Day 11: Catchup and the first of many flights in Oz

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First thing this morning would be a catchup with another Topdeck buddy Sam. I remember her from the tour because she was one of 2 muslims on the tour and on top of that they were both vegetarians. It did cause them some issues on the tour because a few of the vegetarian dishes had wine in them. We arranged beforehand to meet at Central station for breakfast. Central station is very large so it took a while to find each other. At one point I was on one floor and she was directly below me on a different floor LOL.

So once we found each other and had the customary hug greeting we settled down to some baked goods from a Chinese bakery in the station. I told Sam about my travels so far and she caught me up on what had gone with her since the tour. I had noticed she seemed a bit more muscular than I remember her from the tour. She advised me that she had gotten into fitness training since the tour and it really did show on her. We talked like this for almost 2 hours before it was time for her to go to work. Before we separated I got some directions from her to go to Darling Harbour. So one last hug and we went our separate ways. Promising we would see each other again some day hopefully before too long. 😉

Darling Harbour is a smaller harbor than the one that has the Opera House. It is a more a tourist spot than the main harbor is. There is a rail line with a miniature train running through the harbor. I did a wander around the harbor and took some pictures of the ships tied up in the harbor and I found some of the Rhinos that were scattered around the city in the harbor. I was on a bridge over looking the harbor when I had a feeling like I had forgotten something. I had not taken of picture of me and Sam at the station. Hoping she did not work that far away I texted her and I found out she worked near the Opera House which was close enough. I jumped on a train to Circular Quay and got to her office building. After getting the reception guy to take our picture we completed our second reunion and our paths diverged again.

At this point it was time to head to the airport for the flight to Brisbane. I checked out of the hotel and took the train back to the airport. My flight was with TigerAir. All through the last few weeks my Aussie friends had been giving warnings about that airline. Apparently they are notorious for being late and delaying flights deliberately to sell more tickets. With some trepidation I got in line for TigerAir and got on the plane. I must have been lucky because the flight left on time.

I wanted to grab some sleep on the flight because I was meeting some friends that evening in Brisbane. That is where some trouble started. There were 2 small children on the plane that were crying the whole flight. I am tolerant of babies crying but these kids were at least 4 or 5 years old. That is too old to be crying like that in a confined situation. The worse was the parents just let them keep crying and did not do anything about it. By the end of the flight most people had turned on the parents and there were a lot of angry words directed at them.

I got off the flight as quickly as I could and took a train into the city. I was staying at a place called Gonow Family Backpackers. I must admit I chose this hostel because it was cheap $16/night. The hostel itself is a house that has been converted into a hostel. I was in a 8 bed room and it was OK but a bit crowded. Shortly after checking in I went to Boundary St which was a nearby street with a lot of clubs and bars. I was meeting 3 friends there, Sharyn who I met in Halifax, Bron whom I had met on the Topdeck Tour and Emily who I had also met on the Topdeck Tour. Strangely enough both Sharyn and Bron were Psychologist who loved Calamari. It took a little coordinating to choose a spot and time but we settled on a restaurant called Tukka which serves exotic food. I got there around 7PM and we had some time before dinner and we were waiting for one more person, Ashley. We went to get some drinks at a bar but the first one we went to was very sleazy. Entirely filled of guys who kept eyeing the women in my group. After looking around we went next door which was a nicer place. I tried some New Zealand wine and they had various ales and beers. We drank for awhile and chatted as we waited for Ashley. We than found out she was not coming because she had just gotten off work. So we went to dinner just the 4 of us. I should say at this point Emily was dressed quite nicely and I commented she didn't have to dress up for me 😊. I found out thought that she had a date late that night so that is why she was dressed up 😊. The restaurant Tukka's had exotic animals you can eat such as Kangaroo, Emu, Crocodile etc. Emily ordered Crocodile which we all tried. I ordered the oysters and found out later it was raw oysters (BLAH), Bron had salmon and Sharyn had Risotto with something. So I can say the most exotic thing I had eaten was crocodile which tastes just like chicken. Myself I managed to muscle through 8 of 12 oysters before I had enough. It was an expensive lesson that I cannot handle raw oysters because it had cost $30.

We had a good talk around the table and I was glad I was able to introduce Sharyn to my Topdeck buddies. After the customary photo of all us at the end we debated staying around to take a look at Emily's date. It was late thought and Sharyn had to get on a bus so we called it a night. It was a good night and I had really good time with those ladies and I really enjoy these catchups with people I have met traveling. I went back to the hostel and chatted with a few people in my room. I learned at this point that the hostel caters mostly to people who are working in Brisbane. I guess it is the cheapest way to stay in a city short term.

Tomorrow it was time to do #2 on my bucket list. Hugging a Koala

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Photos

My Hostel
Gonow caters mostly to people who work in Brisbane

My Buddy Sam
She is in really great shape

Lunar Eclipse
It was a lunar eclipse my first night in Brisbane

Catchup
Emily in the nice dress, Bron in the back and Sharyn closest to the camera