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Published: January 5th 2007
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Hi all
Well spent my last week in Australia in Brisbane. After the fuss with the hostel we ended up with beds on the 2nd night as they had a couple of no shows which was a pain, because in the pool room we had our own cable TV and aircon, easily the best room in the house, plus it was free.
On the Friday we went for a wander round Brisbane and despite what everyone else had said we really liked it. Although it did seem strange being so busy, as everywhere we have been previously has been so quiet.
Although I am sure the main reason it was so busy was because of the Ashes. The whole city was packed with Barmy Army and Aussie fans, creating a great atmosphere. Anyway in the afternoon Becks just chilled out by the pool at the hostel whilst I watched the cricket with some of the lads, in what used to be my bedroom! It was easily the best place to be with the air con as the outside temp was well into the 30´s and far too hot for me.
That evening we were
convinced by some of the others who were staying at the hostel that we should all go out for some drinks! We had all ready spent the best part of the late afternoon drinking and the full bottle of vodka that I had opened had dropped at an alarming rate. The voices inside our head were saying no - bad idea - going to the cricket tomorrow but unfortunately saying no to going out drinking has never been Becks strong point so reluctantly I joined the party.
So we got ready and off we all went to a bar called Down Under(the Ozzies are so original with their names). Claire who was one of our party was a big drinker and started ordering us shots which was not a good idea, before I new it Becks was dancing away, on the stage, in the cage, all over the place and having quite a laugh, naturally I just stood by the bar quietly.
It was then decided we should go onto The Valley so we all bundled into a taxi, although not everybody made it as some felt worse for wear and headed back and those of
us that were still going headed to another pub/club. I have no idea what time we made it back to the hostel but do know it was the early hours of the morning and very drunk. It was a great night but getting up for the cricket at 7am was not so much fun and at one point I considered no going at all. Eventually after a very slow start we made it to the Gabba (For the less informed thats the name of the cricket ground) and went to our seats for when the test started at 10am. We lasted about 1.5 hours and then the sun came round and was directly on us and in our condition and how badly the game was going and with lunch due. I elected that we should go outside and sleep under a tree, which we did for a couple of hours. Just as I was coming back round there was an almighty roar and another wicket had fallen - joy be unconfined.
After lunch we felt slightly better, our condition being improved by the consumption of a hot dog or two. I could tll that Becks was better as she
started to ask ridiculous questions abot the game and what was happening. These ranged from, so is that one run or two? To why is the batsmen walking off the field shaking his head whilst all the other guys are running round hugging each other? Fortuntately I had brought a radio and this managed to block out the majority of the ridiculous questions!!
It was a great atmosphere at the ground and you could hear the Barmy Army miles away singing and chanting "Get your shit stars off our flag" despite the best attempts of the Aussie authorities to split them up and silence them. Even the Aussies were saying how ridiculous this was and that they should be allowed to sit together, one guy wasn´t allowed back in until he took his trumpet back to his hotel!!
At the end of the day we caught the bus back and arrived at the hostel about 7pm and were asleep in bed by 7.30pm, it was a tough day! On the Sunday after about 14 hours sleep we chilled out at the hostel and then went to meet Lynsey who was flying up from Newcastle to spend a couple of days with us. As we had not seen much of Brisbane, once we had met Lynsey we wandered over to the Southbank. Here there is a really cool man made beach/lagoon of which there seem to be a lot of in Oz (might be due to the fact that everything in the sea over here wants you dead). They also had a huge screen with the cricket on so we just sat there and chilled out watching another dismal days cricket.
On the Monday as the cricket was still going on(miracle) we decided to go back down and get tickets to watch the inevitable outcome. But deep inside hoping for a miricale and that Pieterson would defy the Aussies and claim a remarkable draw, that hope ended two balls later as he was caught out. Despite the result it was much better watching it withouth the hangover, although with both Lynsey and Becky asking ridiculous questions the whole way through (that being the miserable 1.5 hours England managed to hold the Aussies off) I did begin to question this judgement. So 1.5 hours later we were back at the lagoon soaking up the sun again. In the evening we went to China Town and pigged out whilst Becks caught up properly on the all gossip with Lynsey.
Tuesday we hired a car and headed down to Surfers Paradise as we had missed this out when we travelled up the East Coast knowing we would be coming here at a later date. Clever aren´t we. Surfers was a real touristy place with great beaches although we only lasted 10 minutes sitting on the beach due to the wind blowing sand everywhere and driving us nuts. It was Schoolies which bascially means all the school kids who are taking their exams (like our GCSE'S) have finished so they all flock to the Gold Coast to party so it was heaving with teenagers which made us all feel old (Which at only 30 we are clearly not). Following the beach we went to Ripley´s Believe it or Not, that´s the name of the place, we don´t care if you believe it or not! Then we headed back to the airport to fly back to Newcastle with Lynsey that evening. The flight was very quick, only an hour and we stayed at her place for our final night and then said goodbye in the morning and caught the early train down to Sydney to fly to New Zealand.
We arrived in New Zealand that afternoon and checked into a hostel in Auckland. PS it was bloody cold!!
Anyway bye for now
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kayhan
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missing blog
was looking 4 new artical not ready yet so read surfers again i hope this was not a ploy and also whats the deal with the message under review