Mike and I are now onboard our cruise ship “The Silver Muse” and, at the time of writing, we are in the Tasman Sea en route to the Bay of Islands on the North Island of New Zealand.

Silversea cruises offer an all-inclusive experience for their guests with routes to all seven continents.

Before showing you around our suite, let me give you some statistics of our ship; it has a passenger capacity of some 596, a crew of 411 and 298 suites each with a veranda and a personal butler!

Brisbane street names were chosen from British royalty with streets running in a north easterly direction named after queens – Anne, Elizabeth and Mary. Streets running in a north westerly direction are named after kings – William, George and Albert.

If you want to give your credit cards a serious work out then head to Queen or Edward streets in the heart of the city. Home to over 500 brands and six major shopping centres, you’ll find the complete alphabet of high-end retail therapy shops from Burberry and Chanel to Dior, Fendi and Gucci!

Too high end? Brits will be relieved to know that long after Woolworths and The Body Shop disappeared from our high streets they are both alive and well here down under!

After a series of successful attacks by Japanese forces, including the raid on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 and the fall of Hong Kong and Singapore, the city of Brisbane became the headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander for the South West Pacific Area.

In the US as in Britain, strategists focussed first on the war against Hitler, fought out in Europe and Africa. MacArthur had to take on Washington in order to get resources to defend Australia and turn back the Japanese advance. 

Under MacArthur’s leadership, Brisbane became a valuable staging area for a counter offensive led by American, Australian and British forces. Over the coming war years, the city’s population exploded from 350,000 to some two million troops who would pass through the region.

Today, the city of Brisbane and its suburbs, are home to four million people. It is a thriving, multi-cultural metropolis, bursting at the seems with the arts, theatre, an amazing food and drinks scene and, let’s not dismiss, serious shopping!

Turn the clock back and Brisbane, originally called Edenglassie, was a place of secondary punishment for convicts who committed serious offenses in Sydney. In 1842, the city was declared open for settlement and it became known as Brisbane.

Sitting on the edge of the Brisbane river, some 2 1/2 miles from the centre of the city, is the Brisbane Powerhouse; today a performing arts and cultural centre which is housed within a former power station. It offers an array of live performances, visual art displays, festivals and a who’s who of culinary food trucks. 

Opposite the Powerhouse, and along the southbank, are a line of magnificent contemporary apartments and randomly sitting in the middle is an original home with its grass lawns in front!

Brisbane today, taken from Mount Coot-tha Lookout (the highest point in Brisbane).

Enjoying an adult beverage at the Felons brewing company!

Welcome to Brisbane in the state of Queensland, Australia. We arrived on Sunday morning to a perfect blue sky and a temperature of 88 F (31 C)! 

Running through the centre of the city is the Brisbane River serviced by a fleet of catamarans known as the CityCat and the KittyCat. Commuters and tourists pay to hop-on-and-off these boats which run from early in the morning to late at night. 

Jutting out over the city’s waterway, is the Brisbane Riverwalk which is divided into separate walking and cycling lanes extending for over five miles along the river. These lanes are also popular with runners and renters of electric bikes and scooters! Fortunately, the locals are very adept at manoeuvring around pesky tourists who stop in the middle of the wrong lane to take their photos!! 

For me, the real beauty of the city is that you can walk everywhere. And, if that’s not your thing, there is an extensive bus service and a rail network connecting the surrounding suburbs.