Today was our first day to explore Brisbane, and we decided to use the 'City Cat' ferry to explore the city. The ferry is a form of public transport, so our tickets were only $5 and lasted 2 hours, so we did a big loop of all the stops, and ended up being on it for about 2 and a half hours! We spent sometime on the deck at the front taking photos of the bridges and admiring the path riverside houses. It was really hot (over 30°c), so we sat inside out of the sun for some of the time. We got off at the South Bank and ate lunch in a café (and paid way too much for our sandwiches!). We were very hot and bothered after being in the sun all morning, so we were very happy to head for the man-made beach in the middle of the South Bank parklands! It was a very strange experience - it felt exactly the same as being at the beach, except there weren't any waves, and you could see the river and the high-rise buildings beyond the water! We spent a relaxing few hours cooling off in the water and laying on the fake sand!

We then walked the looong way back to the hostel in the early evening sun, passing workers in their suits and dresses walking home from work. We stopped off at the supermarket near the hostel and stocked up on food to cook for tea today and tomorrow, and a packed lunch for tomorrow (we're not paying those extortionate prices for sarnies again!).

Back at the hostel, we gave Kelly a lesson in cooking backpacker style, including trying to find all the equipment we need! We made a great team and enjoyed our tea sat outside watching the amazing sunset of pinks and oranges across the city skyline.

In the evening, we had planned to go to some bars on Brunswick Street, which Dave had read about in the Lonely Planet. After getting ready, we caught the train to Fortitude Valley and found the first bar called 'Press Gang' which had a blues-style band playing, and drinks that weren't too badly priced (by Ozzie standards!). After a few drinks there we headed to 'Ric's Bar' down the road, and as we sat down with our drinks, through the window I spotted Sam and Lauren from our Surfers hostel! We knew they were in Brisbane, but didn't expect to bump into them! So after our drink, we went with them to a bar called 'Cloudland'. As we walked in, we were blown away by the decoration inside. There seemed to be a rainforest theme to some of it, with the bars being covered in silver balls which lit up. It was open up to the roof, with stairs at the side leading to the first floor, and there were water fountains, and themed seating areas all over the place. We were very surprised to find that apart from us there was hardly anyone else in there, although it was a Wednesday night, so not the busiest night of the week! The toilets were also amazing, with a posh seating area by the sinks. The handle on the inside of the toilet door was a gold elephant's trunk! We sat for a while in an Ostrich-themed seating area complete with an ostrich-shaped lamp stand and feathers printed on the wallpaper. We had a few drinks there before it closed at 12:30, and took lots of photos. Definitely the best bar we've been in on our travels! Sam and Lauren's hostel was just over the road, so they headed back there while we got a taxi back to our hostel. A very good day and night in Brisbane!