Don't believe people when they tell you there is nothing to do in Brisbane there lying!!! This is what we were told before we came but we have found plenty to do today and really like Brisbane as a city.

Sunday 15th November 2009

We arrived in Brisbane this afternoon at around 2.30pm after getting off the bus we found the taxi rank and got a taxi with the two girls who had been staying in our room at Surfers Paradise to the hostel Base Central. After checking into our room a six bed dorm room we set off to get some food as we hadn't eaten all day. We are very close to the centre of Brisbane so we found plenty of shopping malls with food courts but we were both craving hangover food so we had good old McDonalds not so good for the waistlines but the hangovers approved. After we had eaten we had a look around the shops and I got myself a new handbag as one of mine has broken and the other one a material one was very smelly so I now have a lovely new bag which I like very much. From here we went back to the hostel I read my book for a bit while Suzie went on the internet where I joined her later.

This evening was phone call night like most Sunday's now are we had a long chat with Mum and then I rang Rachel while Suzie updated the blog. After this we got a nice early night and read our books before going to sleep.

Monday 16th November 2009

This morning we had a lay in till about 10 then we got up, showered, had breakfast then set out to find tourist information to get some information about the self guided city walks Suzie had read about that we fancied doing. So once we were armed with our map we set off on the river loop walk, unfortunately we went the wrong way straight away (we are not blonde for nothing) but Suzie with her excellent map reading skills got us back on track so we were on the right street to start the walk.

First stop of the walk was the Botanical Gardens which were really nice so we will be going back there with Mum as she will really appreciate them. We walked straight through the botanical gardens down to the river and walked along the river past Eagle Street Pier where there were lots of nice restaurants overlooking the river so we have booked marked these places for when we return with Mum. From here we carried on along the river past Customs House in the direction of the Story Bridge and Howard Smith Wharfs where there was a free art exhibition so we nipped in here to have a look. It's funny what you can class as art these days!! The first room was like a forest and I suppose it was quite arty in a way but the second room was very strange there was a big inflatable bed in the middle of the room with lots of fluorescent lights scattered about???

The next bit of the walk is where we went wrong for the second time but we didn't realize this until we'd walked an hour and half in the wrong direction whoops it was a very pleasant walk though. We were suppose to go under the bridge which we did and climb up Ivory Lane but we never saw a Ivory lane and we still can't figure out where it is now. So we walked under the bridge and followed the river around this is obviously not a loop but as I say we only realised this after an hour and a half. So once we had noticed our mistake we decided to get the cat boat back to South bank so we could have a look around there.

Once we arrived at Southbank we thought since we had such a long walk we should treat ourselves to an ice cream it was delicious we both had Hokey Pokey and while chocolate and raspberry. From here we had a look around and then walked back to the city where we went for a late lunch as it was 3.30pm I had Sushi (I love Australia you can get Sushi everywhere it's great) and Suzie had a chicken wrap. After we had eaten we went back to tourist information to find out where Streets Beach was which is a man made lagoon in the centre it turns out it was back at Southbank we'd just missed it so we turned around and walked back. Unfortunately we didn't have our bikinis on so we could only dip our feet in the water but it was very nice even so. While we were here we realised we had a text from Fran saying her waters had broken and she was on her way to the hospital we were then very excited but we are still waiting now to hear anymore news…. good luck Franxxx.

We then walked back to the city centre to go to Coles to get some food for tonight Jacket potatoes with tuna and sweet corn tonight. Back at the hostel we had a coffee and a cigarette on the rooftop area before using the internet to update the blog. After we have finished on the internet we are going to get our tea and then get another early night ready to catch the bus tomorrow morning to Noosa at 10.15am.

Hope you are all well and are still enjoying the blog

Lots of love

Caroline and Suziexxx