We jumped on to the Oz Experience bus, naturally with Sally & Lou in tow, & headed towards Brisbane. The two girls got off the bus a bit earlier as they were staying a couple of nights in Noosa, so we would meet up with them again once they arrived in Brisbane. We had arranged to meet up with Anne-Marie (who we had met on our Vietnam & Laos tours) & she kindly let us stay with her at her apartment. We arrived at hers & promptly had a chill evening, soaking in the creature comforts we had missed & enjoying the fridge full of beer. We set about planning what to do during our stay. First on my agenda was to see a doctor & hopefully get the all clear for my shoulder. The good news was that it was all fixed & that meant I could go to the theme parks & do my skydive, but unfortunately it meant that I could carry my bag again.....perhaps Joel wouldn't find out?!? That afternoon we strolled around the city & along South Bank which runs along the river. The damage from the recent floods were still visible & some of the Fast Cat stops still weren't operating. That evening we bought some burgers, sausages & beers & used the parks free BBQ's to cook a true Aussie dinner. On the field next to us, the City Council was running a free yoga class for anyone that wished to join. So as more & more people started to show up, it made it more amusing that we were stood there drinking beers & eating BBQ food. After packing up, we headed to a nearby pub for their quiz night. We all clearly needed to brush up on our Aussie knowledge & that includes Anne-Marie who was born here!!

The following day we saw a bit more of the city & in the afternoon we embarked on a tour of the XXXX brewery to see how the Aussie's brew their pi$$!! Obviously the best part was the free tasters at the end & the discovery of a beer called James Squires, which was far better than XXXX. The next day was a trip to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. They had various other creatures there as well, so we spent a good time looking around. We were given a sheep dog demonstration & shown a sheep being shorn for its wool. There was a bird of prey show, where we got to see Australia's largest bird, the Wedge-Tailed eagle, although it wasn't very obidient & the keeper spent most of the time trying to coax it down from the trees where it was preying on smaller birds. We saw various snakes, reptiles, wombats, dingoes, tasmanian devils & the elusive duck-billed platypus. The highlight of the visit was getting my photo taken with a koala called 'Crumble'. I had to do my best impression of a tree & keep my hands away from its head as they are quite protective & it probably would have slashed my jugular!!! I also made sure to wash my hands afterwards, as we were informed that the biggest killer of koalas is actually chlamydia!! That afternoon, Joel & I strolled around the city's Natural History Museum & in the evening Anne-Marie drove us up to a lookout on Mount Coot'ha so we could look out over the cityscape at nighttime.

The next day we drove out to the nearby theme park 'Dreamworld'. There we were thrown, dropped & spun in every diretion possible by the usual array of thrill rides. But easily the best ride was the Tower of Terror II. We sat in a car & were fired backwards out of a tunnel at 90mph & up a vertical tower. Eventually gravity took over & we were plummeting back down, face first towards the tunnel. Next door was 'Waterworld', so we made use of the Queensland sunshine & went on various flumes & water rides before the park closed for the day. That evening we met up with Sal & Lou, who had now arrived in Brisbane, for a spot of dinner in the city. The following morning Joel & I went around the Science museum & spent a while playing with various exhibitions that were clearly designed for 9 year old kids. That evening we headed to Rosies Bar for a gig by Frank Turner (if you don't know who he is....where have you been?? & get downloading his solo stuff or anything by his old band 'Million Dead'). We met up with Amylou & Sally so that I could educate them in decent music & we also met up with an English girl called Laura from our Cambodia tour, who is studying for a year at a Brisbane University. So we all gathered to enjoy the fine music & to drink the night away. I think we succeeded on both counts.

The rest of the week consisted of exploring more parts of the city, a visit to Manly Bay & Marina (although this visit was severely hampered by our first bit of rain since Airlie Beach!!) & taking a cruise along Brisbane River at nighttime on the City Cat boat.