Mooloolaba, Gateway to Brisbane

March 6

Yet one more place name with too many o’s and an odd pronunciation: it isn’t Moo-loo-LA-ba, but Moo-LOO-laba. Your Aussie town name lesson for the day – more to come.

As we had never been there before, we opted to spend the day in Brisbane (that’s BRIS-bin) instead. One of the shore excursions was basically a bus transfer from Mooloolaba to the city, about a 1 ¼ hour drive by highway, and we had planned to take the Hop On-Hop Off Bus to visit the more interesting sights. Unfortunately, when we checked the Bus the day before, we found that it was no longer running. Well, we figured we’d have to wing it since we couldn’t change our minds at this point.

But our tour guide for the bus transfer was prepared. She gave out maps of the city and lots of information on areas to visit and how to get around. Once we arrived in Brisbane, she made sure we knew where we would meet the bus, and led us to the City Hall for the always-necessary bathroom break and a little history lesson. Then she turned us loose, hoping that we would all make it back to the bus for our 2:30 departure – not a minute later, as we would need 1 ½ hours to make sure we got back to the tender pier on time.

The Brisbane River and CBD in the distance

The City Hall - yes, that tower DOES look
like the one in Venice!

We used our 5 hours to the best advantage. We walked toward the Brisbane River, which runs through the heart of the city, and crossed over the Kurilpa Pedestrian bridge to stroll along the waterfront on the other side, passing the Performing Arts Centre and the South Bank Parklands.

A swimming area and beach at the South Bank Parklands

Our guide had told us about the free ferry service, part of the transportation network, called the CityHopper. We found one of the stops just as the ferry arrived, and rode along toward Eagle Street Pier, where she had said we would find lots of options for lunch.

The view from Eagle Street Pier, with Story Bridge in
the distance. You can do a 'bridge climb' on this one, just
like in Sydney.

We stopped at a burger place called Grill’d, which we later discovered was part of a chain, where the specialty is healthy burgers. No matter if they were healthy food or not, they were quite delicious!

After lunch we started walking back along the riverfront, through the Botanical Gardens and back toward the bus meeting point at Brisbane’s ANZAC Memorial.

Even though there were 30 of us spread out all over downtown Brisbane, we all met on time – early, actually, as it was getting quite hot and humid in the afternoon – and had to wait a few minutes for the bus to arrive. And it was a good thing, as the traffic heading out of the city was quite heavy; maybe it being a Friday afternoon in late summer had something to do with it, and we needed every minute of that 1 ½ hours to get back to the tender pier in Mooloolaba.

Mooloolaba is a sort of vacation town for Brisbane - lots
of boats in the marina.

We sailed out of Mooloolaba not long before sunset, and this was another very colourful one.

All in all, it was a good day. We discovered one more Australian city that it would be nice to explore again. The next time Crystal visits the area, it looks like the ship will be able to get to the port in Brisbane, which is being improved and will be reopened for larger cruise ships later this year. Then they’ll probably be offering shore excursions to Mooloolaba!

March 7

We had another sea day before arriving at Airlie Beach, which ended with yet another spectacular sunset. We had never seen the clouds built up like this before – the sky was changing from one minute to the next – over some distant islands. We were approaching the Whitsunday Islands in the Great Barrier Reef.

Our favourite pre-dinner spot at the Sunset Bar
with the whole vista ahead of us. The best
place to see the brilliant sunsets.

That evening Waterside Restaurant was showcasing a menu from the Australian guest chef onboard, Jason Roberson. Fresh made Burrata cheese, rack of lamb and a Pavlova to top it off. The meal was mouthwatering and delicious!