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Published: January 29th 2007
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Unbeknown to us we would be treated to some pretty special accommodation in Brisbane and I’m sure as a consequence it will make our hostel stays over the next few weeks a real joy!!
I had met Iain through Ty back in London some years ago, but had not seen him for nearly two years as he never returned to England having gone traveling himself and on meeting Sarah decided to stay with her in Brisbane. They were both there to greet us at the coach station which was a real nice touch and certainly an indicator of the kindness and generosity they would show towards us during our stay in Brisbane or BrisVegas as I will call it from now on!!
When we got back to theirs we were given keys to our own apartment!! Sarah Manages a building of serviced apartments and being boss set us up with an awesome pad, full kitchen, dining area, lounge, massive king sized bed, wicked 2 person shower, Jo was particular pleased with our own washing machine and dryer!! We also had a huge balcony over looking the city. It was gob smacking and we were like kids in a sweet
shop! The luckiest backpackers alive!!
After a spot of washing we settled back for a relaxing afternoon doing a bit of grocery shopping followed by a dip in the pool ; ) Jo had her barnet cut at a salon just round the corner and as it fell dark we sat down for a delicious home cooked pasta meal and a bit of 'Neighbours' on the TV!
The next morning we went to the South Bank where we met up with a friend of Iain’s and enjoyed a couple of beers and some food in the afternoon sun. Beforehand we had had a good look around the Riverside area at the impressive skyscrapers and apartment blocks. We caught the city ferry to the South Bank where there is a huge man made beach with an enclosed swimming area and with it still being the holidays it was packed out. The whole place was really nicely landscaped and with a small outdoor market and plenty of cafes and bars close by you could imagine spending a lot of your spare time enjoying your days off here.
The ferry trip back took a bit longer as it continued up
river at first passing the Modern Arts Gallary and a number of fantastic properties on the river banks with boats moored at the end of their gardens. The ferry took us as far as the university campus before turning around to head back the way we came. After a walk through the city centre we got back and jumped in the pool to cool off. That evening we would be going to a house warming party of one of Iain & Sarah friends called Warren. There we met some interesting characters, none more so than an Aussie who had moved to LA and was working in the LAPD. At every opportunity he would talk about his gun, quoting the serial number and make….what a plank!! Other than him and the rather bizarre sheep exploits of Warren’s Tasmanian flat mate everyone else we met there were real good company and we enjoyed ourselves until the early hours.
The next day after a lazy morning we gathered some things and headed down to spend the weekend at the beach in Brunswick with some more of their friends, Christian and Sarah. Great people, really good fun, they knew how to enjoy themselves
and having got stuck into the beers soon after arriving we meet up with a couple of others, Linden & his sister Mel and headed into Byron for some food. After a lovely stir fry meal (only $10), we moved onto the Beach House. The Beach house is a huge bar come restaurant, come café, come hotel set back from the seafront. That night a band called Dirty Laundry pumped out some new lyrics to old school 90s house tunes. We partied hard and we left when it closed. It was a great night finishing in a long forgotten tradition of having a big fat Kebab, then a bonus beef pie, a taxi, and bed.
The next day we took the short walk from Christian & Sarah’s place to Byron Cape Beach. Brunswick is a really cool town with a campsite along the river which led to the beach. A dip in the sea was just what you needed after a heavy night and following a bit of body surfing we went back to a café in the town for a delicious breakfast. We spent the rest of the afternoon down the beach and it was here that I
doubled my total number of waves surfed. On my first attempt to stand, I did, much to my amasement. I almost couldn’t believe how easy it was, only the look of pure dumbfoundment on my face gave away that standing on a surf board perhaps wasn’t one of my strong points!!
After the beach we returned to BrisVegas. On the way we stopped off at Lennox Head lookout and it was from here that we think we spotted some large turtles swimming out to sea, either that or very large round fish! We also stopped off at a great butchers for some meat to throw on the Barbie when we got back. The Barbie we had that night was fantastic and we enjoyed a good chat on the balcony before hitting the hay.
Our last day was spent updating the blog as you can probably tell!! I think I published about eleven of them so sorry Mike & Claire for distracting you from Prison Break!! I would also like to make a couple of Happy Birthday, which I missed due to me writing the blogs so far after the actual date. First Happy Birthday to my step mum,
Bridge called ???
Iain what was this bridge called?? Amy and Jo’s Dad, Phil. It was also a special day for Steven Ronald Thomas Green, or Greener to his mates!! Happy Birthday we hope you celebrated in style and send you our love and best wishes. Also, Happy Birthday to me! Thank you for my ecards and Birthday messages : )
Back in Brisbane we spent our last evening being treated to another fantastic meal, but this time it was in the form of a picnic with lots of goodies, cheeses, cold meats, biscuits, pickles, and a couple of glasses of wine. We were taken to have this picnic on Mt Coot-tha overlooking the city. It was quite a view as you can see, and as the light faded the view got better and better. And as the many lights of the city came on to light up the sky, Brisbane really did turn into BrisVegas. We finished off the night with one last look at the Story Bridge from the opposite side of the river and there I took our final photos of the city. It had been a wonderful night, Iain & Sarah generous to the last. Our stay would be at an end but a
friendship had been restarted and one we look forward to enjoying again.
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Dad & Amy
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Hi guys - Brisbane looks fab!! Good to see the hair starting to grow back Ben ;-)