Last week we were in Brisbane for the wedding of my brother-in-law to my new (finally!) sister-in-law.

Our week was busy and rushed, with lots of wedding prep, sewing ring pillow, shoe-size changes for the little ones flower girl outfit, and my wedding-guest dress outfit disaster needing to redo my whole outfit two days before the wedding.

In between all this we had some lovely moments exploring our old city of Brisbane. Sometimes lovely to be tourists in a place you know fairly well. We stayed a few nights (for wedding purposes) in serviced apartments in the city; always good to 'need to' stay at a lovely hotel. And especially considering our bedding & bathing conditions back at home (one big room, where the kids sleep less than a metre away from us; and an outside shower, which while lovely and hot isn't the most luxurious).

The view from our big balcony was quite lovely. I actually was up at 5am with the camera to capture these images. They are mostly a bit sort of blurry or "moody" as they are all shot hand held and with super slow speed, and I've done nothing to edit them. Didn't get up as early the next morning (big night at the wedding, and then a bottle of sparkling bubbly finished off at the hotel later on!).

While walking along the riverwalk, the kids and I came across the enchanting HMB Endeavour anchored in (is that what you say?). We really wanted to go aboard, which you could do (for a reasonable fee), but our Brisbane days had run out, and the opening hours were over. We enjoyed watching the setting sun between those spectacular masts, and talked about all that may have gone on while on board in the olden days. Make sure you visit their website, as it seems Brisbane was the start of the Australia-wide tour, and you may find you'll be nearby a port one day. If you happen to hop on board, please take some photos and share the moments with us as well. {Perhaps we could plan a holiday around a future port call? Hobart? Melbourne?}.

I must admit that I was very impressed by the fact that the whole Riverside area had been totally fixed up since the January floods. A lot of damage was done there, with many restaurants having to be closed for the past three months.

Sometimes it really is fun to be a tourist in your own city. You must try it - do take us along on the journey, won't you!