Days 1 & 2 - 10th & 11th April 2023. Flight from Sydney to Brisbane, then 2 days before boarding the cruise ship.

Day 1:

Ready to go! We are all packed and everything checked off and ready to go. Danni came out and stay the night so we could all be together with mum and dad as well, then she took us into the airport. Had about a 10 km hold-up was an accident up ahead, but we had left early so still got to the airport on time. No problems – phew! Always good idea to leave early 😊.

We were surprised that the Qantas terminal T3 was basically empty, and this was on Easter Monday afternoon, so we thought it would’ve been queues out the door! We were through domestic check in very quickly and went and sorted a travel money card, at the Travelex booth. I had rung ahead as we were in a bit of a bind, as the card we had ordered from the bank had not arrived, despite me making about 6 different phone calls earlier in the week to try and sort it in different departments. What a nightmare and nobody could find anything so very glad that Travelex could help us out there and then with the card-thanks for the heads up on that Danni! 

Up to the Qantas club lounge, for a nice beer and some food. No hold-ups with the plane to Brisbane and we were there in just over an hour. Got a taxi into our hotel in the CBD – the mantra midtown and they had given us an upgrade in the top floor, so that was lovely.

Went out and wondered around, lots of Asian cuisine in the CBD. Had a great nights sleep :-) 

Day 2:

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day, promising to be 27° with no humidity and it delivered! Was so lovely not to have to get up just after 6 am to get ready for work for both of us and we just mooched around before going out to have a wander around the shopping district, which is literally just up the road. There is a lovely pedestrian strip here with all the shops so we wandered around and got a few things. Then went to a Japanese Gyoza restaurant for brunch – they advertise Gyoza’s and beer, so that was enough for us. Ha ha!

They were the best gyozas we have ever had -chicken and lemongrass, crab and garlic butter, and pan fried beef Gyoza’s. They were washed down with a jug of beer and then we were back out into the sunshine for more walking.

We had read on the Fb cruise pages that the 2 cruise ships we are on have really hard beds, which is a bit disappointing as we have never had trouble with beds before. Might be because they are a bit older? Anyway, we decided like many other passengers had said they were going to do, to go and buy an egg crate mattress to take on board and then you donate it afterwards. Other passengers must have been in before us today as we tried several places and could only get a queen, rather than the king size, but we decided this was better than nothing, so will be taking one with us tomorrow.

Dropped our stuff back at the apartment and decided to lay down for a while, and have a snooze – what a treat that is in the middle of the afternoon, and so lovely to be able to listen to your bodies rhythm 😊.

Up again, and out for a big walk down to the botanic gardens, where we stopped and shared a beer sitting on the grass, looking at the river, and then walked a good few km’s along the waterfront. Graeme loves it when cities like this, capitalise on the water and have fantastic walking and cycling lanes that follow the riverbank with upmarket pubs and restaurants dotted along the way. 

Had a short ride on the water taxi around the point and then we stopped off at a big restaurant called Felons that looked out over the bridge. Great atmosphere and we had a lovely evening, looking out over the water while we had our dinner. 

Then walked back which was a long way but very pleasant as a balmy evening and not too hot. Stopped off to get some non-alcoholic beer to take on board as you are allowed to take 12 bottles of something, then we happened upon a pancake and crêpe restaurant in a fantastic old church, so dropped in and had a dessert pancake each, now that’s a treat! 

Back to the apartment to put our feet up as they've walked a few kilometres today - 16,000!