Feb 20. Brisbane, Queensland Australia

Jul & I totally fell in love with Brisbane. The capital of Queensland, Brisbane is situated on its namesake river and spreads over picturesque hills rising from Morton Bay. One of the oldest cities in Australia, its first European settlers were the secondary offenders from the Sydney penal colony. It served as one as Douglas MacArthur's Pacific headquarters during World War II. Along with the riverside skyscrapers, (many are beautiful works of art), the city also has quaint historic homes called "Queenslanders". They reminded us of the homes along the east coast in the US. Raised on stilts and having large covered front porches and often only one floor, the front doors open to a long hall, meeting to the back door to better enable the breeze to come through.

We toured the city and went up to Mt. Coot-Tha, which gave us a beautiful view of the city and surrounding areas. Brisbane is a youthful city, offering wonderful pedestrian and biking paths. Some bridges were built strickly for bikes and pedestrians! We were very impressed with its progressive, alternative vehicle infrastructure!

We had lunch at Jumbo Thai, which was fabulous!! We shared a meal of Shrimp & Ginger Dumplings and Tofu & Vegetable Pad See Ew. So delish!

Before heading back to the ship, we walked through the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. This beautiful oasis is in the heart of the city. We saw many folks having their lunch breaks here. I bet they go back to work much calmer!

We had a few minutes to spare and happened upon a Krispy Kreme Donuts! Founded in Winston Salem, NC, we couldn't resist paying homage to Julie's childhood😋Read more