We weren't sure if we'd make it to Brisbane as when we switched on the TV in the morning at the hostel, every channel was covering the floods that had just devestated Toowoomba and they were warning that other parts of Queensland could be affected next. When we arrived at the bus station, we were informed that the bus was running to Brisbane but no further. We jumped on and hoped for the best.

Within moments of arriving at the Brisbane hostel, news came in that the City was being put on high alert, and that the chances of us getting any further up the coast by bus were near impossible. We'd recently booked and paid in full for trips to do a Fraser Island 4 Wheel Drive tour departing from Hervey Bay, and a Whitsundays tour departing from Airlie Beach, we were told we had no chance of getting there. We then spend the next few hours trying to sort out getting our money back, luckily we managed to get 90% back and lost the 10%, we had also booked a flight to get to Airlie Beach later in the month as when we booked, a particular area of highway we needed was flooded, we also lost all the flight money.

Whilst all this was going on, further news came in informing us that the City transport was being shut down at 2pm, and the city was being evauated. We were literally stuck, and we're not affraid to say we were seriously worried. All we could do now was to try and figure out a way of getting out of Brisbane at the next possible chance. We had to decide where we could go. We have a tour of Uluru (Ayres Rock) at the end of the month and we have a flight out of Cairns on the 26th Jan, unless we completely scrap that part of our Australia experience, and miss two flights from our round the world ticket, we had to get to Cairns somehow. To change our flights would be 150 pounds each, plus we'd lose our Uluru money which we paid for before we came away. We called STA Travel, for what it was worth as they are completely useless. Anyone reading this, we advise you never to go with STA travel for anything, they've let us down so much already and we are certain they'll continue to let us down. So we were on our own. The high tide of the Brisbane river was due to peak on Wednesday afternoon, well reach one of the high tides it was going to have over the next few days, so we knew we had to get out before then if possible. We checked to see if Brisbane airport was open, and they issued a statement that for the meantime, they were remaining open and hoped to stay open, but to keep checking. Flights were about $150, but we had no choice but to pay that as there was no other way out of Brisbane. We just hoped that we would be able to get there somehow, whether it be train or taxi.

We went to the supermarket for food and water incase we were stuck but when we got there the shelves were literally bare and the queues were running from the front of the store to the back. It was crazy! There was not one scrap of bread left on the shelves, people were definately panic buying, and from what was being reported, with good reason.

The hostel remained in good spirtis, announcing over the tannoy that 'if this was the end of the world, we may as well go out playing 'bogan bingo!' and the guys behind the desk wore sailor hats :-)

We awoke to more news that the banks of the Brisbane river had already burst, and was starting to severely flood the area. We luckly managed to get on an express train to the airport as they run on high ground and checked in. We were on our way!