Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

Today we were in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, situated on its namesake river and spreads over picturesque hills rising from Moreton Bay. The city’s beautiful landscape and skyline are situated on both sides of the river with numerous bridges and river side pathways. One of Australia’s oldest cities, it’s first settlers were the secondary offenders from the Sydney penal colony. The city also served as one of General Douglas MacArthur’s Pacific headquarters during World War II.

Today we were greeted at the pier by our friends Gary and Karen Sheffield, from Brisbane whom we met on our Viking Grand European River Cruise in 2022. Needless to say, we were very excited about reuniting with our friends and getting a more personal perspective on Brisbane. The cruise terminal is located in the industrial area of the port so it’s a 30 plus minute drive into the city. Having made greetings and exchanging big hugs we jumped into Gary and Karen’s truck for a short drive into one of the outer suburbs for a coffee stop and to discuss the plan for the day.

From the coffee shop, we decided to walk two blocks to the Brisbane River to board a CityCat. CityCat’s are a water taxi system that runs through the city of Brisbane on the river offering a quick way to get around the city as well as great way to see the city sights.

Based on conversations we had with friends back on the ship who took the scheduled tours, we think the best way to see the city skyline is from the river. We rode the entire route and then returned to the city center getting off at South Bank the sight of the 1998 World Expo.

Here we visited the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Museum. Two amazing museums featuring Queensland Artist and Queensland Natural History.

We had Pizza and Beer for lunch at a local Pub before returning to the CityCat for our cruise back down river and back to the Viking Neptune.

We had a great time with Gary and Karen and are so grateful that they were willing to spend their day with us showing us their beautiful hometown of Brisbane.

Tomorrow we will be at sea. Our next port of call will be White Sunday Island, Australia on Thursday, 22 April.