Steve and Cathy's Blog

Well, we learn first thing that the weather did indeed slow down our ship, and we won’t arrive in Brisbane (pronounced Briz’ bin) until 9:30am.  Our excursion, Mt. Tamborine, Winery & Crafts, was to begin at 8:15, and the ship has to leave Brisbane at 5:30pm.

There is no leeway on that departure time because Insignia is to sail 484 nautical miles to Sydney and is to be there, without fail, at 6:00am on May 9^th.  Four hundred passengers that have been on this Beijing to Sydney segment of the ATW cruise are due to leave the ship that day by 8:00am, and another four hundred will be boarding that afternoon. Whatever it takes, the ship must be in Sydney on time.

One compensating pleasure is that we get to sit on our veranda after breakfast as Insignia cruises nine miles up the Brisbane River to the city.  Brisbane is the third largest city in Australia at 2.4 million, with a metro population of 3.5 million.  It is a large port as well as the capital of Queensland, so there is plenty of activity both on the riverbank as well as on the river itself.

We spot the city skyline several miles from our dock, and are at the pier by 9:30. (that’s the photo at the beginning of this post)

Almost immediately, the vessel is cleared by the authorities, and we leave Insignia Lounge for our bus just before 10:00.

Our guide Val introduces herself and the bus driver Steve.  After apologizing that we will not be driving through Brisbane to become acquainted with the city due to the late start (why she is apologizing because the ship was late is puzzling to us), she gives us the rundown on our tour, all of which will take place on Mount Tamborine: 1) Rainforest Skywalk and Eco Discovery Centre; 2) St. Bernard Pub and Hotel for lunch, 3) Gallery Walk on Eagle Heights for shopping; and finally 4) a wine tasting at Witches Falls Winery.

Val begins to give us an introduction to the area, starting with the weather report, which isn’t too promising.  Showers (called “liquid sunshine” in Queensland because they call themselves the Sunshine State) are predicted for later in the day, but hopefully only after we have started home.  She covers many subjects on our one-hour drive to Mt. Tamborine.  Here are some of them:

• Brisbane is growing rapidly – at the rate of 1,300 new residents per month. For that reason, housing is becoming expensive. The average house in the Brisbane area runs between AU$460-600,000.
• Today is a holiday in Queensland. The entire nation celebrates Labor Day sometime in May.  In Queensland, it is today.
• The state of Queensland is the second largest in Australia at 1.7 million square kilometers.For comparison purposes, she tells us that it is 2 ½ times larger than Texas, but only has a population of 5 million (Texas has 28 million).  133 nationalities make it home, many of the latest immigrants coming from Asia, India and Africa.
• Immigration is skills-based and only certain skills are needed, so it is not easy to become a citizen of Australia.
• Brisbane was established in 1825 as a penal colony for those convicted of a second crime (second offenders) in Great Britain. Seventeen years later, in 1842, free people began arriving.  It became a city in 1901.
• Many houses are built on stilts because of termites, of which Australia has 120 species.It also increases the airflow in this subtropical climate and helps during floods.
• Brisbane is flood-prone because of the amount of rain that flows off the mountains. The last two very damaging ones came in 1974 and 2011.
• Mount Tamborine gets its name from the Aboriginal word for ‘wild limes’ referring to the finger lime trees growing on the mountain. It has nothing to do with the musical instrument of the same name.
• Because it is a holiday, we see many recreational vehicles, just like we would on Labor Day at home.
• The Tamborine Mountain area is both a tourist magnet and a retiree magnet. We see many beautiful horse farms, and Val tells us that racehorses are also bred in the area.
• We wend our way up this 1,722-foot mountain on a very curvy road full of switchbacks. The traffic is getting heavy and it is not easy maneuvering this full-sized bus on the narrow road.  We come upon a bicyclist crawling up the mountain.  In Australia, vehicles – especially buses and trucks – must maintain a minimum certain distance from bicycles, so we must slow down to a walk.  Val says that the guy has no business being up here on such a curvy road and he is a hazard to himself and others.

We arrive at the Rainforest Skywalk that is located within Mt. Tamborine National Park at 11:00am. The place is packed, and cars are parked all along the entrance road for at least a quarter mile.  Our expert driver does get us to the entrance and is able to find a place to park.  We go through the entrance/gift store and are teamed up with our guide.  We begin our visit on a very sturdy, steel walkway that takes us though and over the forest canopy.  This walkway is around 80-100 feet above the floor of this subtropical rainforest.  There are signs describing the various plants and trees and other features of the rainforest. It is probably the greenest placewe have ever been.  Absolutely anything can probably grow here, but we are especially impressed with the eucalyptus trees.  There are 600 varieties of eucalyptus trees in Australia, and they shed their bark three times a year – in different colors.  Our guide mentions that of the 600 varieties, only 20 will appeal to koalas (she calls them ‘gourmets’).

The steel walkway goes for a few hundred yards to a regular hiking path.  Our guide points out many, many things, including the existence of Australia’s biggest pest plant, the weed Lantana (same one we have at home in the summer for a hanging plant!).  We also see a sign describing a very strange plant called a Giant Stranger Fig.  Here is the sign and the strange story of this plant.

One other thing our park guide wants us to know is that we will see a lot of detritus, fallen trees, dead branches, huge brown palm fronds and so forth.  This is natural and so none of this is cleaned up.  It is left as is because that is the natural state of a rainforest.

Our tour takes about fifty minutes, is fully engaging and it is also a joy to see all the families and kids enjoying this attraction.  When we return to the gift shop, we have ten minutes to peruse the gift store.  Steve and Cathy want to buy a couple of things, but the credit card machine is not cooperating.  We finally end up paying cash because the bus needs to leave at noon. So we are almost the last ones on the bus.  We hatebeing late!

Our bus maneuvers through the traffic jam – yes, traffic jam – at the Skywalk entrance, gets out on to the winding main road and finds our way to the top of the mountain.  It is about a half hour drive to the St. Bernard Hotel where we will have lunch.  It is a very funky place. Looks like something right out of Merrie Olde England. Low ceilings, heavy beams, big fireplace, lots of nooks and crannies. There are many local families eating lunch in the main pub area. We are ushered into a special room on the lower level where we are seated at tables and served.  Steak and chicken are the two entrees.  We opt for chicken.  It is okay but not anything to write home about.  We are getting jaded on the ship, because we get five-star lunches and dinners every day on the ship.  Shame on us.

After lunch, we spend a few minutes in the beautiful back yard of the hotel that overlooks the valley. Despite the cloudy weather, the scenery is stunning.  Time for some more photos.

Our guide has told us that there are actually two St. Bernard dogs at the hotel, and on our way out, we meet one of them –named Sarah!  The other one is named Molly, but she is nowhere in sight.

Back in the bus, we head for our next stop, which is a shopping area called Gallery Walk.  This is a charming area of small craft stores, art galleries, restaurants and gift shops.  Very nice shops full of very decent stuff.  We spend forty minutes wandering through a few stores.  For people who aren’t bigtime shoppers, we have a very nice time. There were lots of local families shopping. The weather was gorgeous and there was a September-ish feeling in the air, summer is ending and soon fall will arrive: changing leaves, window boxes and planters full of end-of-summer flowers, a crisp feeling to the air.

So far the showers have held off, but the fog begins to roll in as we board the bus for our last stop, and it is raining by the time we reach Witches Falls Winery for a winetasting. The place was very nice, with lawns and gardens and pretty shrubs and trees. There are tents and picnic tables set up for us, but the rain eliminates the possibility of sitting there, so we are led into one of the production areas.  While the rain has necessitated this change, it certainly doesn’t stop some of our fellow guests from whining about having to stand, exhibiting the kind of behavior that makes us embarrassed to be with them sometimes.

Our hosts are two very hospitable young people that make the best of the new situation.  Witches Falls is the only winery that actually produces their wine right on Tamborine Mountain.  All the rest of the wineries on the mountain are retail sales stores. Now, they do say that the actual grapes are grown in an area three hours southwest of this facility because the soil on the mountain retains too much moisture.  Needless to say, since we visited a rainforeston this mountain earlier in the day, this area gets a lot of moisture (some of which is falling right now!).

They also tell us that Australian wine is consistently good because of the long summer – and the summer is always good.  We have the opportunity to taste un-oaked chardonnay, oaked chardonnay, pinot noir, sauvignon cab, and shiraz.  We buy two bottles of chardonnay before we leave.

Alas, our bus must climb down off the mountain and get back to Brisbane and our ship.  We feel bad for our guide, who has been under time pressure all day because of our ship’s late arrival in Brisbane while listening to the grousing from a few guests that the tour is being cut short.  Steve and Cathy both make sure to tell her she has done a very good job under circumstances not of her own making.

As we return to Brisbane on the Pacific Highway, Steve tries to take pictures of trucks for Mikey, so he doesn’t take many notes as Val continues her discussion of the area. She tells us that if you ask a resident where he/she lives, you are likely to hear: “I live in Brizzy.”  If you happen to be in a nightclub, you may hear: “I live in Briz Vegas.”

One of the traits that our guide most admires is the “Pioneer Spirit” of Australians. Everyone helps one another.  She suggests a test: if you are anywhere in Australia, “act just a little bit lost.”  Within five minutes, someone will come up to you and ask if they can help.

She also mentions that the national airline of Australia is, of course, Qantas.  The name comes from Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Service.  It is Australia’s largest airline and one of the world’s oldest.

We arrive back at the ship around 4:30, much to the relief of Destination Services.  We had a very interesting day and look forward to coming back to Brisbane to learn more about this interesting metropolitan area.