97. Waterways

I’ve just spent a week in Brisbane. Anchored ten nautical miles up the Brisbane River, right in the centre of town. I’ve sailed into many large cities before but none where you are allowed to anchor like this. And not only do they allow me to ‘park’ for free in the middle of a city with 2.7 million inhabitants, it’s actively encouraged. They have provided dinghy docks all along the river where you can safely leave your tender while you explore the city or even temporarily bring your main vessel if you need to fill her up with drinking water. Brisbane truly is a wet dream for anyone travelling on their own keel and I would recommend any city that wants to attract ‘my type’ of traveller to look at Brisbane.

Speaking of ‘my type’ of traveller, it wasn’t that long ago that arriving by ship was the only reasonable way to get anywhere. Before planes, trains, automobiles or indeed reasonably safe and comfortable roads. I feel most modern town planners seem to have forgotten that their city more than often is where it is because of some form of waterway. Not because it was particularly suitable for building roads there. If anything, all that water needs to be crossed via bridges and tunnels. Nowhere is this more obvious than in my previous home town, Stockholm. A city built on 14 islands with no less than 57 highly congested bridges downtown that uses the arguably stupid slogan ‘the Venice of the North’. Yet its waterways are nowadays primarily used by tourists and only a truly insignificant amount of commuters could honestly say that they travel by boat on a daily basis.

Brisbane is different though. The city council provides a first class ferry service with 22 stops along the river operated by city cats on a schedule that means that you just turn up and one will be there before you get to complain. And these ferries are a work of art. They can carry up to 170 passengers, operate under a skeleton crew and travel at 15 knots up and down the river. And most importantly for me, they pull almost no wake. During my week in Brisbane they swished by Saoirse every few minutes causing only insignificant roll. The people that ordered and designed these vessels deserve a medal.

I really enjoyed my week long city break in a place that I didn’t expect much of. Brisbanites have a lot to be proud of and I’m glad they get to show the world their city in 2032 when they host the Olympic Games. I will certainly be back well before that. Probably in a few months as I make my way up the Australian east coast again. In the meantime, I’m continuing south towards Sydney where I hope to spend Christmas and New Year.