Brisbon, rain, heat and goon!

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Well...so...yeh...

Rain!!! darn rain, ok, well it hasn't exactly been raining all of the days but it has rained rather a lot. However apart from talking about the weather all of the time, it is also quite hot, and when the sun is shining its rather pleasant.

On the whole Brisbane is quite a nice city, its not full to the brim of endless things to do, but is on the right side of busy in my opinion. There is no beach here, but they have a man made swimming complex on the south-side of the river which makes for a great free get away, with nice views of downtown Brisbane to boot. Thats the thing I've found whilst staying here, although it might not have the beating pulse of London back home, it's much more planned out, it does seem to 'work' well. The shopping here is definitely one for those who like a little retail-therapy, (not on my budget), with several streets completely pedestrianized the mix of cafes, bars, shops and live acts (i watched a skipping show, which was to say the least, odd!) makes for a great little experience. The Botanical Gardens are another attraction of Brisbane thats worth a look. Dont expect the hanging gardens of Babylon but its pleasant enough. There's free guided tours twice a day (11am/1pm) but if you miss them its easy/small enough to find your own way to the few points of interest. Although i missed a tour slot, my only regret was not finding out why there is a huge eel in the gardens pond.
Of course if the cities sites get a little old after a few days there is always the chance to sit on the roof of your hostel and drink the night and day away on cheap (SERIOUSLY CHEAP) wine, known as goonies. Its social, its basically free ($15ish for 4 litres') and once you get past the first few mugs the burning sensation as it hits the back of your throat soon go's away! The choice....is yours.

I've spent five days here so far and am planning on heading up the coast towards Cairns and the towns along the way, tomorrow. I have stayed in Base X Brisbane Central for all of it and its been a good experience. Its a little loud at night, but overall it gets my vote. Plenty of interesting people passing through its doors, and the kitchen is functional, the room rates are not too much for the location (my 10 bunk share is $27 a night). In short it not the best, but it ticks all the boxes and you could do much worse.

Im only waiting around here now to collect my bank account card, which fingers crossed will be waiting for me at the cities main post-office come tomorrow morning. Make that fingers AND toes.

So where am i heading now?? Honestly not too sure apart from its going to be NORTH! Work is out there and i need to find it, and besides lugging bananas has the added charm of being able to find a killer spider finally! I know i shouldn't go looking for them at the moment, but i have not seen ANYTHING yet.

So its a ride on the trusty Grey Hound bus up the coast, with the rough plan of topping up the bank balance before seeing some of the East Coasts sites.

Subject to change of course.

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Photos

Greyhound
The Bus from Brisbane to Bundaberg