We always knew that sailing into Brisbane would represent a major milestone for us - another major city reached - but also a gateway then for some of the most fun sailing we hope to do, up and around the Great Barrier Reef.

We entered the Gold Coast Seaway on Tuesday (13 May) at around 3 am. We had expected to arrive later - in daylight, but we had a quick trip and arrived at the middle of the tide, found the seaway very easy to enter and were anchored, had had a cuppa while making sure the anchor was well set, and were in bed by 4am! We always thought anchoring in the dark would be hard, but actually it is relatively easy, the only thing we really do dislike doing in the dark is to pick up a swing mooring.

We stayed in Southport a day or two, resting and relaxing and waiting for some sunshine and then set off towards Brisbane. We didn't go far the first day - just to the bottom of South Stradbroke Island where we met our friends Tony and Patricia from Galatea, who we had first met in Coffs Harbour. We both anchored there over night, had a great wander around the island and a BBQ over an open fire in the evening. It was a lovely day. Tony and Patricia, who are locals, told us where we could have gone shopping and places of interest in Southport. We hadn't needed to, but it was nice to know for on a return trip that we could have easily accessed the Pacific Fair shopping centre just south of where we had anchored.
The next morning we set off further up the Sea Way and all its intricate little passages heading towards Brisbane and Moreton Bay.

It was a pretty uneventful trip, with Peter navigating through narrow, meandering passages with ease, and the one or two tricky spots we had expected might give us a little trouble were simple! The two shallowest spots (near Jacob's Well) had been dredged, as Tony, who lives on one of the Moreton Bay Islands had told us it was, and we travelled through with plenty of water beneath us.

We did take one corner a little too tight and felt the first bump of a potential grounding, but within moments were back into the deeper water with no incident!

We could have anchored at several spots along the way, but it was wet and showery all day, not a pretty Queensland day, and for us, definitely a day to press on and get some distance behind us. We motored up the passage for about 25 NM taking about 6 1/2 hours and settled on an anchorage just off Coochiemudlo Island. The holding was excellent and we had dinner and a relaxing evening. Our plan was to set off again at first light, and head into the Brisbane River with the right tide, but had we not wanted to set off immediately, Coochiemudlo would have been a great place to stop for a few days. There is an easy landing spot at the jetty and within easy walking distance all the shops you could need, including a Bunnings Warehouse.

We timed our entry in to the Brisbane River to be as the tide was flowing in. The current in the river is around 3 knot and much easier to negotiate if you travel with the current rather than against it. We set our VHF radio to Chanel 12 and notified the Brisbane Port Authority of our movements and checked with them about shipping traffic in and out of the river. They informed us that one ship was scheduled to leave and one to arrive during the time of our transit through the port area of the river and we stayed on the channel to listen to any further updates. We could see the shipping as we got close to the entrance of the river and were debating if we would slow ourselves down or have time to get in before the ship we could see approaching. But just as we were thinking about our choices we heard the ship's captain over the radio asking the yacht that was approaching the river mouth to slow down and let them pass. We immediately did so, and acknowledged that we had heard the request. The captain was very polite and waved to us as he passed ahead of us, calling out 'Thanks'. It was nice to have got this detail right as we entered the busy port area!

The river mouth is wide and at first we headed across to travel up the starboard side, but it seemed the traffic coming in hugged the port side of the channel so to avoid needed to keep crossing over, we did likewise. We passed several ships leaving and after about an hour left the port area of the river behind us and went in under the Gateway Bridge, on the Starboard side now we had left all the big ships behind.

Near the bridge, on the Brisbane Port side, is an area many yachts find anchorage in, at Aquarium Passage creek. It was a tiny bit shallow for a yacht of our size, but would have been a good spot to pull up at if the tide had begun to turn. We continued on, noticing more and more yachts anchored along the river bank, until we reached Bulimba Point. We anchored on the Eastern side of the river where there were a number of yachts anchored, and on swing moorings. The channel is well marked and so long as you stay within the markers you are welcome. On the Bulimba side of the river there are several jetties for landing and getting to shore, and the Bulimba shops were a very easy walk. We enjoyed a little visit from my sister and her children, a trip to Woolworths and a coffee there before setting off again on Monday morning heading towards the Botanic Gardens area where at Garden Point there is a designated mooring area.

I had lived in Brisbane for 8 years as a young woman, finishing high school and attending University. I was amazed to be entering the city in this different way, noticing things I had never seen before, historic buildings lining the foreshore area and magnificent Queensland houses and gardens. It is a very pretty river to meaner along!

The Gardens Point moorings are fore and aft moorings that are, most of the time full. Boats anchor in the river awaiting a vacancy. These seem to come up fairly regularly, but are not vacant for long! We knew this as we came, and were not surprised to find that only one mooring was available and it was too short for Argos and in too shallow an area to make use of. The moorings line the river bank, in 4 rows. Row A in the shallowest and contains the shortest berths, around 50 ft. We were advised after chatting to several boaties, that a berth in D row was going to be available in a little over a week, D being the outer row, and able to accommodate a longer boat. We have not picked up a fore-and-aft mooring before but we have spent some time talking to people here and have got the low down on how to do so. The day the present occupants leave we will go over in our dinghy and tie our mooring lines to the posts and run a line the length of the mooring. Our mooring lines will then be looped over this ready for us to reach over and pull in. We will head to the mooring at slack tide, which is about 2 hours past the recorded high tide for the Brisbane Port Office (available on the BOM site). The current is then not an issue. Setting up the ropes is best done on the high tide or slack nearest high tide, as the rings the ropes must be tied to are easier to reach.

Anchoring in the river, with the current has not been nearly as tricky as we had thought it might. Where we are does have a little current, around 3 knot, but on the other bank it runs around 6 knot and would be much less comfortable. Once the anchor dug in and we put out enough chain to get a 1;7 ratio of depth to chain, we found ourselves sitting pretty comfortably. We have been here now a little over a week and are very confident of the holding in river mud.

The moorings are maintained by the Brisbane City Council and once on a mooring there is a fee of (as of May 2014) $70. This provides access to the facilities - showers, toilets, a laundry with coin operated washers and dryers - the washers are $4 per load - as well as access to water. Rubbish and the dinghy jetty are available to anchored boats as well. Boaties who knew we were looking to get on to a mooring also gave us a spare key so that we could access the facilities while waiting for a free mooring, so we have wanted for nothing.

The Gardens Point area is pretty, and amazingly well situated for getting into Brisbane city. It takes all of 10 minutes to be in the Queen st Mall where there are all the shops you would expect to find in a big city, café's etc, medical services, and transport that will take you anywhere further you wish to go.

The adjacent Botanic Gardens are scenic and everywhere you go there are City Cycle bikes available for hire. They are a subscription service (with subscriptions costing $2 per day) but then can be free to use for short trips (up to ½ hr). This makes getting around the city even easier for boaties with no cars! And then - best of all, a short walk along the river bank takes you to The Goodwill bridge and Brisbane's very lovely South Bank with cafes, a beach and swimming pools, walks, theatres and eateries!

We plan to stay in Brisbane and spend some time with family and my old and lovely friends from University days, and then head out of the river with the out-going tide, in a few weeks!