surfer girl goes global

We spent yesterday in Brisbane. Florence and I had been planning on going for a while and we’d been trying to convince people to go but nobody seemed really keen, so imagine our shock when we woke up at 6:30 yesterday to find out that Jens and Devon were in fact coming with us! It was hard to get out of bed and I hadn’t been sure I really wanted to go but I didn’t want to let Florence down on her second last day in Maroochydore so we went. And it was awesome.

It took a while to get there, about 3 hours first on the bus, then the train, then another train. We mostly napped but did see some kangaroos lounging around in the grass when we passed the University. Finally we were there, in Brisbane, and despite my reluctance to go I was so excited to see all the people and the buildings! It was so good. First we went to Anzac Square.

Walking there Devon had stepped on a rock that fell over and there was a policeman standing not far away and after he knocked over the rock the policeman headed our way. So we walked faster. Then we were at Anzac Square taking photos and before we knew it, there was the policeman! So we finished up our photo taking and headed down the stairs to the street, stopping to take a photo on the stairs with the memorial in the background and who else was in the background? The policeman. We were starting to get worried and thought the policeman would be following us all day so we quickly crossed the street thankfully the policeman left us there. Close call.

After that we stopped off for some coffees at Starbucks and lunch at Hungry Jacks before heading to the museum at City Hall. We were told the view from the Bell Tower is amazing. So we got there and the bell tower was closed for maintenance. Bummer. But there was still the rest of the museum so we go in and turns out it’s this whole thing about wood. Silky Oak to be exact. Wow. But we had fun taking photos. Then we went to the other side of the museum but it was closed to put up another display. And the balcony was also closed today. The only other option open to us was a concert in the main auditorium at noon. The large crowd of seniors that had gathered in the atrium led us to believe it may not be such an awesome show but we lined up anyway and crowded in with the rest of the seniors when the doors opened. Then we sat down and waited but the show didn’t start for another half hour!

We left and walked towards the river, well at least that’s where Jens said we were going. Really we were walking parallel to the river towards a bridge where we could cross. The view from the bridge was nice and we took more photos before going to the Art Gallery where there was some kind of China display happening. It was all really nice but after a while I’d had enough. I wanted to go to the Museum but we ended up inside another Art Gallery but we didn’t really stay long none of us were really up to it.

Afterwards we walked down by the river towards the Ferris Wheel because Florence really wanted to have a ride and see the view but it was $15 for a ride! And we decided not to. We went to the beach but it was mostly closed for construction so we decided to see about taking the City Cat for a cruise down the river. Luckily the bus passes we’d bought that morning included the boat ride so we hopped on for a nice hour long cruise to the end of the route and back. By the time we’d gotten off the boat we were all pretty tired and hungry and the sun was setting so we went for a bite and a beer at the Down Under Bar that’s part of the Base Backpackers right across from the train station.

They had a $10 steak and beer deal so we all got it, well except for Devon. He was waiting for $5 pizza back home. The steak was amazing and the beer was so nice after a day out in the City. But after that it was time to go and we hopped back on the train home to the coast. It was really sad to leave because I didn’t realize how much I missed the City, civilization, or being somewhere different. Actually I knew that one. We got home around 10 and it was really anticlimatic being back at the backpackers.

We had planned on going surfing today (Florence and I) but then I got called in to work at Keith’s passionfruit farm. Which was good, but very hard work and made me $40 and finally got me to go to the doctors to find out about the stupid rash I’d had forever. Keith thought it was a fungal infection that would make me loose all my hair if it spread!! Yikes! But turns out it’s only excema. Thank god.

After that I went to the Plaza, thought I’d do a bit of shopping but when I tried to check my balance on my Westpac account I forgot the pin #!!! It told me I’d have to go talk to my bank. So I did. Got a new pin # and it was supposed to be all good. But then when I tried to use the ATM to check my balance it ate my card!! So I ran back inside – help me! It ate my card! It should be ok, Colin Green my bank helper and the ‘Toast of the Coast’ told me so I checked with the teller in the bank at it seemed to be working. So Colin thought I should try the machine once again just to make sure it’s still ok. But it ate my card again! So Colin ordered me a new card. He was very nice. It should come in 5-7 business days.

I decided that I have to make an effort to do more fun things. Even when I don’t feel like it because it always turns out worth it. Thanks BrisVegas! Until next time!!