YOLO in Brisbane Dec 2012

We arrived in gale force winds and huge seas, trying to navigate amongst the sandy shoals off the coast near Brisbane, in Moreton Bay at night.  Actually the wee hours of the morning.  We finally reached the Customs dock to clear in on 12/12/12, an auspicious date, I thought.

We cleared Customs and Immigration with "no drama, mates", paid the Quarantine man his outrageous fee and we were free to roam the country.  We went about 1/2 mile upriver on the other side of the Gateway Bridge and dropped our anchor.

We're looking back downriver towards the Rivergate Marina where Customs has its own dock.  That's the Gateway Bridge you're looking at; it's the first bridge you come to when heading up the river from the bay.

The Gateway Bridge at night has a blue neon strip that shines on the outside.  Guess I didn't hold the camera steady for long enough to take the exposure, but you get the idea--it's quite pretty at night!
Brisbane by night and day from our anchorage.
Brisbane during the day is a pretty modern city with skyscrapers along the river.  It made its mark in the world in 1988 when it hosted a world exposition, so most of the newness dates from then.  Lots of modern art and sculptures were created for the Expo and the gov't bought much of it and left it/put it in place for public art appreciation.  You see sculptures and artwork all over this city and elsewhere in this country.
A sculpture representing Drovers in their spare time is place on a walkway in downtown.
A recent commission is this elephant standing on its head, with a local marsupial near it.  The sculpture also includes a chair, set way off to a side so you can sit and enjoy it.  Rumor has it that the Brisbane Council paid about $1million for this, so it has created quite a stir.  Art is in the eye of the beholder, I guess....

Jason examining 'Felix', a sculpture with a cell phone to its ear.

This giant ferris wheel was part of the expo, too, and takes tourists for a great sightseeing view from its large-windowed cars.  I imagine you can see forever from the top, but it's a $15 ride so we never went up it.

These City Hopper ferries are free and go up and down the river, stopping at the same places the paid ferries do, so we used them sometimes when we wanted to move up and down the river.

Bill and Suzi, new friends of friends who took us around and showed us much of the coast and went waaayy out of their way to try to help any way they could.  Great people!

 A bronze lizard up in a streetlight ; many folks pass by and never notice it.

 Frog Hollow: frogs and lily pads made from scrap auto parts and now public art on the side of a brick bldg.

Car part kangaroos

 More car part kangaroos. What a great way to recycle scrap metal auuto parts.

Another car part kangaroo made mostly of brake pads.  I think these are so clever!

A real ibis.  These are everywhere in Brisbane.

Jason Karen and Suzi at Mooloolaba

Karen in the roots of a huge banyan tree in the botanical gardens Brisbane.

 Another bronze statue of a lounging kangaroo in the botanical gardens.

A real lizard on a tree by the library. He's about 2' long.  There were several in the leaves nearby munching.  They'd bob their heads at me and chewed with their mouths open.

A statue of pioneer life and kangaroos

Karen with the kangaroos.

A paddle wheeler on the river.  These were docked across the river from our mooring and took tourists for lunch or dinner cruises.  There are 2 different paddle designs, one on the side and the other behind.

A real pelican.  Pretty big birds.

Kangaroos munching the grass at the university by Bill and Suzi's house.  These were the first live ones we saw.

A huge banyan tree root system that has grown out of the fence  of the Botanical Gardens and over the sidewalk to the road .

Albatross on its mooring with YOLO on the next mooring upriver.  The mooring the blue boat is on is the one we were using when we got dragged down the river by the flood late in Jan 2013.

YOLO on a mooring near the Storey Bridge.  The same place as above but from a different perspective.

The Treasury Casino.  It used to be the treasury bldg. and is now the casino in Brisbane.  It used to print money, now it takes it away!

A pinkish jellyfish in the shallow water near shore.

Shaggy bark on gum tree (eucalyptus)

More shaggy bark.  When it peels off it leaves patches of different colors that can be very pretty.

Giant metal balls scattered across the Reddacliffe Square plaza in front of the Treasury Casino.  These balls were made of hundreds of vegetable strainers welded together.  They are all different sizes and scattered across several square blocks of the main plaza in Brisbane, just by the river.  We walked through this square and across the river every day to get to the Queensland State Library to use the free wifi.

A sunken tugboat across the river from our anchorage spot.  Rumor has it it is owned by the harbormaster and that is why it hasn't been towed away yet....

More of the metal balls--public art.

A stranded jellyfish in the mud at low tide.

White birds in trees on an island near the university. "Birds of a feather flock together" is true for these egrets and other white birds.

I love the name of this building!  Smellie & Co. from 1895.  It was just across the street from the dinghy dock where all the yachties come and go.  Some of the old wool warehouses from the late 1800's along the river were made of all brick and are now fancy lofts and apartments.

Bronze platypus as the arm of a bronze lovechair set along the river in the Botanical Gardens.  More public art put to good use.  You can see how the sculpture has been shined and polished by the many hands and arms that have used the chair.