Arrival in the Land of Oz - Brisbane, Australia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Thu 22 Oct 2009 03:20
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27:26.701S 153:063.14E
We'll have to confer with John and Sue (of
Storyteller fame) to find out why exactly Australia is often referred to as Oz,
but it is, and it makes a catchy title for this blog entry, so there you
go.
We arrived per the plan just before noon this
morning at the Rivergate Marina in Brisbane. This is my first time in
Australia (second for Don) and a trip up the Brisbane river probably isn't
the best way to introduce oneself to the wonders of Australia. The river
banks are lined with masses of industry - a huge commercial port, two
refineries, a concrete plant, an airport and giant piles of coal. Yeah,
not that attractive. After visiting third world countries with little or
no industry, it all looks huge and sinister - no cute little thatch huts to
greet us or quaint two-road towns where the produce market is the only hub
of activity.
No worries though, we plan to move from this marina
to one called Scarborough tomorrow, which is located on the coast just north of
Brisbane. It should be lovely there - or so we're told. Scarborough
will be the resting place for Harmonie while we are home for the months of
November and December.
The last bit of our voyage here was extremely
smooth. We sailed slowly through calm seas under a completely clear and
starry sky to arrive just outside of Brisbane at first
light. Our only excitement was the freighter traffic. Only
one came close enough to cause us to change course, but just seeing
freighter traffic at all was exciting.
A trip report and pictures of the dead flying
fish will follow after we've had a few days to recover. In the meantime,
try to contain your excitement about the dead fish pictures.
Cheers from Oz -
Anne
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