Monday 24th October 2011 saw Queen Elizabeth II And Prince Philip fly into Brisbane airport, Queensland, arriving at 11.11am. This visit comes 23 years after the Queen was last in Brisbane in 1988 to open Expo 88.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh then travelled, in her motorcade, from the airport to Bretts Wharf for their Brisbane River cruise.
The Royal couple were then led down pontoon at Bretts Wharf, with Premier Anna Bligh following behind with her husband, Greg Withers.
They then boarded the top level of the 27m-luxury catamaran, Pure Adrenalin to begin their cruise down the Brisbane River.
Many thousands of people crowded the shores of the Brisbane River in order to catch a glimpse of the Royal Couple as the Pure Adrenalin cat cruised by. Many of these were school students in their school uniforms. All eager to see the Queen!
Apparently some of the folk lining the river banks became quite vocal and included wolf whistles, yelps, cheers, claps and, inevitably, ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie; Oi, Oi, Oi’! A true blue Australian welcome to Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip.
The catamaran, Pure Adrenalin, then travelled to South Bank, where Police estimated the crowd ready to greet Her Majesty was approximately 45,000 people.
The Royal Couple disembarked the luxury catamaran and then attended a short, private reception for those affected by Queensland floods and cyclones, earlier in 2011.
Over 200 people were then, quite tightly, squeezed into the Rainforest Green to hear the Queen officially reopen the area, and to launch the water recycling system Rain Bank.
The official party were all seated undercover to protect them from the scorching sun. The Queen sat between Anna Bligh and Prince Philip. The crowd listened intently to the official speeches, even though the sun was quite intense, on this lovely, clear, sunny Queensland day.
Queen Elizabeth took the stand and applauded Queenslanders for persevering after the January floods and then cyclone Yasi and for bravely rebuilding!
As Her Majesty departed the Rain Bank, the crowd spontaneously broke into song, singing ‘God Save the Queen’.
The Royal Couple enjoyed a private luncheon, which then wound up their whirlwind visit to Brisbane, Queensland.
After arriving at 11.11am this morning, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh departed at 3.41pm in the Royal Australian Air Force jet. Hence, the Royal couple spent a total of four hours and 30 minutes, before flying back to Canberra.
In two days time, on Wednesday 26th October 2011, the Royal couple will travel to Melbourne.
From Melbourne Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip fly to Perth in Western Australia. While in Perth, the Queen will officially open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). CHOGM will be the largest event held in Perth in almost fifty years, with leaders from more than 50 Commonwealth nations in attendance.
It is expected that the Royal couple will also take part in other public appearances, while in WA. This will be Queen Elizabeth’s eighth visit to Western Australia.
On October 29th 2011, the Queen and Prince Philip will depart Australia from the Perth airport, after completing Queen Elizabeth’s 16th official visit to Australia.
It is uncertain if the Queen will return to Australia in the future. The Queen really is amazing to do all that she does for age 85, so only time will tell if she will be back for another visit in future years.
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