Brisbane

We made it to Brisbane! We’ve enjoyed a week exploring the city. We splashed out and booked ourselves into a marina for the week which is unusual for us. Usually, if we book into a marina it’s because we have boat jobs to do. This time, we just did it for the convenience. I don’t know if I’ve enjoyed the city or the convenience of being at a dock the most.

The highlight of our time was reuniting with our friends on Renard. If you’ve been reading earlier posts, you will know that we travelled with The Renards for about a year–going from Mexico across the South Pacific then to New Zealand and up to Fiji. After a few weeks together in Fiji, we separated–us heading back to Canada for six weeks, them exploring Fiji, Vanuatu and eventually Australia. Along the way, Simon and Mary decided to sell Renard when they got to Australia. The boat sold quite quickly. The new owner took possession of the boat just before our arrival in Brisbane. The Renards have traded Renard for a land yacht (a camperized van.) They stayed with us in Manly for several days and together we explored Brisbane.

We enjoyed several days of exploring museums, galleries and parks. Additionally, we shared meals and great conversations. It was an awesome reunion. In addition to visiting with Renard, our friends on Unbelievable joined us too–the more the merrier.

The Renards left a few days ago. Thinking about it, it has struck me how different our trip would have been had we not met them. It would have been a very different trip. It would not have been as good. Sharing anchorages, meals, passage planning and exploring was that much better because of their friendship. We’ll miss them but are excited for their new adventures and look forward to meeting up with them again somewhere in the future.