EVEN in winter, Brisbane’s sunny days and cloudless blue skies, can’t really be described as cold. Cooler perhaps, but with daytime temperatures nudging 20C, not cold.

And what better to do on a day such as this, but to take a spin on the CityHopper, a quaint little ferry that chugs up and down the river between the main inner city ports.

I guess the “Hopper” part of the name comes from the fact that passengers can simply hop on and hop off as it’s a free service – and a very pleasant trip to boot.

It winds around the river between North Quay, at the end of Queen Street and Sydney Street, New Farm.

Stops en route are at South Bank, the Maritime Museum, Kangaroo Point, Eagle Street Pier, Holman Street almost under Story Bridge, and Dockside, but of course you can hop on and off anywhere you please.

CityHopper services started on July 1, 2012, and run every 30 minutes between 6am and midnight seven days a week, giving great views of the city from the river both day and night.

That’s about 22,000 trips by the three CityHoppers on average each week.

Although an absolute bonus for visitors to the city, it’s also a commuter service for residents and, for people like me, a pleasant way to catch a cool river breeze in summer or to just enjoy the ride and the view.

If you want to pay for a river trip, there is still the fast CityCat service that goes much further up and down the river, cross-river ferries and the Kookaburra Queen paddle steamer that is slower while you party on board.

But the little red and white CityHopper is the way to go to enjoy a leisurely ride while seeing the city from new angles – the South Bank parklands, Kangaroo Point Cliffs, Botanic Gardens, Eagle Street precinct, Story Bridge, some spectacular houses and the city view itself.

You can sit in the open air on the top, outside on the deck or inside and the whole trip from any of the docks, is about 45 minutes return.