Noordam in Brisbane
If there’s ever a port where it’s a good idea to have something planned in advance, Brisbane is it. The port is out in the middle of nowhere and set up more as an embarkation and debarkation cruise terminal than as one for a port stop as Holland America Noordam made there. There is nothing near this port and no public transportation available. There was a shuttle to town for our ship, but far from free at $25 USD per person. Taxis and ubers are available at the cruise terminal as well.
stuffed animals in the gift shop
If you don’t go into town there’s one small gift shop in the port building and a very short paved walkway alongside the water. Good for getting some nice ship photos, but not nearly long enough to go for a walk.
long gangway
The gangway between the building and the ship is quite long with turns and switchbacks. Long gangways are common at embarkation ports, but this one is longer than average. The gangway is just the beginning of the journey through the port building. Once inside there are hallways, escalators, and many large rooms to negotiate before finally reaching the exit.
inside the terminal building
There are a number of different security people passed along the way out. If a person is lost or not sure where to go next to get on or off the ship the security people can also direct them to where they need to go. Even to the nearest restroom – I overheard someone ask one of them that.
inside the gangway
A busload or more of new crew and entertainment came on board while we were there, and one side of the long gangway was roped off to keep open for them to enter while the bulk of passengers exited.
Brisbane Cruise Terminal
We booked a shore excursion in Brisbane through an outside source. It was to go to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. The ship also had an excursion going there, but theirs took a bus while ours was scheduled to travel by riverboat. Unfortunately it got cancelled and by then the ship’s tour was full so we figured just to see what was there when we arrived. Well we found out what’s there – nothing. No last-minute tours, no visitor information, no anything but the one gift shop unless you take one of the available means of transportation to town and find something to do there.
short pathway
There are things to do in town for people who go there. The city has riverboats for public transportation. There are museums, a science center and some historic buildings. There’s a botanical garden near to the city center that can be reached by public bus.
Brisbane (internet photo)
We did find something quite entertaining without leaving the port. Our balcony was on the port side of the ship, which actually ended up facing the dock at most stops including Brisbane. There was quite a lot of wildlife in the bit of water between the ship and shore. There was a sandy beach at the shore with fields and forest beyond. None of that was accessible to people, but easily reached by birds.
pelicans
We saw all sorts of different birds including a couple of large pelicans. There were also hawks, swallows, some sort of diving bird, a cormorant, seagulls, and some other birds of various sizes. The diving bird caught a fish and the biggest pelican followed it fairly closely for awhile like it wanted to steal that fish, but couldn’t figure out how. Pelicans usually come up out of the water with their catch already gone, or at least far enough that it can’t be seen.
turtle
The water wasn’t very clear, more of a murky green. The birds mostly stayed on top of the water, but if some sort of underwater creature swam near enough to the surface we could see it. We saw a large blue jellyfish swimming around near the dock for awhile (you wouldn’t want to be in the water with that!) We also saw a turtle which surfaced several times near the dock. While we were there the tide went out and then back in. When it was out we could see to the bottom and found that there were three turtles rather than just the one we’d seen near the surface. Birds of some sort or other were visible somewhere nearby at all times.
koalas (internet photo)
Besides the Koala sanctuary, shore excursions through our ship at this port included a winery and glow worm cave, 4×4 forest safari, Australia Zoo, glow worm cave and gold coast, beach day at the gold coast, botanical garden, Island 4×4 adventure, national park with canopy boardwalk, and a shuttle to town. Other than the shuttle to town, all of the excursions were at least an hour’s drive from the port.
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