Arriving at Brisbane.
When we finally sight the shore of the Australian coastline, it was a relief to know that our adventure in the southern Pacific Ocean had come to an end and that all of us on board were well. This was the first time for me to visit the Australian continent and the port at Brisbane, capital in the province of Queensland.
To reach to our destination, we moved slowly into the Brisbane river surrounded by beautiful modern houses with garden all the way down to the waterfront. At that time in 1965, the quay was almost in the city center. Later in the 70th a brand-new port was built at the river entrance, far away from downtown Brisbane.
As we were not allowed to unload our cargo, our Captain gave us permission to go ashore, after the custom clearance. We were all handed a shore-pass, that we needed to show at the ports gate.
Brisbane was something between a country village and city at that time, plenty of wooden buildings side by side to high rising office blocks made of brickwork. There was a busy traffic with trams, cars, and lots of farm vehicles. It was a charming sight.
After some time strolling around downtowns streets, I found a large botanic garden, it was like walking into a tropical jungle with an explosion of colors. In a lake there were black swans swimming together with other seabirds that I never seen before in my life. I was in the Australian #Time Zone!
The day after arriving, we were told that this strike was going to be extended over the Easter Holiday, that was just within a week. Therefore, I asked for a one week leave of my duties on board. This was granted by my supervisor.
I packed my scuba gear and took a bus going north to the Grate Barrier reefs! This had been my dream for a long time, after that I received my diver license and learned about the best places in the world to practice diving. One of these places were the Reefs!
The bus ride went along the rocky coastline, with small white sand beaches and crystal-clear water. On the other side was “the Bush” with tall eucalyptus trees surrounded by various types of palm trees. A lot of Wallaby’s (small kangaroos) was jumping beside the road.
After this long ride, we finally reached the town of Mackay. This was one of the best situated ports at the southern part of the Reefs, with a short distance to the spectacular coral formations. I found a small Beach hotel, just 100 meters from the sea and checked in.
In 1965 the Reef was still not such a popular tourist attraction, it was mostly visited by divers like me, who were looking forward to enjoying the fantastic underwater scenery with thousands of colorful sea species. To me, this was a lifetime experience!
Already the first afternoon, I found some cool Aussie friends, who helped me how to find the best places to dive. Later in the evening we enjoyed a fantastic beach barbeque together. I stayed in Mackay 5 long days, stacked with memories to never forget. Now was the time to return to Brisbane and tell my mates about my experiences.
I arrived in time for the Easter dinner on board and was told that the strike still was going on. After talking to some of my mates about my experiences in Mackay, one of them said that he was going to Surfers Paradise, not awfully long distance from Brisbane. I told him that I liked to join him as it sounded exciting.
Surfers Paradise was different to Mackey as it was an extremely popular tourist resort for the Aussies. With a few kilometers long beautiful beach and its white sand, I understood the popularity of this town. Walking along the strand boulevard we noticed that almost everybody here had a surfboard and were looking for the right wave to appear. This extremely long and high surfs were also full of people trying to ride it. It looked difficult for me, but it was attempting to try.
This place was so much fun and exciting that I later in 1968 arrived again, as an immigrate to live and work in the town of Surfers Paradise.
I had many fantastic days in the surrounding area of Brisbane, before we finally unloaded our lumber cargo, to steer out at sea again, now with destination Manila the capital of Philippines.
See you soon my friends,
Windmush
