hello from Brisbane! i can't say too much about the city at the moment coz I only hopped off the coach about an hour ago and are yet to explore outside of my room but the hostel I'm staying at is ultra-modern and pretty luxury for the money. Pity my room is full of weirdos though! Not sure how long I'm staying in Brisbane yet, I'm not convinced there's all that much to do here but thats the joy of being my own boss coz I get 100% say in those decisions. have spent the last couple of days visiting Bryson and Richelle in a place called Caloundra just North of here. They said they lived close to the beach but I had no idea they had an apartment actually on the beach. They only moved in about 2 months ago but have got themselves settled with a lovely apartment and jobs already. It was so good to see them and both were sporting healthy tans, not the 'translucent' skin that Richelle said she had in Chertsey. They obviously had to work while I was there on my 6 month holiday, so I spent the first afternoon wandering around the very clean and tidy city of Caloundra, walking down the beach and looking at the shops. In the evening we had a good catch up over wine and pizza. I'm so glad I can finally relate to the places they talk about. Today I spent the whole morning trying to tan on the beach so it was nice and relaxing, but best of all I slept in my own room in a comfy bed and had a proper shower with a real towel (Jenny will share my loathing of the trek towel). i also got cereal which anyone I have travelled with will have heard me moaning about missing every morning. So here I am in brisbane until I move down to Surfers paradise. The weather is still awesome here during the day but the nights are getting very nippy and I've noticed the addition of blankets on the beds here. Beats being in Blighty though.