Brisbane Baby!!

Arrived in Brisbane on Sunday night and got in a minibus with the craziest Turkish taxi driver you could ever meet! He dropped us off at the hostel, which turned out to be the wrong one (a lot my fault) and then we had to sit around there until a crazy German hostel employee could drop us off at the correct hostel.

We got a free upgrade from a 8 to 6 bed dorm, which meant slightly better night's sleep ahead :D We then all chow downed at McDonalds - classic backpacker meal. I was still a bit hungover so appreciated the grease.

Monday morning we got up and trekked around town sorting out deals for Whitsunday and Fraser Island tours and then headed over the bridge to the South Bank area of town. There's a really cool man made beach there right in the city centre and a little square of cafes, on oldy worldy streets. Really pretty. We went to Max Brenner's for brunch - a cafe that specialises in chocolate. As you can imagine, I was in absolute heaven!! Tess and I shared waffles with choc sauce, icecream, strawberries and bananas and could barely move after. The guys ate on their own what we ate between us and Chris' girlfriend Hannah had a chocolate pizza - pizza base with LOADS of choc, fruit, crunchy bits etc. Absolute mammoth effort! We then wandered back into the city centre to Queen's street - the main shopping street and I treated myself to a playsuit. It's been so so long since I've been shopping. It was really good. In the evening we said goodbye to Chris and Hannah, who I'll meet up with this weekend for the Whitsundays tour, and the rest of us headed to a free bbq (well for a sausage and a slice of bread). We also came 2nd in the pub quiz and won a massively discounted tour, which none of us can do because of time, and then we played speed pool (2 people start the potting and the winner is the first one to pot all the balls). It was then time to head off to catch up on a bit of kip!

Tuesday morning we said goodbye to Tess, leaving just me and Tom. We trotted down to the bus stops and headed out to Mt Kootha, which has some stunning views over the city. The weather was once again glorious and we could see for miles! We then went to the botanical gardens (free of charge, by me smiling nicely at the bus driver) and had a wander round there. It's divided into loads of little sections i.e. desert, tropical rainforest, Japanese gardens, fern garden etc. There was even a couple of Iguanas chilling in the sun. I thought they were fake, but I don't think fake ones would blink! There was also a massive pond with some cool birds in. We then headed back to the hostel and cooked up a storm. Tom demolished the biggest pile of garlic mash you've ever seen and we had that with some savoury mince and some broccolli. It was so, so good to have some normal food again!!

Wednesday morning, I checked out of the hostel and we wandered across to the other side of the city to the city botanical gardens - basically a massive park along the side of the river with a bandstand etc in the middle. The weather was hot, hot, hot!!

Surfer's Paradise

Before you read this, if you don't approve of drinking then I'd skip the next couple of paragraphs, because that's what SP is all about.

So with a few days to kill before heading to Townsville, I decided to pop down to Surfer's Paradise for a bit of fun in the sun! It's a 1.5hr journey and got my bus ticket rtn for £20! Arriving in Surfer's is like arriving in a jazzed up Blackpool - more built up than most coastal places, a few cheap eateries, lots of souvenir shops and lots of young people and pensioners wandering around. However, it's much cleaner than Blackpool, the beach a lot whiter and generally a lot less tacky. (Sorry Dad/Uncle, I know it's your home town but it's true!!)

The hostel is about a 20min walk from town. Just a long enough walk to sober you up on your way home from a night out! I headed to invest in dinner - bread, cream cheese, crisps and then returned to the hostel to get the party started. Paid £20 to go on a bar crawl which offered free hotdogs off the BBQ before we left, glowsticks, beach towel, entry into 4 clubs, free drink in each club and a bus into town. Good deal methinks! As soon as we got on the bus to the bars, I made friends with a guy who works at my hostel and organises the bar crawl and 3 aussie vet students. I put my most charming English accent to very good use with these guys and got myself a lot of free drinks. Well, I figure there's no point being a girl travelling around on my own if I don't butter the boys up! I had a salsa lesson in the first bar which was pretty sweet and then we all danced the night away in various bars. They're really strict about being drunk over here and police were everywhere when we came out. My 4am walk home was via the beach where I was taught how to read the surf, should I ever choose to take it up as a hobby. I guess this lesson was appropriate being in Surfer's Paradise and I did remember all the points the next morning!!

I made breakfast the next day and then went back to bed for a little bit before going for a wander around the town. The weather wasn't so great on Thursday, so my plans for lying on the beach were kind of scuppered. We went out again in the evening, after I played drinking games with some Swedish guys who worked at the hostel. Don't ever play drinking games with Swedes because if they target you, you can kiss goodbye to your night out. Luckily for me, another British guy was their target!

Friday morning I basically sat around in the sunshine doing nothing all morning. I feel like I never really sit still anymore, so when you're not feeling so great, it's good to just sit and enjoy the sunshine. The guys who worked at the hostel really want me to go back on my way back through, but I don't think my liver or my bank account can take many more nights out.

Back to Brisbane

I arrived back in Brisbane on Friday evening for a "quiet night." Well by now, we should all know that just wasn't going to happen. I met some really cool guys in my room from Halifax, Leeds and somewhere South, who then introduced me to 3 aussies and went out with them. One of the aussie guys was in the army and had the most bizarre tattoos all over his body that he'd drawn himself. Stickmen, random hearts etc. Classic army lad. Decided I'd definitely keep my distance from him all night. We went via one of the guy's really swanky apartments and got a cab into town. £15 for about a 1.5mile journey. Once again, I didn't pay. Somehow we ended up in a Karaoke bar listening to people sing everything from the Piano Man (sung incredibly by one of the aussies I was with), to YMCA. Very very random but very fun. I did buy one round of drinks but definitely got the favour returned by everyone!! :D

It's now Saturday pm and today I flew to Townsville, decided I didn't want to stay the night there so fluttered my eyelashes at the Greyhound bus driver and he let me transfer onto tonight's coach for free. I'm in Airlie beach, ready to meet back up with Chris and Hannah and start sailing the Whitsundays!

I wrote this a few days ago now! I am still alive and I will update you on my recent adventures soon!

Much love xxx