Brisbane to Gladstone Boat Race

From the start I'd like to acknowledge that I have over done the photos for this post. However in my defence the weather report for Easter was all doom and gloom, forecasting more rain. Apparently it has rained everyday that we were away. The Easter break is a huge one for South East Queensland, it's the last warm weather holiday for quite a while and we always plan to go out and get some sun. When I woke up we had glorious blue skies, a great day for the start of the boat race.





The Brisbane to Gladstone Boat Race is a Good Friday tradition. The boats set off from Shorncliffe and sail right past our door on their way to Gladstone. We can actually hear the cannon blast that signifies the start of the race.

This is the boats lined up at the start. The faint arch in the background is the Gateway Bridge.

These are the first 2 boats to sail passed Redcliffe.



These two aren't far behind. To the far right you can see the cranes from the Port of Brisbane.



Spectator boats following the fleet. A freighter heading into the Port of Brisbane in the background.



More Spectator Craft.



This is the Kookaburra Queen, its a tourist river boat that travels the Brisbane River. Each year it does a sightseeing tour out of the river and into the bay for the start of the race. We have never seen it this far out of the river, it followed the fleet to just off of Scarborough. Very game for a flat bottomed boat, it had quite a bit of movement. Not sure I would have enjoyed being out there on it.



The locals( and a few ring-ins) line the foreshores of Redcliffe to watch them go by. Quite Australian, standing in the shallows with a stubbie to watch the boats. These people were in the 'cheap seats'. We sit on the top of the cliffs ( RED - Cliffe) drinking champagne. Its a great way to start a holiday.