1st April - 4th April Brisbane

The flight was a nice and short and got a great view of the Aussie coast that would have taken us 3 days of continuous driving . We didn't book in advance, and were pretty shocked to find that nearly all the hostels and backpackers were full apart from one, where they could squeeze us into a 6 bed dorm.

We found the room to be a nightmare, it was inhabited by 4 very messy young lads that had stuff all over the floor that we couldn't walk across to the bunks or put our bags down. We went down and immediately complained (the thought of sharing a bathroom with 4 young scruffy lads repulsed Vik), so instead of giving us our money back straight away, they upgraded us to a twin room for one night, with the intention of us going into a newly furbished 8 dorm room with lockers and increased privacy.

We have 3 days here in Brisbane, updating the blog (as it takes sooo long), and looking at the sights of the cosmopolitan city, before our flight our to Christchurch, New Zealand.

Even though this is Vik's forth time to Australia, there has always been something new to see, and as it has been a place she has spent most time in, outside of the UK, still considers Oz as a home-from-home, and will miss the place, especially the wildlife.

One thing that has amazed us most, especially on knowing the place 9 years ago, has been the improvements of many towns and cities. The councils/government has spent a huge amount of money on public amenities at no profitable advantage on their part, but seems to be for the advantage of everybody, with their free swimming pools, toilets, showers , kids playgrounds and bbqs. It makes us feel s frustrated with the U.K for their inability to provide any facilities what-so-ever, unless it's at a profit. We don't even have open/ clean public toilets these days!! One thing that stands out with these free facilities, that it doesn't matter what your background is here, everybody enjoys, and takes advantage of these facilities, giving a unique social gathering.