19/01/09

Had my first proper shower since being in the Sleeping Inn, the shower is s***! The water from the hot tap is literally boiling as it comes out and it comes out in such a thin powerfull jet that it feels like its slicing you in half when you're under it. Packed, I say packed, what I really mean is screwed up and stuffed, everything in my bag and then read my book outside until everyone else was ready to leave. We took the free limo to the bus terminal even though it was only a 2 minute walk. Got on the greyhound and arived in Brisbane shortly afterwards. Checked in to our hostel, Bunk, initial impressions were good. I had a nap while everyone else wandered around town. The beds are so creaky and the matresses, although not as bad as the ones on our first night in Singapore, were squeaky as hell, and with 8 people in one room its a suprise anyone can get any sleep at all. I was woken periodically by some d*** shouting over the tanoy, sorry 'public address' system, "Right guys everyone stop being geeks and reading your books in your room, we've got a pool party down here, theres the chance to win a free nights accomodation, so get up off your ass and get down here" he'd then do the rounds and go around each floor shouting much the same thing and banging on everyones door. The others came back at about 5 and went to play scrabble in the bar downstairs. I got up about an hour later and joined them. The girls cooked a stir-fry with some nice chunky veg and I loved it. Went back to the bar and drank a load of jugs of VB and snakebite before enlightening everyone to the fact that penises do not exist in heaven to prevent rape.

20/01/09

I was woken up by Pat as he was leaving to go watch the football at 0530, as he was leaving he told me that he couldn't find Burns because he didn't come back last night. My stomach was churning and I couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and had a fried egg on a crust of bread to soak up the residual snakebite. wandered down the street and sat around the corner from McDonalds using their internet for a couple of hours, not without noticing the half a burger someone had thrown and managed to stick to the wall in front of me. Came back home at around 8 and lounged around for a bit before deciding it was too nice to read in bed so I went down to the bar and layed out in one of their hut / shelter things. I initially went down to go for a dip in the pool but on the way down a really butch woman that I'd noticed from Surfers Paradise was following me, she'd been giving me weird looks back then and I didn't want any more of them so I decided to hide in the hut. When she'd finally gone I decided to jump in the hot-tub, yes, this place has a hot-tub! It was brilliant, so warm, especially with the sun beating down on me. They also had a pool, which I made use of when the girls left, getting around 50 lengths in while they had some breakfast. Lounged around this area for most of the morning, during which time it became apparent that Burns hadn't gone to sleep, he'd been up all night sitting on the sofas downstairs. When quized hard enough about it he divulged that he had indeed been talking to a lovely woman called Jeff all night. He was shattered and decided it would be best to head off to bed and get some kip.

The rest of us went for a wander in to town to get some food for the BBQ tomorrow and a Cottage Pie for tonight, which the lads and I would be cooking. Apparently you can't put tomatoes in a cottage pie, if I was cooking it which I would be, it would have tomatoes in it, but I was overuled so we were only allowed onion and carrot. I was pretty hunger by now as it was 1430 and I hadn't eaten anything since the egg at about 0545 so we all decided to have a subway on the way back. Pat and I went 2's on a foot long and then made the most of buying a small drink and sneakily refilling the cup when there were no staff about. We all got a cookie as well, except, shockingly for Coops! Pat and Helen went back home while Coops and I went for a wander round the mall to see if we could find a new travel game as we are starting to tire of cards, boggle and scrabble. We eventually found a toy shop, but unfortunately they had no travel section, all we could find was a 'Barrel of Monkeys' and various different versions of Chase the Ace and Bloody Mary / Donkey. Found a book shop and Coops spotted a travel scrabble dictionary, we decided that it would cause more arguments than it would solve so left it. We did find out that one of the birds we saw a lot of in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney was called an Ibis though. Coops bought some hairbands and we both attempted reading a newspaper while walking back. On the way back we bumped in to Helen and Pat as they were leaving to pikey some McDonalds internet.

Burns was still in bed so I went back to the hut in the bar and read for a bit before Coops and I decided to start cooking. we had left the gravy in Coffs Harbour so had to go buy some more from the 7-11. The hostels cooking facilities are pretty good, they have plenty of hobs and pots and pans for everyone, but the microwave doesn't work and they have no small vegetable knives, so I spent a long time peeling carrots and spuds with a meat cleaver. After an hour of sweating in the kitchen the meal was finally prepared, it was good, but I think it was missing some toamatoes. We stopped off at the bar on the way back and the lads and I got a jub in each while we performed miserably at the trivia quiz they had put on. Some of the questions were rEdiculous to be fair like "pound for pound, which costs more, hamburgers or a car?". Went back to the room and managed to sqeeze 4 people in 1 bed, the girls and I had a natter while the lads went to use the internet.

21/01/09

I really struggled getting to sleep because the guy that was sleeping above me reaked of BO, it was horrific! Woke up really early again because of the creaky beds and squaky matresses and went downstairs to use the telephone and wish a happy birthday to Shani. Her housemate had left the phone off the hook so I ended up phoning her mobile and being cut off mid conversation. Went back to the room and attempted to sleep, it wasn't happening because the guy above me was still there reaking of s***, I got up and looked at him, his sheets were covered in what must have been dead skin, it looked rank, so I decided to read so none of it would fall on me.

We eventually all got out of bed and made our way to reception to ask the way to the Brisbane Forest Park which had been recommended by the hostel becuase you could go there and have a BBQ, so we took a load of raw meat and veg. They gave us directions to the corner of Wharf St. so we waited there for about half an hour and the number 385 bus didn't show, so I wandered off and found a knowledgeable bus driver that told me we needed to walk a further 20 minutes down the road to the main bus terminal in Brisbane. We got there and found the most unhelpful information desk ever, they literally didn't even know the forest existed! We finally found where to catch the 385 from at 12 after leaving the hostel at 10 and got to the forest. When we got there we had to walk a K up hill towards the forest park, where we were told at the reception that there were many snakes that could kill us with a single bite if we weren't dressed properly and there were no BBQ's. We walked downt the track to check it out, and as it soon converged in to a grassy track lapping around our feet we decided that the paranoia of deadly snakes was a bit too much as we were wearing board shorts and thongs, so we decided to pay to go round the nature park instead. It was worth it, we saw a Platypuss with bright yellow eyelids that a 5 year old kid informed us they all have when they are underwater. To be fair, she did know everything about all the animals. When we'd finished we took the bus back to South Bank in Brisbane where we just found a spot with a free BBQ and cooked some awesome burgers and kebabs and then layed in the sun watching kids chase sea-gulls and attempt cartwheels all afternoon. Helen, Pat and I went for a swim in the pool just a few yards away and saw the darkest person ever, not racist in the slightest, they just were the darkest person we had ever seen. Coops set the trend for Ice-Cream buying after a little while, and Burns and I managed to get and 18 streak in head tennis!!

Walked back home and then cleaned all the blood out of the cool bag from the raw meat earlier. Later we went to the Num Numb Bar in Bunk and had 6 jugs of beer, some weird game started after the first where 4 girls started feeling up about 10 blokes, I still don't know what the point in the game was or who won but someone got a jug out of it.