So Long Sydney, Briefly in Brisbane

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New Years day was a relaxed day with nothing done of note. It was also one of the hottest days Sydney has ever seen. Walking out of the air conditioned Wakeup out into the street was like opening an oven door after cooking a big meal.
The day before i left for Brisbane i decided it might be good to go and look around the Australia Museum. It was useful that Jason came with me, because the disabled entrance took you into the heart of the building avoiding the Cashiers. The museum itself wasn't anything special, but it passed the time. The special Monsters exhibit was ok but i wouldn't have wanted to pay the extra $5 to get in there (we got our tickets off a couple of girls from the hostel). The skeleton section was quite good along with some of the pictures of scenic areas in Oz but it didn't really catch me (their again museums have never really had that affect). After leaving the museum, we had a spot to eat and then headed back to the hostel. I wasn't the only person leaving from my room, 3 other girls were also. I had bought myself a cheap bottle of wine to celebrate the occasion (wine out here can contain traces of milk, fish and egg products - i kid you not). When i got back to the room the girls were already well on the way, i caught them discussing how bastardly blokes are, then they were talking about the size of manhoods (i didn't care to join in). After drinking my bottle of wine, i was feeling a bit merry. Little Jo then tricked me into drinking Vodka straight - although its not to bad when youv'e had a few! We finally left the room slightly pissed and looking forward to our last night down at Side Bar. Luckily Ed was working behind the bar and he is seeing Jo so we got a bit of a discount on the drinks! After a couple more they dragged me out on the dancefloor to 'amaze them with some dancing trickery'. An old roomate Hayley was also down there so that was great to see her although i cant remember much of what we spoke about. It was a brilliant night and one of my best nights down at Side Bar, a nice way to see my stay in Sydney out.

My flight to Brisbane on Wednesday wasn't until 5pm so i had a whole day to kill. I had set my alarm the previous day for 9:30am as i had to check out by 10am. The problem was i slept through my alarm and had to be woken up by Gemma (it took her a few shakes as well). It was now 9:45 and i had given up of making the check out time especially as i still had some packing to do (it didn't help that i still felt half drunk/half hungover). Eventually i managed to check out at 10:30 without any additional cost and then promptly went and drank 3 cups of teas with Rhiannon (although she cant make a good cup of tea for ****). She tried to drag me down to the Tattoo parlour to have one of the Australian flag done - but i didnt fancy the cost/pain etc. Instead i went for my last $5 Steak (which helped me get over my groggyness) before starting my goodbyes.

I met some really good friends in Sydney, and people i intend to catch up with at a later date. I had such a good time in Sydney that i think it might be quite hard to beat, but only time will tell.
The flight from Sydney to Brisbane was painless (apart from a bone crunching landing) and only took 1hr20min compared to a train time of 14hrs. Fortunately i got the emergency exit seats so had loads of leg room, and sat next to a charming old lady who i chatted to for a fair while (even though i probably seemed a bit rude when i nodded off to sleep for a few moments). I arrived at the hostel relatively late and was pleased when their were beds available (otherwise i would have joined the local drunks in the park). The room itself is quite small (8 beds) but it is divided off so that you can achieve a degree of privacy. On arrival i was greeted by 3 Swedish guys who were travelling together and a German girl called Doris - i nearly choked when she told me her name - i expect pensioners to be called Doris, not 26yr old German's. I got on well with Doris from the outset and sampled the bar with her. Initially i told myself that i wouldn't goto the bar as i was feeling shattered and not feeling to good, but i was soon convinced (didn't take long after we drank Doris's bottle of wine in the room). The Bar is called the Birdee and is nicer than Side Bar. It has an outdoor area including 2 pool tables and a swimming pool (admitedly the pool isn't suitable for Olympic swimmers but is good for having a drink in while lounging about). I was shocked that i could get a jug of beer for $7 (3 pounds) so i might be heading down the bar a fair bit more in the future. After watching the live band and having a bit of a dance (i couldn't have been any worse than a moustached 45yr old bloke who seemed to be attracting more flies than women) we headed back for some much needed kip.

My first day in Brisbane started suitably late (got out of bed at 11am). I dont think Doris was pleased because i had said i would go and look around the city with her at 10am. Anyway we headed out and walked about a bit finding some oddities along the journey. I found it very peculiar that old churches were surrounded by modern skyscrapers, they looked so out of place but in a way quite interesting. The heat was incredible (much more humid than Sydney) and i was seriously sweating - the locals say you get used to it - well its easy for them to say, but i dont think i'll get used to heat like that. We decided to cool off for a bit and board one of the river ferries to view the city sites on the Brisbane River (i bet it didn't take them long to come up with that name). One of sites which Brisbane is proud of is the Story Bridge. I personally think it looks like a scaled up Meccano set that has been irregulary put together by an army of 6 year olds. It could be that i was spoilt by the Harbour Bridge in Sydney, which is incredible and beautiful to look at at. The Story Bridge even do bridge climbs - i dont know how much it costs but you can be sure i wont be doing it.
We continued on the boat journey and saw 3 skyscrapers that all had mirrored windows (2 blue and a yellow one), really nice looking buildings overlooking the Meccano bridge. Another stop on the boat took us to the riverside walk, which was very pleasant and included the Rainforest walk which was basically a few trees a bit of wildlife (inc several Geckos and those bloody Ibis birds). But generally the Rainforest walk housed courting couples who were at various stages of intimacy - i took pleasure in disturbing the acts.
After a bit more of a look round we headed back to the hostel to drop of the shopping and then went out for a Chinese. We picked a Chinese that the locals (Chinese locals) were all going to, as you can be sure that you are going to get a good meal. I had a beef noodle dish which was by far the best Chinese i have ever had (Michael Mans in Stortford just doesn't cut it). After quite a hectic day in the searing heat i was feeling really tired, so before going to the bar later in the evening i had a kip. I woke up feeling slightly worse, but headed down anyway. I must admit i wasn't really with it and had picked up an annoying cough, so after a couple of jugs i decided to call it an evening.

On friday i headed down to the City to find my own way around and get more orientated. I stumbled across the Brisbane Museum, which was free to enter - so i thought why not have a look around. By the end of it i was thinking about asking reception for some compensation for an hour of my life that dissapeared in the walls of that building. The only good thing about the museum was that the building it was housed is very nice. I'm afraid i'm not the type of person who finds looking at stacked Tupperware cups very interesting. The only thing that did take my attention was a couple of Brisbane pictures and a porno chair - the porno chair was obviously a normal chair until some arty chap decided to cut out a few pictures from a range of topshelf magazines and stick them down to the chair. Problem was though that there were far to many erect penises for my liking. I couldn't work out why the Museum had pictures of sad old men with collections. For example there was a bloke who was pictured proudly sat with a handful of cuddly toys (i wouldn't even had called it a good collection either).
After my less than impressive tour of the museum (i suppose i got what i paid for) i headed in search of the man made beach. After lots of walking going passed such places as the rickety Maritime Museum i found the beach. I liked the concept, it was completely man made set back from the river. There was a sandy area as well as areas of rock pools, the problem was the place was packed so i decided against a lonely swim. After doing a bit more shopping i went back to the hostel to have my first quiet night for weeks!

Saturday was another laid back day, and started with a quick flick through of the job pages in the local paper. I also visited the Botanic Gardens, and spent much of the day chilling down there reading and soaking up the scenery. The Brisbane Botanic gardens is nicer than Sydney, and alot quieter. Although i didnt really do alot, i managed to pleasantly pass the time. Later on i went back to the hostel and met up with the big Danish guy in my room. He and an English bloke called Ed were having some beers outside at the bar, so i joined them for a bit before myself and the Danish guy headed to the Down Under Bar in town. The name of the bar is a bit misleading, as you would be lucky to find one Aussie in the bar (its a backpackers bar). It was a bit dingey but did its job quite well in providing me with a supply of beer jugs at relatively cheap prices. After speaking to a number of backpackers from all over the world (mainly British), i felt a bit ill (iv'e got a bastardly cough at the moment) so i decided it would be best i headed back.

Once i got up (at mid day) i spent alot of time reading the Sunday paper, especially the article regarding a girl who has just been fatally attacked by sharks off the coast of Brisbane. I dont know if i'm going to go for a paddle here thats for sure! Later on in the afternoon i headed to the bar for a few games of pool and then watched the event of the week - Jelly Wrestling. Fortunately the blokes were a bit shy, so some bikini lovelies volunteered and got down to...i wouldn't call it wrestling put it this way!! Later we headed down to the Down Under bar for some food and to play in the Speed Pool tournament (1 person per table and 2 tables - the quickest person to pot all the balls wins). I lost in the 1st round on the black after i had fluffed my last colour. Admitedly I was unlucky to be playing quite a decent player (a man with amputated arms couldn't have been any worse than some of the players) who went on to beyond the quarters (i left early). Our next stop was the Birdee for a few drinks, and then followed by 'The Family' - a nightclub with a crappy name. It was a real good nightclub to be fair, although some of the people there were not to my liking! After visiting a couple more places we headed back to Birdee to see the night out.


Australia Zoo - home of Steve Irwin was my first trip out of Brisbane. I have to admit i didn't enjoy getting up at 7am (earliest iv'e got up so far is 9:30) but it was well worth it once i was there. Australia Zoo is owned by the Irwin family, and everywhere you look there are reminders of Steve Irwin (quotes such as "crikey"). The Zoo was well laid out and easy to get round. A range of animals, such as Crocs, Alligators, Roos, Tasmanian Devil, Snakes etc etc were there to see. As i was looking at the Tortoises (a couple of them getting quite intimate) my foot landed on something, i looked down and saw this thing wriggle away. All of a sudden this Masculine Aussie women pipes up, "he just trod on that lizard" - which of course got everyone looking round at me - some of which laughed, some also looked at me with disdain. Eventually i saw the little critter i had nearly killed, it was staring at me as if it was going to kill me itself. It was good to see Harriet the Giant Galapagos Tortoise who was picked up by Charles Darwin and taken back to London in the Beagle. It is estimated that Harriet was born in 1830. Another highlight of the day had to be viewing the Cassowary - i have heard a fair bit about these birds, but never seen one (nearly on the verge of extinction). Unfortunately i couldn't get a really good picture as they kept on hiding everytime i approached!
After some walking around i decided to head to the Crocoseum (the main arena where the shows are staged). They had a bird, Tiger and Snake show, but everyone had come to see the Croc show - especially as we had been told Steve Irwin was here. After getting through the other shows which were good, Steve Irwin came out with a buggered leg, hobbling along, while everyone was cheering. His wife Terri was also there, and his best mate Wes actually did the show with Steve and Terri commentating on what was happening. Unfortunately Steve didn't stay around to sign autographs or have pictures taken, but Terri did - i couldn't be arsed to queue up for her second rate signature, although i saw what she had written on other peoples stuff and it mostly said "Cripes - Terri Irwin" - so i thought i had saved myself the hassle. The South African cricket team were also present, and i got some footage of them on my camera. I saw Smith, Pollock, Prince and a couple of the others. Unfortunately they were being kept out of the way of people all day, and anyway i wouldn't have wanted their autographs! After a really good day out, i headed back to the city. Because Oz Zoo is inland, it can get very hot and the train station was horrific - even though i was only there for about 15mins. On the train back i fell asleep, luckily waking up at my stop. Later that night i headed down to the Birdee bar for some games of free Pool, where i played a girl who won tournaments - and miraculously i won. We also played doubles against a couple of Kiwis and also beat them. All in all it was a good night apart from the bastardly cough i have got.

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Photos

Story Bridge
The 'Star Attraction' - to be fair it was made in 1940 when they should have been using metal to build warships/planes/guns etc...

Southbank
Nice area for a walk - contains the Man-made Beach.

Lizard
These were all over Oz Zoo, and similar to the one a trod on!

Cassowary
These Birds attack humans and have been known to gouge a stomach open with there hug claws!

Harriet - Giant Galapagos Tortoise
Darwin brought her back to the UK, and she was eventually shipped out to Brisbane!

Shot of the Day
These Tortoise were very noisy!

Eastern Brown Snake
Extremely Deadly

Kookaburra
Famous Aussie Bird

Comments

[Victoria]

How about a new entry
Hmm thought i'd written a comment in here but doesn't appear to have materialised. Hope you made it safe and sound to sunny Melbourne. keep your blog updated! look forward to seeing what you've been up to xx