Brisbane. Sydney. Brisbane

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So I made it to Brisbane safe and sound (the flight was just over an hour). I managed to fit all of my belongings back into my backpack (I was so afraid that I had acccumulated to many things while being in Townsville for so long, but I crammed it all in!) Simon told the kids to take note of how small my bag was and to think about packing like that for future trips! (But where would the snuggly toys go Simon?!)
I landed in Brisbane and caught the train into the city and once I got out of the train station the differences between the two cities was very evident. Brisbane is a much bigger city and has tons of huge buildings with fabulous architecture and so many things going on! I was stopped by a guy who asked where I was from, then he told me that he was a backpacker, but was settled for the moment working so he could then contiune to travel. Really nice guy! And he directed me towards my destination to where I would meet Richard Oliver.
I guess you could consider Rick distant family (I think I outline it in my last post) and he so generously offered for me to stay with him while I am in Brisbane.
I meet Rick near where he worked right in downtown Brisbane and we stop for a coffee along with his son Rhett. Both Rick, Rhett, and Greer (his daughter) are all in the law profession and work pretty much right next to each other in two separate buildings. Rick and Rhett are laywers and Greer is just finishing up her law degree, all the while that Robin (Ricks lovely wife) is taking law classes at the University of Queensland (which is about a 5 min walk from their home).

Within 5 minutes of sitting down for coffee Rick tells me that he had recieved an email from my Aunt Virginia saying that she was distressed that I had not yet been to Sydney. He told me that I really must go, he would help me find a cheap flight and I could do the city in a day. So I figured why not! So here I sit typing this blog in Sydney in a very nice old Hostel in Kings Cross, right in the heart of Sydney!

Well . . lets back up, I did spend one day (technically less than 24 hours, but who's counting?!) in Brisbane before flying again. Rick still had to work, so he sent me on walkabout around Brisbane, outlining a great walking path across the bridges over the Brisbane River, through gardens, and the Queen Street Mall. It was a fabulous walk and the Brisbane River runs along the city for some fabulous views! Luckily I was back from the walk right before it started to POUR with rain! (I thought the wet season was over?!) So I stopped and got a coffee and waited for a little bit for it to die down, which it did. I met Rick back at his office building, then we went to the supermarket to pick up some things for Robin for dinner.

Rick took me the scenic route around Brisbane back to his house, where I met Robin. Both Rick and Robin are so sweet and generous, as soon I was in the door I was asked if I wanted a coffee and I got settled in talking to Robin while searching for flights to Sydney. I had booked a return flight and accomodationf for Sydney and I hadn't even been in Brisbane for 6 hours!
We all had a lovely time chatting about America and my Aunt Virginia and Uncle Harry. Greer soon came home, she is a bit older than me but she just like the rest of the family and was so welcoming and was a joy to talk to. She is working and going to school, so she is a busy one!
We had a wonderful dinner and dessert (Robin cut fresh bananas over icecream, thats right bananas!), but after dinner I was exhausted since I had to get up in the morning to leave for Sydney.
I bid everyone goodnight and took a long shower, then hopped into THE MOST comfortable bed I have ever slept in!
I woke up early for Rick to take me to the train station where I would take the train back to Brisbane Airport (the train is so easy to use, and takes you pretty much anywhere). I got on my hour flight to Sydney and was in Sydney before I had even been in Brisbane 24 hours (gotta go with the flow!).

Sydney. Is. Amazing. - (A huge thank you to Aunt Virginia for getting in touch with Rick to really push me to go) For starters I had no idea it was that close to Brisbane (I thought it would take a while to get there and that I would need to spend a lot of time here) with only an hour on the plane, it was a cheap flight as well, and I did it in a day!

I landed and called the hostel to pick me up from the airport (for free 😊 ). While waiting for the shuttle I met another girl waiting for the same hostel and we became instant friends. Katie is from Canada and has spent the last few months in New Zealand. She was traveling alone and had the same agenda as I for the day so we decided to go sightseeing together. She is also going to be 25 in June!

We settled into the very nice hostel and met 2 other girls who have been here a while. Both are from Germany and are very nice!
After getting the low down from the front desk on what to see and how to get there we set off.

Sydney is such a well laid out city, we saw the bridge and the Opera house (it is such a sight!) and the architecture is so interesting!
Its a very active city with wonderful walking paths and EVERYONE was running (we saw multiple groups of at least a hundered people running everywhere) (I thought the end of the world was a few days ago? . . its O.K people!) But seriously it was the most runners outside of a race that I have ever seen.

We walked everywhere and were able to see the city really well (at one point we were taking pictures of the Opera house and an Asian woman hit me on the arm and said in her native tongue what I think to be "You are taking to long!" so I got out of her way so she could be in a picture, I have never been hit by another tourist before, they mean busniess!) , the only downside was that it started raining halfway through and didn't stop, but luckily Robin lent me an umbrella and I also had a rainjacket, so we were good!

We got back to the hostel to dry off and relax before going out again, the hostel sponsors a night out that starts at 9:30 and they get you into the bars for free and you get a few free drinks out of the deal too!

We also met the rest of the girls in the room, we have 3 Germans, one Canadian, and one Brit, (besides the lone American! Which makes me happy! I can meet Americans anywhere back home) We had a lovely time chatting about Australia and the differences between our home countries. I am in an all girl room with 8 beds and we all get along great, the hostel is so much better than the one in Cairns and is right in the middle of the city, again I am so happy I came to Sydney - Thanks Aunt Virginia!

So I am sitting in the hostel kitchen and in a couple of hours I will be out on the town in Sydney with a bunch of people from my room and the hostel, should be fun! Tomorrow I will be back on a flight to Brisbane (where hopefully it stops raining!) Busy Busy!

Love
B

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Photos

Walking through Brisbane
The beautiful gardens

Brisbane City
Where Rick, Rhett, and Greer work

Beautiful views
Even though it was raining

Comments

[Mom]

FANTASTIC
Wow, that is terrific that you got to Sydney and are having so many wonderful experiences. Yeah for Aunt Virginia!! Thanks Rick!!!

[Mom]

FANTASTIC
That was suppose to have been Yay for Aunt Virginia!!