Brisbane

Saturday 28^th – the bus to Brisbane was at 9.45am so it was nice to have a late start for once as the other buses were always quite early! Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic due to an accident so arrived in Brisbane an hour and a half after we were supposed to! Sarah, the girl I met at Surfers, and a girl called Dorian who she met in Byron were on my bus so we went for food and a walk around the Southbank area of Brisbane which was really green and pretty.





We were staying at Base Central which is also where my friends Helen and Rachel from Ozintro were staying, and the Ozexperience girls I met at Surf camp. I moved into Rachel’s room which was a 12 bed dorm but so nice! It looks like student halls, because it has a lounge area with sofas, flatscreen tv, kitchen cupboards, tons of mirrors, sinks and even a private bathroom in the room adjoining it. Rachel and all the girls that were already in the room before me are long-stayers so they’ve made themselves comfortable and to be honest I was tempted to stay for ages too because it’s just so nice. The first evening I went to the bar downstairs with, Helen, Sarah, Rachel, the 6 OzExperience girls I met last week and Dorian (who funnily enough did a tour with my friend Louise who I met at surf camp – so they were planning to meet up anyway!) It was really fun to go out with everyone I’ve met along the way from Sydney – it felt like a reunion!

Sunday 29th I spent chilling out, with the girls watching films, and did a bit of food shopping so I’m actually going to cook for the first time I’ve been travelling – lasted 37 days in a row with eating meals out but I’m bored of restaurants now! Helen is sitting with me right now and has asked me to work out how many times I’ve eaten pizza or pasta (inc. lasagna) and the total is……………….. 8 pizzas and 12 pastas. Thought the figure would be much higher as I feel like all I’m eating is pasta! And guess what I cooked for dinner? Pasta! But with lots of veggies and pesto instead of tomato sauce so it feels like variety!

Monday 30th - I went to Australia Zoo! I met my friend Louise (Oz Experience) who took the bus from where she was staying in Mooloolaba! It was a really good day. I liked how free the animals were in the zoo. There was a lot of space and in one area which was 5 acres big, kangaroos were just bouncing all over the place! You could go up to them and feed them or stroke them and they didn't mind.

There was also a section with koalas hanging on trees and you could go up to particular (friendly) koalas and pat them.

They were so cute! We also got to feed elephants, watched a crocodile show where we saw a 15ft crocodile, and I got my photo taken cuddling a koala!

Tuesday 31st - There's not really too much to do in Brisbane so today was laundry day, and then I met my cousin in the evening for dinner. She studies at uni here and I haven't seen her in 5 years so it was good to catch up. Later on, me, Helen, Rachel and 3 other girls from my dorm 6 went to the cinema to see the Hangover Part II. Tuesdays are budget tueddays (similar to orange Wednesdays back home) so films are half price. It was nice to go to the cinema with a group of girls, it felt like I was back at home just going out with my friends :)

Wednesday 1st June - Bought new trainers, yay! Had a stroll through the botanical gardens but it was small and not very interesting. Had a relaxed day (writing this blog) and in the evening I hung out with the girls in the hostel watching the first Hangover film as some of them hadn't seen it. I didn't really like Brisbane as there was nothing to do here but I'll be back in October with my family so maybe I'll find more things to do then! Tomorrow, it's off to Mooloolaba.....