Red Mists, Brisbane Life
Fleck
Fri 25 Sep 2009 02:58
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Date Friday 25th September
Position 27:28.1S 153:01.7E
Seventeen miles up the Brisbane river we are in
another world. We are tied up on moorings just off Brisbane's Botanical Gardens,
with onshore showers etc. and we are just a stones throw from the CBD: the
skyscraper city centre. An impressive location, and with much to see and do.
Highlight for me has been the visiting New York Met exhibition at the city art
gallery, but there are several other big galleries, and lots of other
diversions. There is a free artificial beach along the river, with three
different swimming pools crafted into the sandy landscape, very impressive. We
have our own pub, where we are tolerated by day, but not at night: our shorts
and open toe sandals falling considerably short of the smart casual standard
required.
Two days ago our sojourn was interrupted by the
dust storms, news of which may have even reached the UK? The weather here has
been very strange, the warmest spring since records began etc. and the wind
lurching about in a rather unpredictable way: disconcertinig for us sailors. The
dust arrived on what is termed here a 'southerly change': a common enough event,
and I still don't quite understand why ,on this occasion, whe wind paused to
scoop up thousands of tons of the central dessert. For a day the landscape was
blotted out, and now there is a layer of dust everywhere, but hopefully not too
much in this computer! We are off downtown to post the mail, stock up on goodies
(for me, almond croissants!!) and Charlie wants to do the washing. Free
classical concert in the Park on Saturday, hopefully off on Sunday first light,
heading south into the throat of Morton Bay, and then out into the Pacific, when
the weather and tides are right, through the 'Goldcoast
Seaway' an artificial dredged channel
through the sandbanks that litter this coast.
Regards to all from Richard, Mark and
Charlie.
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