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It's really amazing that sunrise is at 4:30 A.M. We had a 6:30 A.M. wake-up called scheduled, but woke up because of the sunlight. I did lie back down, but Hope and I talked a bit, before the actual wake-up call, but at least it was no surprise.
When we did get ourselves together, we headed up to breakfast. The ship arrived at Fisherman's Island at 8 A.M.
Afterwards, we headed back to our room to grab our gear and head down to the gangway. There we purchased shuttle tickets at $20, to drop us off in Anzac Square. Unfortunately, the tour folks nearby stated that the tours were already gone for the day. The ship had given us maps of possible tourist attractions and so we walked on down Ann Street to the Museum of Brisbane. The temperature was only 73 degrees, but pleasant.
In Brisbane, life flows freely along the river. Rolling hills, subtropical rainforest and miles of golden sand beaches nearby are what make Brisbane an urban oasis full of natural beauty. But it's the meandering river to which the "River City" owes its existence. With an abundance of fish, crab and shrimp, the river once provided a steady source of nourishment for the Jagera and Turrbal Aboriginal clans. Then in 1825, when a nearby penal settlement was abandoned, the site was moved closer to a more reliable water source. The town of Brisbane was born. Free settlers began to replace convicts and by 1859, burgeoning Brisbane was named the capital of Queensland. Today, much of the city's leisure life still revolves around the river. Along the South Bank, there's always something going on; festivals, cultural events, picnics and even fireworks. In town, the Queen Street Mall with its cafes and shops always draws crowds. And the Roma Street Parkland, the world's largest subtropical city garden, has tons of trails to explore. But for the classic Brisbane adventure, a climb to the top of the Story Bridge is a must. (Taken from Royal Caribbean's Cruise Compass).
I really felt bad that we had no tour scheduled, because Hope wasn't really up for a lot of walking. As we walked into the Museum, we noticed that there was some type of election taking place. I think it was to pass the same sex marriage law. A nice gentleman directed us to the lifts, up to the museum.
The Museum of Brisbane is a museum that explores contemporary and historic Brisbane, Australia, and its people through a program of art and social history exhibitions, workshops, talks, tours and children's activities.
Located on the rooftop, level 3, of Brisbane City Hall in the city's CBD, the Museum and its staff are highly regarded for their innovation and contemporary international practice across the museum and gallery sector.
The recipient of a number of major awards during its brief history, the Museum has been twice been awarded the top honour at the prestigious Museums and Galleries National Awards as well as multiple Queensland Museum and Gallery Achievement Awards, Museums Australia Multimedia and Publications Design Awards and National Trust of Queensland Awards.
The Museum of Brisbane was opened in October 2003 and occupied a space on the ground floor of City Hall. The museum replaced the Brisbane City Gallery which opened in 1977. In 2010, when City Hall closed for restoration, the museum was relocated to Ann Street. On 6 April 2013 the museum was reopened after returning to City Hall where it now occupies a purpose-built space on the building's third floor. Since its reopening the museum has been an independent, not-for-profit arts organization overseen by a board chaired by Sallyanne Atkinson.
The ladies at the counter gave us tickets to experience the clock tower. We were scheduled to ride at 11:30 A.M. Hope and I headed on into the museum. Upon entering there was some type of interactive room, where we carried on like pork chops (being silly). After taking a few movie shots, we headed around and into the museum. The museum's main exhibition is "100% Brisbane." It was pretty interesting. The story:
100% Brisbane
We are pulling back the layers of our city, going beneath the surface of high rises and the jacaranda trees to discover the very real heart of Brisbane's story. You. Me. And everyone in between. People from all walks of life, beliefs and backgrounds. No two of us are the same, but when we connect we form a city, a community. Together we are Brisbane.
100% Brisbane is an exhibition like no other you've seen before. In an exciting world-first, Museum of Brisbane has collaborated with celebrated Berlin based theatre company Rimini Protokoll to create a powerful and unforgettable interactive exhibition experience which brings together 100 residents who currently call Brisbane home. Fascinating and deeply moving, their personal stories will be revealed alongside beliefs and attitudes that shape who we are, creating a real-time snapshot of our city.
From the enduring culture of our Aboriginal community to the modern metropolis which continues to grow and change,
100% Brisbane puts our city under the microscope like never before. Take a journey from the past through to the present day in 'A Brisbane Story', a short film written and presented by acclaimed author and actor William McInnes. Throughout the exhibition you will discover first-hand accounts of people's experiences of living in Brisbane, alongside some of our city's most defining moments.
This landmark exhibition also invites you to have your say and contribute to this incredible self-portrait of the city.
100% Brisbane will not only change the way you think about museums, it will change the way you think about Brisbane.
Hope and I noticed the time and headed around to the entrance for our trip up to the clock tower.
The tour guide/elevator man took Hope, me and two young men on up while giving us some history behind the clock tower.
Clock tower
Brisbane City Hall has an imposing 70 m clock tower (rising 91 m above ground level), based on the design of the St Mark's Campanile in Venice, Italy. When it was built, the four clock faces on each side of the tower were the largest in Australia. Each clock face is 4.9 m in diameter, the hour hands are 1.7 m, and the minute hands are 3.0 m long. The clock has Westminster Chimes, which sound on the quarter-hour, and can be heard from the Queen St Mall and, at times, in the surrounding suburbs. The time keeping is controlled by a master clock imported from England. The dials, hands and slave mechanisms were designed and built in Brisbane by Synchonome. Above the clocks is an observation platform, open to the public and accessible by lift between 10:15 am and 4:45 pm seven days a week, free. For many years this afforded spectacular views of Brisbane, but since the relaxation of height limits for surrounding buildings in the late 1960s, the view is now somewhat restricted.
While up there, we took a few nice photos and noticed a mall not far away.
After leaving the museum, Hope struck up a conversation with one of the campaigners outside the Polling Location inquiring about election policy in Australia.
We then walked on down towards the Meyer Centre. This was like a huge promenade of stores, with no vehicle traffic. I wanted to mail a few postcards, so we headed for the post office to purchase a few stamps. We ducked in and out of a few stores along the way.
We arrived at the General Post Office. The General Post Office in Brisbane, Queensland, in Australia is a heritage-listed post office located at 261 Queen Street in 1872 and extended through to Elizabeth Street in 1908. It is still in use by Australia Post. Opposite the GPO building is Post Office Square.
Architectural plans for the Brisbane GPO, 1872
The first full-time postmaster in Brisbane was J. E. Barney in 1852. In 1862, the first Postmaster-General for the state of Queensland Thomas Lodge Murray Prior was appointed. A small convict era building was used as for postal services but was too far from the telegraph office. The Postmaster-General choose a half hectare site which was centrally located.
The GPO in 1931
The building already located at the Queen Street site which once hosted women convicts was demolished in 1871. Freestone and bricks were sourced from local materials. The GPO was opened on 28 September 1872. In 1873, the Queensland Museum was housed in the General Post Office building, but moved in 1879 to the William Street building. In the same year a second wing, which was constructed by John Petrie was completed which allowed the telegraph office to move to the building, pleasing business customers.
The building features deep verandahs and high ceilings. A clock mounted in the pediment positioned above the main entrance was once illuminated by a gas powered light. It was replaced by a smaller, electric clock. The first typewriter to be used in any post office in any Australian city was used at the GPO in 1892. Stamps and money orders were once available to customers outside the building via windows are now closed.
The building has been listed on the Brisbane City Council Heritage Register.
When Hope and I opened the huge front doors, we could not believe our eyes. This place was like a mega post office.
At first, we just stood in awe. We watched the self-serve kiosk operation for several minutes. There were 4 and each had it's own parcel drop box. There were also 2 concierges there, with their fanny packs, assisting customers.
Hope started to take a few photos, but the male concierge walked up and told us, "no." Government facility. We were just in awe.
We walked in a bit further and there were books for sale, large drafting table-like counters, where customers were filling out forms and wrapping up packages to mail. There were computers, underneath the end facing the center of the floor, which Hope assumed printed out receipts of some kind.
There were phones for sale and there was even an "As Seen On TV" section of items for purchase.
All kinds of packaged snacks, cookies, Christmas ornaments, Christmas cards and toys. All this stuff for sale and the customer could just package it up and mail it, right there.
The window clerks were scurrying around like rats down a drainpipe (fast), helping customers. I am not telling porkies (lying). This was unbelievable to see. This is definitely not Cleveland. Thinking of the size of this place, I'm guessing that 3 Cleveland M.O.W.S. operations could fit into this one. After at least 10 or 15 minutes, we got in line. The window clerk was EXTREMELY helpful. She told me the cost of the postage for postcards (which would be about $2.50 AU each stamp), but then suggested that I may interested in purchasing pre-paid post cards that I could send to the U.S.A. and the price would be approximately $3.50 AU if I purchased those. I have never paid anything like 50¢ for a stamp, ever, outside of the United States and whenever the service decides to raise the cost of a stamp, the country is up in arms. The clerk then directed me to follow her and even helped me pick out a few. Now that's customer service.
Hope asked her about the employees' uniforms, as we thought everyone just wore what they wanted. Every employee just wore different versions of the window clerk uniform. Some shirts were in different prints. She had on a simple slate grey shift dress with the Post logo on the left front.
Afterwards, she took us back to her window. I paid for my cards and Hope and I thanked her several times.
As we walked towards the exit, we were still looking. While I filled out my postcards, we still went on and on about this place. Before we left, we noticed that there was a Santa box in front of the mail shoots. The box was about 3' high, very colorful and had post cards with Santa's address, lines to write him a message and a spot for a stamp, to be placed into the box.
We took a few photos in front and proceeded on to shopping.
We ducked into Meyer Department store (similar to Dillards). Everything in Australia seems to be very expensive. Some of the clothing was not too stylish, for the prices.
Stopped in a store and Hope purchased some jeans.
Afterwards we headed back to the bus stop, after taking about 6,914 steps. I really felt bad, because Hope was hurting and we had no scheduled tour for today.
We found the crowd of folks waiting for the bus and stood in the que. We also noticed a lot of girls, we assumed, were getting out of school. They wore little blue dresses with blue jackets and wore bonnets with blue bows. I immediately thought of Madeline, in the children's book I grew up with.
Madeline was written by Ludwig Bemelmans and published in 1939. Bemelmans wrote five sequels between 1953 and 1961. Later books in the series were written by Bemelmans' grandson John Bemelmans Marciano. The books focus on a group of girls in a Catholic boarding school in Paris. Madeline is the smallest of the girls. She is seven years old, and the only redhead. She is the bravest and most outgoing of the girls.
Madeline is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature film. The adaptations are famous for the closing line, a famous phrase Ethel Barrymore used to rebuff curtain calls, "That's all there is, there isn't any more." The stories take place in a Catholic boarding school in Paris. Much of the media start with the line "In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ..." The stories often are written entirely in rhyme, and include simple themes of daily life which appeal to children.
Finally the bus arrived and we were able to get on. I sat next to a guy from Singapore. He was visiting with his family. He told me that he'd studied at Cambridge University and how cold the winters were. We talked until we reached the pier. I noticed that his wife had peaked between the seats to look at me. Kinda funny, the way she looked. She turned her head back very slowly, as if she was getting a good look at me. No one would want her husband, bad teeth and all, but her. I don't know if she spoke English or not, as she and the woman sitting next to her, spoke Cantonese or Mandarin.
After the short ride back to the pier, we headed back on to the ship, to shower and get changed for dinner.
Dinner is always nice. We all are together and can talk about our days activities. The food is always good. The only issue I have is with the desserts. I love crème brulee, but it's always flavored, so I just stick with ice cream or sherbet.
Hope decided not to visit the Australian Opal Cutter, but she did make the Designer Handbag Event. She stated that some of the bags were priced as high as $535, but the sale was 50% off. She did purchase a Nine West bag for $25 with the 50% of sale.
I guess I didn't win the "Guess The Carat Weight Competition," as it was at 9:30 P.M. and by then, I'm heading back to the cabin.
I blogged a bit and Hope stumbled in late and it was lights out.
- comments
Betty I am amazed at how descriptive you are. I feel like I'm right there with you. The weather sounds perfect, and the people seem very approachable. Stay safe.