Brisbane May- Sept

We have summarised our time in Brisbane because …let’s be honest….we’re crap at keeping up to date with our blog! Apologies! But we’re just too busy having the time of our lives guys 

In brief, we absolutely love Brisbane! Honestly, we have come up trumps with our decision to make our temporary home here. We arrived here at the end of summer and stayed through the winter, and without doubt this has been the best ‘winter’ we’ve evr experienced. The temperature hasn’t ever been below 26deg C and honestly, we can count easily on 2 hands how many times it has rained! We’ve lived in our summer clothes all through and our coats have remained in the wardrobe the whole time….not bad we thought? Haha.

We spent the months working (hard too I might add!) and exploring every inch of Brisbane and the suburbs around it. Lots of days were pretty routine, go to work then come home and chill in front of the TV - luckily for me they had UKTV so I could watch Only fools & Horses, Corrie & Eastenders, ha!

We went to a couple of AFL games here (Australian Football League - for the ladies) and became honorary supporters of the local team The Brisbane Lions, the games are pretty good, and the banter between the opposing fans is funny as! Just another excuse for the Aussies to have a few beers we suspect though! Ha.

We have loved the outdoor lifestyle here, we spent a lot of time relaxing, eating, walking outside just generally enjoying the weather. Brisbane is some 100km inland from the coast, so they have a man made lagoon there alongside the river in Southbank (Blackpill as it became affectionately known by us and the boys from back home (Steve, Carter and Andrew) who stayed for a while in Brisbane - only 100 times better) and we spent many a day there soaking up the sun on our days off.

The major annual festival here in Brisbane is the EKKA Festival. One of the highlights of this is the EKKA Races - which is like ladies’ day at Ascot back home. So I went with the girls from work and Jojo & Louise, and it was a great day out and a good excuse to get dolled up. I went over to my friend Tamika’s place in the morning where we got ready and had a champagne breakfast, then headed to the racecourse where we enjoyed a few (ok a lot) of drinks and I placed my first ever bet - which I lost! Normal races are held monthly at a few different race courses in Brisbane and are a popular day out too - definitely something to look into if you’re in Brissie.

I’ve had my homesick moments, but after about 3 months we just got used to it and couldn’t have been dragged home for anything! I miss my dog so so much though - especially when we’re just relaxing in the apartment on the bed or the sofa, Allan was missing Spike at times too. I cannot wait to have my baby back though!

We’ve had some interesting weather all around Australia during our time here, you probably would have heard about many of the floods, bush fires and the crazy dust storms!
Our little apartment has become a home for us here, and although it did slowly start to get smaller and smaller by the end of our lease it has been a great base for us here and has definitely served us well for the length of time we were staying there. The location really was spot on - Spring Hill being literally on the fringe of the CBD and next to Fortitude Valley where the nightlife is (and Jo’s place). We were so pleased to have struck it lucky finding a place here.

Pretty much everyone from our group of friends that we met at the hostel stayed there for the most part of our time in Brisbane. Towards the end they started trickling off one by one from Base Central Hostel so there were a few leaving nights, which were so much fun. We’ve had so many great times with some great friends here - movie nights, dinners, shopping and of course nights out! You’ll see the pics. We’re continuing to ‘live the dream’.

As you know I got a job as a sales assistant at a boutique store called Igedo, I surprised myself by becoming quite the sales person! I’m so glad for the time I had there, I made some very special friends and got some lovely clothes too. Many a fun night out was had with my girlfriends from work, and they arranged a lovely leaving dinner for me and a night out down the Gold Coast - so I had a fab send off! Love and miss you all!

Allan’s enjoyed his gig at Parmalat milk factory, it’s been mellow and totally un-taxing work, and the pay was good too. He had made some cool friends there - a Scotsman called Roddy in particular who has emigrated here - but also a number of guys from the South Pacific Islands - Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and quite a few Kiwis - some who have extended generous offers to stay with their families if we were to ever visit their countries…….might take you up on that guys!

Before we left Brisbane we had a weekend away with our friends Tamika & Chris at Byron Bay. We really loved it there when we stayed on our way up the coast and we were stoked to get the opportunity to go back. We took the opportunity to head up to the lighthouse on a walk and reaped the benefits of the trek immediately when we saw heaps of whales swimming around the point, heading south for their migration - an amazing sight! We had such a nice relaxed weekend though, and Tamika and Chris are great company and friends we will certainly keep. Being familiar with the area, before heading back home they took us out in the countryside to a small village called Nimbin and to one of the beautiful national parks there (Nightcap National park) where there we came to a stunning waterfall which we swam in (freezing cold!) - Thanks for an awesome time! We miss you guys already!

It really feels like we have a life here now, working, living and having groups of friends. We do feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to do this - it honestly has been everything we’d hoped for and more, and we definitely want to come back for a 2nd year!

And last but not least we have included pics of Allan’s beard (legendary I thought - Al)….he looked like Tom Hanks in castaway and the density in it’s final days was nothing short of biblical! He found out the hard way that Queensland - even in winter - is far too hot for silly facial hair, and consequently shaved it off a month prematurely. I for one was glad to see the back of it!

So for a rough idea for you, our travel itinery is as follows;
3 weeks left in Australia - Melbourne & Adelaide, then the rest of the East coast north of Brisbane, then Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam then finally Thailand. We’ve booked all the remaining Australian tours/accommodation etc now, and we are SO excited for the off!
One of our close friends Jo (from Canada) who has been with us throughout our time in Brisbane is leaving for the east coast the same time as us as it turns out, so we’ve decided we’re gonna do the east coast together and she’s even considering Bali with us too! Yay! Now Allan has 2 girls to contend with  un/lucky whichever way you want to look at it! (hmm?? - Al)

So see ya Brisbane…we’re going to miss you, but hopefully we’ll see you again before too long!

So…….Sept 30th, first stop: Early morning flight to Melbourne! Woo-hoo!

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