Week 1 in Brisbane...

          I arrived in Brisbane at 3am, after a pretty horrendous journey as I was ill for most of the flight and didn't reallly manage to sleep much. I got up early to skype the next day, but then spent the majority of the day in bed, very jetlagged. So, not wanting to waste any time here, I used the time to start applying for jobs online. In the evening, 3 girls from my room (2 English, 1 Korean) invited me to go with them to the bar under the hostel called the 'Down Under Bar', known to the locals as Dunder. It was a beach themed party that night, consisting of free cocktails, limbo competitions,  wet tshirt competitions and a load of cheesy yellow hats.

         

The River in Brisbane from a bridge

The view from Brisbane Botanical Gardens

The next day, I went for a walk into the city. The hostel is just a 2 minute walk from Queen St Plaza, the main shopping precinct in Brisbane. The city is very pretty, with lots of very well preserved old buildings- so well, in fact, it almost resembles the Disneyland Main street in some ways. It was not sunny, but very warm and I was glad of the chance to gradually get used to the weather. I had received an email the day before from the mother in a potential demi pair family to arrange to meet for coffee, and so I caught a bus to a mall 20 minutes journey away called Westfield Garden City. The bus system here is confusing and pretty unusual, with underground bus stations and a network of tunnels. If it were not for the help of a lot of friendly locals, showing me which ticket to buy, bus to catch, and stop to alight at, I am rather convinced I would not have found my way there. The locals here are really lovely, and I am yet to meet someone who is not enthusiastic about assisting me when I am lost/confused. The meeting went well, and I am due to move in with them on Tuesday.

         

In the evening, 2 Swedish girls in my room invited me to go and get food with them.

The Big Wheel on the South Bank

We went to Hungry House (the Australian equivalent to Burger King) and chatted about traveling. They had already been backpacking for quite a while through Indonesia and Australia, and it was brilliant to get advice from them about places to go and things to see. Unfortunately,  they departed the following morning to travel to the Gold Coast.

On Friday, I woke early and walked down to the nearby river to sit on the grass and ring home. Little more was achieved that day aside from shopping for something red to wear to watch the 6 nations, and doing a food shop. Strangely, the biggest local food shop is Woolworths. I was surprised to find that food shopping for one person is actually pretty tricky- working out what will get eaten before it goes off and buying as little that needs refrigeration as possible, as people frequently steal food from the fridges. Since being in Australia,  I eat and snack a lot less and drink a lot more. Sometimes only 1 meal a day- I am never hungry! 

Lizards by the River

The artificial beach on the South Bank, Brisbane

          Today, I went to the South Bank in the morning. It is quite similar to London South Bank in ways, with theatres, concert halls, galleries etc. and family entertainment. I visited Queensland National Gallery for a couple of hours before strolling along the South Bank. This was the first day of really nice weather since I had arrived, and even with factor 50 suncream on I was still starting to burn- the trials and tribulations of being a ginger. The city doesn't have any beaches, so an artificial beach has been built and this was very busy. I spent most of the afternoon sunbathing by the river and reading- a good opportunity to finish reading the complete works of Shakespeare/start the complete works of Chekhov! I had to relocate when i found myself surrounded for a few 2ft lizards, which took me by surprise to say the least. My obsession with documenting everything also kicked into gear here, and I sifted through all of my receipts and made a complete list of expenditures (just to ensure I was not wasting money). In the evening, I went to an outdoor British pub called the Pig and Whistle, where I watched the Wales vs Italy game with Kim (my Korean room mate). She returns to her home in Sydney in the morning, but has invited me to go and stay with her in March to see the Mardi Gras. At the pub I met a few guys from Ammanford who were also backpacking. It was great to watch the game with Welsh people, and even better- WE WON! xx

With Kim, watching the Rugby

A bit blurry, but the City at Night looks so beautiful