The streets of Brisbane

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Even though yesterday had been pretty full on, I was still up relatively early this morning for a couple of reasons. For one, I didn't want to seem like a lazy slob whilst I was staying with Carmen's parents and for two I wanted to head into Brisbane with Lee. He had an interview lined up with one of the top restaurants in Brisbane CBD and was going to be taking the bus into the city, so naturally I wanted to join him. I still hadn't been into Brisbane yet and although I was keen to see the city, I was also pretty keen to have a workout at an Australian Fitness First. After a week of doing nothing but drinking beer and sitting around a camp fire, I had put on a lot of weight...and not in a good way!

After a quick bowl of cereal we walked to the end of Tansey Drive to catch the bus to the Hyperdome. Thankfully Lee was by now pretty savvy with the local bus routes, having been out here for a month already, and knew exactly which bus we needed to take. The 555 took us all the way into the city centre for the princely sum of $7.50 (£4.90). I was still trying to get my head around the exchange rate and thought this seemed a little steep until Lee explained that the pay scale in Australia was higher than that of the UK to reflect the cost of living. Having blown most of my budget in Southeast Asia I still saw it as expensive, but hey, it's all part of the adventure! The bus took us through several suburbs on our way in, all of which seemed to sound very Australian. Admittedly there wasn't a lot to see and I didn't want to embarrass Lee by taking photos, so I sat back and enjoyed the ride.

We arrived with time to spare before Lee's interview so we had a quick coffee before he headed off. I didn't know why, but I seemed deeply impressed with his knowledge of the city and the fact he knew exactly where to go after such a short time. Lee explained that in the CBD all of the roads that ran one way had girls names and all the roads interacting them had boys names. I did what I had done since starting my travels which was to orientate myself through the local tourist information centre. This time, thankfully, everyones first language was English so asking how to get somewhere in my poshest English accent was easy! After I was shown where I was and had it pointed out to me where both Fitness First clubs were, I set off to explore.

I headed through King George Square, and up George street towards North Quay, as this seemed the closest one. It was fascinating to walk through the city and see all the different things it had to offer. I walked past the law courts and through the end of town that seem strewn with hostels. I eventually reach what looked typically Fitness First from the outside, with glass frontage and all of the card equipment lined up for all to see...not to make people self-conscious while they exercise at all! To my disappointment, when I reached the door there was a sign to say that they were closed for the bank-holiday. I decided to try the club at the other end of town and so with a swift look at the map made my way though the city. Sadly, the Adelaide street club too was closed and so I was forced to make my way back to meet Lee.

We met up after his interview and decided to grab some lunch at one of the eateries on Queen street mall. I scanned the menu and was again stunned by the difference in cost between here and the UK. Begrudgingly I went for a club sandwich at $21 (£12.60) which when it arrived looked as though it had barely been shown the chicken. None the less, it was massively pleasant to be able to sit and eat lunch with one of my dearest friends whilst on the other side of the world. We spoke about his interview and although it had gone well, he still didn't feel that it was what he was looking for, but at least it was a start.

We returned back to Tansey Drive to take Lee's car to the car wash. It needed to be properly cleaned after our week up at Noosa Heads to get rid of all the sand and sea salt that it had picked up from our glamping trip. Needless to say, Australian car washes are set up to wash almost every inch of the cars that pass through them for exactly the reason that we went there. Taking your four by four to the beach for a camping or fishing weekend, or even taking it off-roading for the day was a common pass time in Australia and they are meticulous about cleaning them to keep them going. As Lee's UK driving licence still hadn't arrived after he sent it for a name change, it was still my duty to drive. It gave me a certain sence of freedom that I had only experienced when renting out a scooter in Asia. We drove down the Pacific highway to Beenleigh were the closest all singing all dancing carwashes was. It had started to rain as we drove, so to me washing the car seemed a bit of a pointless exercise. Still, I knew how much care Lee had taken of his cars in the past and this was no different. We paid the $16 (£9.60) and sat in the car as we were taken along the conveyer belt that cleaned the car from top to bottom, including underneath!

Once back home I spent the evening catching up on emails, Facebook and trying hard to keep up to date with my blogs. It seemed to me that life would start becoming very mundane and that I wouldn't have much to blog about soon. I hoped that I'd still have the odd weekend adventure here and there whilst I was working, as no doubt Carmen would want me to have as many experiences whilst I was here as possible!

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