Hello everybody!!
We have been busy busy busy... and when we weren’t busy, the internet has been tremendously slow. So needless to say, this has been a long time coming.
So where do I even begin? I suppose I’ll start at our arrival to Brisbane...
We arrived in Brisbane in the early morning of Jan 2. Our motel wasn’t ready for us to check in so we decided to wander. I didn’t know what the motel was going to be like; if it was nice, if it was close to the city... I just knew it was a good price. Turns out, it was all of those things! It was a small room, but it had a kitchenette, a flat screen, a balcony, and a pool. So anyway, before we could check in, we just dropped our bags off and headed down to the river and ended up at a place called “south bank”. It was a beautiful trendy neighbourhood with tons of shops, a park with water dragons (iguana type guys that were all over Brisbane) and lots of birds and trees. South Bank also had a lagoon, which was essentially an extremely long outside pool beside the river where people could swim for free! We then went across the river to the centre of Brisbane city. It was a very busy place where you could find any type of store you needed or desired, as well as people dressed to the nines. That seemed to be a common theme in Brisbane... The people seemed to always be dressed up, no matter where they were going (made me feel like a bit of a slob). All in all our first day was very busy, add a few hours of walking around the city in there and you’ve got yourself some extremely tired tourists!
The next few days were filled with some walking around the city, followed by more walking!! I really shouldn’t complain though, getting out into the fresh air, while getting some sun and exercise is a pretty good deal. We did end up mastering the train and bus system too (something we are proud of because it was both of our first times using public transportation).
Some other adventures we had in Brisbane was walking through the botanical gardens. It was a gorgeous park with all sorts of different trees and flowers from all over the world! We took a riverboat tour down the Brisbane River, which had wonderful views and a narrator that told us all about the different landmarks. We also rode a Ferris wheel that overlooked the river.
On one of the days there we took the train down to the Gold Coast and went to Surfer’s Paradise. We both definitely want to go back because it was SOO much fun! The city in itself was a sight to see and we didn’t get to spend enough time wandering around there because we spent most of the day playing in the massive waves at the beach! This was my second time ever being in the ocean and first time ever being in waves like that. It was one of the best days we’ve had here in Australia so far... We had such a blast. The next time we go though, we’ll be bringing boogie boards!
All in all, our stay in Brisbane was great. There was a downside though... We had an awful hard time looking for a place to rent while we were there. The places we looked at were expensive and you definitely did not get a lot for your money. Our plan was to get a place, get settled, and then get a job. This was obviously proving quite difficult.
We tried extending our stay with the motel, but it ended up being booked up, so we went to a hostel not far from it. We ended up meeting a friendly Danish guy there that had just come down from Cairns. He was telling us how much cheaper it is up there and how there is a lot more work opportunities.
After trying again unsuccessfully to find either a job or a decent place to rent we decided on a whim to go up north to Cairns, which is where I am writing this blog post!
It is gorgeous here! As we were about to land in Cairns, you could see the Great Barrier Reef from the plane, as well as beautiful forested mountains.
Our hostel is amazing compared to in Brisbane. You get so much more for your money here! It has a bigger pool, free breakfast, cheap meals, free pick up and drop off into the city every hour, the list goes on... and this is all for half the price of what we were paying in Brisbane. Also, if we work here (which I definitely am going to look into) for only 3 hours, our rent is free and we get all our meals for free!
So we are feeling pretty good about our sudden move to Cairns (pronounced Cannes). We have already booked a Great Barrier Reef snorkelling tour for Monday (which I am so excited for, I might not be able to sleep for the next few nights!!!!!).
The only downside is thinking about all of the crazy critters that could potentially kill us, like: salt water crocodiles, sharks, jellyfish, snakes, etc... Our plan is to just stick with the locals and never go into the ocean or rainforest without a guide. Sure hope that plan works!
Hope to write another entry after what I am assuming is going to be an amazing tour of the GBR...
Cheers!
