Blogs from Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

L'aventure australienne commence plutôt bien. On a prévu de loger chez Ken et Karen des amis d'une amie d'Alexis qui nous ont proposé de nous héberger. Et quand on arrive chez eux, on voit qu'ils ne sont pas du genre à blaguer... "Mi casa es su casa". On se retrouve dans une villa, avec des pièces à foison, des plafonds sans fin, et une piscine presque olympique. Cerise sur le gâteau, ils partent en week end pour la semaine, et nous laissent la maison à nous tous seuls. Well... Notre séjour à Brisbane se passe donc pour l'essentiel dans la piscine ou à regarder les matchs de rugby sur leur écran géant. On fait toutefois quelques excursions vers le centre ville, la plage (2:30 pour y aller en train et bus, record à battre!), ainsi que ... read more

Nedeli jsme se Sophii (ktera je mozna moje vzdalena pribuzna-jeji deda emigroval z Ceska a nese stejne prijmeni jako moje prababicka) vydaly prozkoumat Brisbane na kole. Po meste je nekolik stanku, plati se 2$/den,do 30 minut pak vypujceni zdarma, nad 30min se plati extra. Dojely jsme na Southbank,kde se konal festival jidla a varily celebrity, mne zcela nezname.potom jsme vyslapaly kamsi dal od centra a.daly si vietnamskou nudlovou polevku,ktera by stacila pro dva. Jinak cestovani na mestskych kolech: Uff! Najit helmu u kola byl zazrak. Zlaty rucicky jsou nejen cesky.. Ve meste objevit prazdny stojan navraceni kola byl mnohdy pekny orisek. Jednou jsme kvuli tomu o 3 minuty pretahly, grr. Dalsi 2,2$. Pokud stojan pekne a specificky nepipne, znamena to, ze kolo sice stoji,ale uctuje se, jako by nestalo. Hodina a 27 minut je jeste krasna ... read more

Dear Grace and Mag, Been to couple of places since my last entry in Sydney but a couple of places I just passed through. First I stopped in Byron Bay for 3 nights where I was still in the state of New South Wales not Queensland. It's a small little town where a lot of people go for surfing and chilling on the beach and going out. I went out one night and the place was so busy because it was really small. I did have a good night though. I met two lovely girls (Sophie and Nikki) on the overnight bus from Sydney and although we weren't staying in the same hostel I met up with them. One of the days I hired and bicycle from the hostel - they were a really funny shape ... read more

Most of you know that Eileen loves tea so we began our travel with a tea party, the Mad Hatter's tea party. We flew from New Zealand to Brisbane on 3 April to see Blair Wood, Eileen's son, perform in the Queensland Ballet season of "Alice in Wonderland". The audiences, young and not so young, expressed their appreciation for Blair's portrayal of the character with resounding applause. The biggest and proudest fan in two performances was Eileen as she watched her son take his first principal role in a full length production. Bravo Blair! On Easter Friday we relaxed with Blair, laughing at amusing backstage stories and we heard about the Company's next production, Don Quixote. This left Eileen dreaming about how she might be able to return for Blair's next exciting role. The next morning ... read more

So as of Today, our flights are booked and payed for! Flight - $1747 inc. Taxes Insurance - $337 BusAbout - $779 Total pre-trip expenses - $2883 So as you can see we havn't even left the country and have spent almost $3000. Thats travelling for you! All of these costs were incredibly neccisary so if you are planning on going yourself then prepare to break the bank. For those of you who do not know what BusAbout is, check out this website to get an idea.... read more