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My third visit to downtown Brisbane allowed me to see more of Brisbane though I did not manage to visit the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary, Lone Pine Sanctuary as well as the City Botanic Gardens. In my own standard, being able to walk around the city street especially at Queen Street where several shops and malls exist and of course being able to play (and loss some money) at Conrad’s Treasury Casino, I can still say to myself that I have explored pretty much of Brisbane’s landmark. Of course, as I mentioned on my previous post about my first glance of GPS “in action” on taxis was really an eye opener considering my very naïve mind about this gadget. It gave me insights about how this system works on land not to mention its extreme usefulness on ships.

I went to downtown Brisbane again for the third time last Sunday. I was with another colleague. We were supposed to attend Sunday church service but it seems the churches were closed. There should be a mass going on somewhere else but we just don’t know where. Though we passed several churches on the way to the downtown but it was so quiet outside and we did not see anybody going in or coming out. The doors were close so obviously no one was inside. Previously I took a photo of The Cathedral of St. Stephen from the inside of the taxi during its stop. This time I purposely went back to the cathedral just to take more photos of this beautifully designed church. Unfortunately, the cathedral was also closed so what I managed to get were exterior photos of the church. Here are some photos of The Cathedral of St. Stephen. Just click on the photo album below and you will be redirected to the photo gallery. Once you are in the photo gallery, simply click on the thumbnail images to enlarge the photos.

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When I went to downtown Brisbane for lunch with my buddies two days ago some change of event came along the way that took us nearly 5 hours before we managed to get back to the ship. Obviously that was too long if we only went there for lunch. Purposely, we went there for lunch actually but my buddies made last minute decision to go inside the casino. Previously, I was working on a casino ship so for me going inside the casino and loss some bucks…LOL….is just normal. How much money I deposited to Brisbane’s Treasury Casino for safe keeping? Well, it‘s a whopping 20 dollars…LOL… Obviously, everyone who read this would surely think that I am the stingiest person on earth. Actually, I am not a hard core gambler. Last year, I remembered placing few bucks bit on a cock fighting tournament back in my home town which ended me few bucks poorer…LOL… So, in other words, gambling is not my strong shot and I’ve already given up on that until recently. The inset photo here is Brisbane’s Treasury Casino located in Brisbane’s commercial hub. Inside the taxi as we passed by this building, I thought it holds government offices just like the one in Manila but later on I learned that it was a casino. My brain seems full as if there is no more space left to handle any other things that requires thinking. Perhaps being here on the dry dock keeping watch on the bridge for 5 straight hours in the morning (8AM – 1AM) and another 6 straight hours in the evening (8PM – 2AM) are the perpetrator...LOL… My body clock is used to the 4 hours shift. Anyway, the dry dock is almost over and 4 more days left then I am off.

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Finally, after the long voyage from the secluded and serene French Polynesia islands to the sparkling city of Brisbane, Australia, the M/S Paul Gauguin is off from sailing the seas and presently undergoing maintenance at Forgacs Cairncross Dockyard. The time framed 10-day drydock of the ship allows its crew members to have the opportunity for an indulging and exiting moments to visit Brisbane.

I haven’t been out to downtown Brisbane since the first day of the drydock until yesterday. With 6 other off duty crew, together we went out to downtown yesterday but we do our separate ways the moment we reached the city. With myself alone, I did some window shopping looking for some stuff which I don’t actually know what it was, except for one thing which was already in my plan well ahead - a present for my wife’s birthday. It did not took me long to find that stuff since it is a very popular and almost everyone are desperate to have it. I am not sure if my wife will find my present that I bought for her appealing enough to meet her likings. Anyway, I already bought it so perhaps she will learn to like it…LOL… Anybody have a clue what is it? Definitely it’s not a Loius Vuitton signature bag; the price is too exhausting for a person like me. I just had to pass by Louis Vuitton shop in order to get into the entrance of the mall.

There are several things that make Brisbane unique from the cities that I have traveled but closely in parallel with Singapore or Hong Kong. Despite being a highly industrialized city, I still find Brisbane an ideal place to visit. The traffic is so smooth and one doesn’t need to fall in long queues to get a taxi. The sidewalks are clean and no vendors get in the way along the sidewalks. Yesterday was a holiday so probably that could be one of the reasons why there were not much people in the city - it was Australia Day – but still I believe the city is still not likely to have a congested traffic even if it is not a holiday. Here is a brief info about Brisbane I obtained from Wikipedia. Brisbane is the state capital of Queensland. When it comes to population, Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia, following Sydney and Melbourne. The city is situated on the Brisbane River on a low-lying area between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Queensland.

The photo here is the Cathedral of St. Stephen located at Elizabeth Street. Most cathedrals hold amazing architectural designs and this is what make me love visiting cathedrals aside from going there to worship. I was inside the taxi on my way back to the shipyard when I took the photo. I am very thankful to the taxi driver for slowing down the speed to almost into a complete stop as we passed by the church just to allow me to snap few shots of this beautiful structure. Perhaps I will go out again to downtown Brisbane in the next three to four days or before the ship leaves the shipyard. I haven’t taken a closer look of Brisbane yet. Yesterday was just a quick visit and I think I still owe a lot to myself for this very rare opportunity to see more around Brisbane, so this is for now.