours late from Sydney.

Here's the city as seen from our dock as we pull away in the morning.

For my sister:  See, Brisbane has everything you need.  And some things you don't.  Humidity.

 This where cars and trucks arrive.

We now have nearly 3 days at sea until we arrive in Cairns on Christmas afternoon.  Let's see what Christmas will be like at sea.