We arrived in Brisbane and waited around for our pick up from the transit centre. Once being picked up we arrived at Bunk which was quite a cool hostel and enjoyed a free cocktail. We checked into our 20 bed shared dorm which was interesting and headed to Woolworth's as Ed needed meat for dinner! We enjoyed a walk about to get our bearings and then returned to cook dinner. This hostel has a movie room which we went and sat in and watched happy feet 2. We were so tired that after we just headed to bed!!

The nights sleep wasn't great and I kept waking every hour as so many we're coming and going in the room! We have free breakfast at this hostel so went down to abuse it. Once we had eaten and showered we headed out on a walk to see the iconic story bridge which was very long but not as nice as Sydney harbours one. We plan to return in the evening as we think it would be prettier. Once we got back we headed on a free shuttle to the famous Westend markets. They were so cool with free food samples at every stall, we didn't need lunch haha!! I finally tried a macaroon which was delicious but not as good as everyone raves!

It was a scorching day of 31 degrees and we walked into the city via the river. Before reaching the city we had a wander around the gallery and the museum which was nice to enjoy and free so why not hey?!

We then walked along south bank where a lot of Brisbane's restaurants are and they have a lagoon/beach which is cool. Whilst walking along I ended up bumping into 2 school friends Jamie and Lewis which was so bizarre! Lovely to see them it was only for a short amount of time but incredible how small this world is.

We had a mooch about the lagoon and the markets and then walked over the bridge into the city. We brought more groceries and just wandered about until we found our way back to the hostel. There are a lot of aboriginals here and some which are quite scary to come by!! Once we got back we prepared some pumpkin cous cous and grabbed cooking utensils for our BBQ! We wandered down the river to catch the free ferry to south bank and saw the story bridge lit up at night which was lovely! The ferry ride was lovely and we got to see a lot of the city. We arrived and made our BBQ near the lagoon and enjoyed discounted steaks with corn and cous cous it was yummy!! After eating we lay on the bank like everyone else and watched the stars. When it got late we caught the last ferry home and decided to get off a stop later than usual so we could walk over the story bridge. The walk was lovely and meant we could walk off our dinner a bit!! We washed everything up and headed to the TV room to watch a bit of telly. People in this hostel were not as sociable as other hostels and a lot were working so we kept ourselves to ourselves and went to bed.

The 6th of April was our last day in Brissy and we signed up online to use the city cycles similar to those in London!! If we exchange a bike every half an hour it will not cost us a thing all day only the $2 sign up fee. So we cycled to the town hall and visited the top of the clock tower which now has restricted views but until the 70's was the cities tallest building!! After we sat around waiting for Nick a friend we made in Vietnam who lives in Brisbane, he said he would show us around the city. The tour was brilliant! We enjoyed a good cycle around exploring the botanic gardens, various famous restaurants and pubs, cycling over bridges, past landmarks like the footy stadium and the XXXX brewery. We finished the tour out of the city where Nick lives and he treated us to lunch at his local gorgeous recently renovated pub! Ed and I brought drinks we enjoyed ciders and then pimms and had a lovely afternoon catching up and discussing future plans. Nick is originally from NZ so he filled us in on all to do and see whilst we are there!! Whilst in the pub as it had been so unbelievably hot recently a massive storm broke out which we all had to cycle home in. It was fun and not like England it was still warm, Ed and I raced home!! Nick told us about 4 different tourists that had been murdered in the last month so we were now glad to be moving on!

When we got back we showered napped and went and watched telly later having a small snack as we were still full on lunch!! The biking had tired us out so much we headed to bed around 11pm and were dead to the world. The best nights sleep in this hostel!!

We woke up on the 7th and enjoyed our last free breakfast before packing showering and headed for a wander around china town and fortitude valley one last time. We had our lunch and headed for the transit centre for our next bus ride to Caloundra to stay with mum and dads friends Liam and Saf!!

We were greeted with massive smiles and hugs and Saf drove us around the town and along the coast to see where we were. We arrived at their family home, it was gorgeous and so typically Australian! We were finally out of the city and staying in a gorgeous suburb! We had a lovely chat with Saf and Ed met everyone. When Liam returned from work we enjoyed drinks together and Saf made a gorgeous green Thai curry (our favourite)! We spent the evening chatting away about travelling and telling one another stories etc. We felt so welcome and again spoilt with food!! When we decided to go to bed we realised we had our own double bedroom and had the best nights sleep ever with no dorm disruptions :)

The next morning Ed and I decided to go for a 5km run where we discovered how close the beach and the local shops etc were. When we got back Saf had made a delicious cooked breakfast healthy style! Once we had showered and found out these guys love Breaking Bad a series we have heard nothing but great things about, we sat and watched the whole of the first season. We loved doing nothing for a change and relaxed and watched telly. For lunch we tried some of Safs amazing banana bread which I will be sure to email for the recipe once I am home!!! Saf gave us a tour of the house which is gorgeous and has so much space. After being lazy all day we decided to have a walk down the beach and watched the sun go down before walking back! Saf had again made another amazing meal and the whole family and Ed and I sat together. It was an Indian; Bombay potato, rice, Dahl, chicken curry! Soooo yummy!! We sat up till late talking again and had a giggle with the kids. Their all lovely and so mature- Jessica will be visiting the Uk this November so I have offered to have a shopping day or something :) we hit the pillows and fell straight to sleep, surprising even though we had done next to nothing today.

I woke up early on the 9th and Skyped mum and dad and nanny to say hello and let them know how we were getting on! Happy to know Luce has brought all 6 seasons of breaking bad so when we get home we can enjoy!! I have developed a cold over night :( We spent the morning packing, showering, doing washing and filling up on good food Saf offered us. We got dropped at the bus station and said our goodbyes. We cannot again thank them enough as we leave with full tummies and a great couple of days rest!! Before boarding the greyhound we had a wander around the town and a lay on the beach, it was another gorgeous day!

We had heard good things about our next stop Noosa so hopped on our bus and was expected to reach Noosa in the next few hours...