Hello! Well my second solo adventure post covers my traveling from Moranbah through Airlie beach, and some of my time in Townsville and Magnetic Island (I'm writing this from the YHA Bungalo Bay hostel on Magnetic island..and I think I just discovered a mosquito bite on my eyelid).
So first I took the greyhound bus from Mackay (where my Auntie Janice dropped me off :)) and found myself in Airlie Beach late at night where I got set up in the cabin-style dorm share room number 16, conveniently the same one Heather was booked in by coincidence haha) and met some Austrian and German backpackers. Joseph, German backpacker, enlightened me on the secret mystery ingredients found in "goon" (cheap ass wine). It turns out, when you read the label, that "goon" is made "with the aid of fish and egg" which alarms me. I'll still drink it, I'll just pretend I didn't read that part haha.
Airlie Beach is gorgeous. It is a small backpacker haven nestled in a large bay at the base of some large mountain-like hills. My first day there I decided to go for a walk, which is what I usually do first before planning epic adventures with myself, and I saw the made made beach as well as the actual beach, the marina, the shops and restaurants (where I ate some orgasmic fish and chips) and the supermarket. This would be the perfect place to buy a mansion if I become a billionaire.
The second day I took a day tour around some of the Whitsunday Islands (you should hide this window and google them, they're amazing). I met up with two lovely Korean girls, Charlotte and Renee, on said trip and we spent the day together taking pictures and talking about the places we had been. The first island we went to had a large lookout platform where the water was so clear below we could see stingrays! I took a few panoramas along with my regular photos so that later I can blow them up and put them in my future apartment with Becka :D.
The second island was the location of the famous White Haven Beach! The sand and I were one, we were basically the same shade of ghost and Charlotte was teasing me saying "Where did Briana go?! I can't see her, she blends in with the sand!" hahaa. I took some photos for proof. After lounging on the pure white soft sand (i stole some btw haha) we met up with the rest of our tour group for a typical Australian "barbie" which consisted of steak, sausage, chili burgers, fruit, vegetables or "vege" and rice. In and around the BBQ picnic benches were a hoard of about 8 goanna's (large large iguana type reptiles) that were trying to steal our food! They weren't afraid of us and would climb right up on the bench seats sniffing with their long blue tongues at our food. It was scary at times simply because they have crazy long and very thick tails that they whip you with if you startle them. I was filming one, of course, and it hit my in the hand almost whacking my Iphone! haha
Next we left White Haven and found a small reef patch where we snorkeled :D That was amazing, There was a glass bottom boat navigating around the snorkelers that was throwing fish pellets above the coral and, if you happened to be in that area, all sorts of fish would swarm around you eating the pellets.
That night Heather got back from the three day sailing trip she was on and we met up in our cabin for the night and watched The Last Exorcism :D T'was a wicked day.
Today, this morning rather, Heather and I jumped back on the Greyhound and I made my way to Townsville ( and took a ferry straight from the bus depot to Magnetic Island) while Heather continued on to Cairns. Magnetic Island is even more beautiful than Airlie Beach! The island is fairly remote and due to most of the island being protected state parks everything is relatively untouched! The tour desk in the Townsville ferry terminal informed me that there are more koala's per square mile on Magnetic Island than anywhere else in Queensland, so I'm hoping to see some wild one's when I go on a bush walk tomorrow. The two nights package here at Bungalo Bay includes a half day snorkel excursion, a 20$ dinner voucher, and two hours of free internet (coming to a total of 95$) which is a good deal as far as my experiences have led me to believe. I am really excited to go on one of the 10 or so different nature bush walks that are mapped out on the island. I think I'm going to do that after I go snorkeling so I can get some higher elevation photos of the sunset.
Tonight I am staying in a 4 share dorm with two Irish ladies and two English ladies, they're pretty friendly so far, so maybe I can get them to come with me tomorrow for some chatting company.
I really wish I could remember more of the funny shit that happened in the last 3/4 days or so. I have such a terrible for memories like that, until something else triggers it.
Anyway I'm sure that's all you feel like reading at this point so I'll give another update when I reach Cairns. I will attempt to upload some more photos as well.
Love you Canada!
Briana
Monday, June 6, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Briana's Solo Adventure #1
Hello "peeps" as my young cousin Diederik would say,
I just wanted to let everyone know what I've been up to in the last week and a half and my future plans to head up north to Cairns!
Me and Heather have split up to have solo adventures, as you may have read in her previous blog postings, and I have stayed in Rockhampton for a few nights (at a scary hostel called the Oxford Hotel that I would not recommend to anyone - due to it being haunted, having all it's essential facilities broken and or ill equipped *the dryer, the internet kiosks, the TV, and the payphone* and of course because you don't sleep until the pub downstairs does at roughly 2am- and the town is so little and cute! Rocky is probably one of the quietest old lady/cowboy towns I have been to, but it was delightful none the less. I ventured to the local art gallery, where a scary old curator man hit on me for several minutes while I was trying to appreciate the 6-10 art pieces they had, ate breakfast at a local old fashioned cafe, where I learned that Australians put ice-cream on their pancakes haha, and visited the local botanical gardens and mini zoo with my family.
When my family came and picked me up in Rocky we left for their home in Moranbah, which is roughly 5 hrs inland (in the outback country!). Moranbah has roughly 8000 people comprised of mainly mining families who's jobs are in one of the local mines. The mine supplies people with homes and cars so pretty much everyone here has a white company van or SUV in their driveways. The first sightseeing type activity we went to was the Clermont rodeo/fair that's just outside Moranbah in the neighbouring town. I saw several of the livestock they keep in the vast surrounding farmlands, camels, and some killer snakes put on display by a local handler/presenter. I have officially been in the presence of the deadliest snake in the world! The "fear" snake. The handler explained, to those that are fearing for my life here in Australia, that only 15 people get bitten by snakes per year here and all of them are handlers, AND that you have a better chance of dying form a bee sting allergic reaction here in this country than a snake or spider.
I also bought my first cowboy hat for my outback souvenir, since it made me feel like I blended in with the local folk (save for my ghostly complexion) and I posted some pictures of it on Facebook XD
So after spending a week and a bit here with my family my aunt has spoiled me like crazy. She bought me a cellphone to tell me get a job (which I have been actively searching for everyday mummy I promise) and just today she has informed me that she can't take me to Townsville after all due to a change of plans so she has bought me a greyhound pass with accommodation to head from Mackay to Cairns over the next 10 days, WITH ACCOMMODATION :O, and It allows me to get off at all the following stops along the way that I felt I was going to miss out on : Arlie Beach, Bowen, Townsville, Mission Beach, and then Cairns. I am so grateful and extremely excited. I have to remind myself to save money for Cairns tho, so that I don't become homeless. WOOP WOOP
I have plans on Sat (Friday in Canada) to go meet up with Heather for a day in Arlie beach - I missed her so, and then I'll be posting more solo blogs until Cairns.
Wish me luck!!
XOXOOX
P.S Flickr is being a douche and telling me I can't post more pictures to my photostream for a few more days so keep checking back and hopefully I'll have some new ones to show.
Briana
I just wanted to let everyone know what I've been up to in the last week and a half and my future plans to head up north to Cairns!
Me and Heather have split up to have solo adventures, as you may have read in her previous blog postings, and I have stayed in Rockhampton for a few nights (at a scary hostel called the Oxford Hotel that I would not recommend to anyone - due to it being haunted, having all it's essential facilities broken and or ill equipped *the dryer, the internet kiosks, the TV, and the payphone* and of course because you don't sleep until the pub downstairs does at roughly 2am- and the town is so little and cute! Rocky is probably one of the quietest old lady/cowboy towns I have been to, but it was delightful none the less. I ventured to the local art gallery, where a scary old curator man hit on me for several minutes while I was trying to appreciate the 6-10 art pieces they had, ate breakfast at a local old fashioned cafe, where I learned that Australians put ice-cream on their pancakes haha, and visited the local botanical gardens and mini zoo with my family.
When my family came and picked me up in Rocky we left for their home in Moranbah, which is roughly 5 hrs inland (in the outback country!). Moranbah has roughly 8000 people comprised of mainly mining families who's jobs are in one of the local mines. The mine supplies people with homes and cars so pretty much everyone here has a white company van or SUV in their driveways. The first sightseeing type activity we went to was the Clermont rodeo/fair that's just outside Moranbah in the neighbouring town. I saw several of the livestock they keep in the vast surrounding farmlands, camels, and some killer snakes put on display by a local handler/presenter. I have officially been in the presence of the deadliest snake in the world! The "fear" snake. The handler explained, to those that are fearing for my life here in Australia, that only 15 people get bitten by snakes per year here and all of them are handlers, AND that you have a better chance of dying form a bee sting allergic reaction here in this country than a snake or spider.
I also bought my first cowboy hat for my outback souvenir, since it made me feel like I blended in with the local folk (save for my ghostly complexion) and I posted some pictures of it on Facebook XD
So after spending a week and a bit here with my family my aunt has spoiled me like crazy. She bought me a cellphone to tell me get a job (which I have been actively searching for everyday mummy I promise) and just today she has informed me that she can't take me to Townsville after all due to a change of plans so she has bought me a greyhound pass with accommodation to head from Mackay to Cairns over the next 10 days, WITH ACCOMMODATION :O, and It allows me to get off at all the following stops along the way that I felt I was going to miss out on : Arlie Beach, Bowen, Townsville, Mission Beach, and then Cairns. I am so grateful and extremely excited. I have to remind myself to save money for Cairns tho, so that I don't become homeless. WOOP WOOP
I have plans on Sat (Friday in Canada) to go meet up with Heather for a day in Arlie beach - I missed her so, and then I'll be posting more solo blogs until Cairns.
Wish me luck!!
XOXOOX
P.S Flickr is being a douche and telling me I can't post more pictures to my photostream for a few more days so keep checking back and hopefully I'll have some new ones to show.
Briana
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Heathers Excellent Solo Adventure #2
Hey all.
So the last couple days have been fun, dont think youve had much word since Caloundra so I'll give you the exciting details.
I spent 3 days in Mooloolaba, and didnt manage to accomplish all that much, but I did try surfing, which I failed miserable at, but thats okay, the important thing is that I tried.. Right?! And while I was out there I saw a sea turtle, so that makes it totally worth it. The day that I tried surfing I spent the whole day lying on the beach basically, and from that day foward I've been enjoying a sunburn every couple days. Waiting for the tan guys, then I'll start wearing sun screen :). I didnt do much else though. I talk to some French people, and was entertained be the drunk people, I have yet to be one of them on this little journey. I also went for a nice run, and on that run I found something along the trail that I really wish that we had in the parks at home. It's a work out station, where you can do all sorts of different workouts, pretty sweet.
After my 3 days in Mooloolaba, I moved on to Noosa. Other than being really beautiful, and not being aloud to have a building that is higher than 3 stories, which I think is great. You dont feel drown by buildings. But what I really love is the hostel that I stayed at, it's been my favorite hostel so far. Free breakfast, free internet(which is always good, the one I'm at now is 5 bucks for an hour*thumbsdown*). I enjoyed my stay there though, I went for a walk around the junction and there was a shop that sold things that were made with sea shells and the floor was all sand, it was neat, didnt like the woman that was working there though.
On my last day I decided to go for a walk in the Noosa National Park. Well, I tell you, it was beautiful, and it also gave me another first to tick off my list if I had one. I left a little to late in the day, and I knew this but I was over confident. So after visiting Hells Gates, which is a point in the park that looks out and you have ocean all the way across your vision. Then, I got lost.. in the forest... in the dark... Awesome right, hilarious.. Lets just say that I have never once been lost in the woods and it takes a lot of telling yourself to keep going and it will be okay to keep from curling up in a ball of the path and just holding yourself, lol:). I just kept going, trying to go back the way that I had come but after a while I failed at that, finally, even though it was in the complete wrong place, I found a road. And after wondering around on this road for a while I decided that I was probably gonna get myself more lost. So when I looked up and say somebody on their balcony, so I asked them where I was and told them that I was lost, I went and sat up on their balcony with them because they had convinced me to take a cab back to the hostel cuz it was still a long walk away. After talking to them for a bit the cab showed up and the guy handed me 20 bucks, I told them they didnt have to of course, but they said that they would feel better if I had it. So thank you to Valery and Steve, for saving me :).
When I got back to the hostel, I ate, watch the Ugly Truth, and then somebody got the great idea to put on Marley and me. Well, I gotta tell you, I liked the movie, but had I gone into it knowing what it was about, i wouldnt have done it, I spent the last like 20 mintues of that movie crying my eyes out because it's one of those movies that just hits way to close to home. Made me miss my puppy and re live everything, even though its been 3 years. But, it was a good movie, dont really know if I'll watch it again but, maybe I will, just to reminice..
But now I'm in rainbow beach and will be off tomorrow to the Whitsundays hopefully.
Thats all for now.
Love you all.
So the last couple days have been fun, dont think youve had much word since Caloundra so I'll give you the exciting details.
I spent 3 days in Mooloolaba, and didnt manage to accomplish all that much, but I did try surfing, which I failed miserable at, but thats okay, the important thing is that I tried.. Right?! And while I was out there I saw a sea turtle, so that makes it totally worth it. The day that I tried surfing I spent the whole day lying on the beach basically, and from that day foward I've been enjoying a sunburn every couple days. Waiting for the tan guys, then I'll start wearing sun screen :). I didnt do much else though. I talk to some French people, and was entertained be the drunk people, I have yet to be one of them on this little journey. I also went for a nice run, and on that run I found something along the trail that I really wish that we had in the parks at home. It's a work out station, where you can do all sorts of different workouts, pretty sweet.
After my 3 days in Mooloolaba, I moved on to Noosa. Other than being really beautiful, and not being aloud to have a building that is higher than 3 stories, which I think is great. You dont feel drown by buildings. But what I really love is the hostel that I stayed at, it's been my favorite hostel so far. Free breakfast, free internet(which is always good, the one I'm at now is 5 bucks for an hour*thumbsdown*). I enjoyed my stay there though, I went for a walk around the junction and there was a shop that sold things that were made with sea shells and the floor was all sand, it was neat, didnt like the woman that was working there though.
On my last day I decided to go for a walk in the Noosa National Park. Well, I tell you, it was beautiful, and it also gave me another first to tick off my list if I had one. I left a little to late in the day, and I knew this but I was over confident. So after visiting Hells Gates, which is a point in the park that looks out and you have ocean all the way across your vision. Then, I got lost.. in the forest... in the dark... Awesome right, hilarious.. Lets just say that I have never once been lost in the woods and it takes a lot of telling yourself to keep going and it will be okay to keep from curling up in a ball of the path and just holding yourself, lol:). I just kept going, trying to go back the way that I had come but after a while I failed at that, finally, even though it was in the complete wrong place, I found a road. And after wondering around on this road for a while I decided that I was probably gonna get myself more lost. So when I looked up and say somebody on their balcony, so I asked them where I was and told them that I was lost, I went and sat up on their balcony with them because they had convinced me to take a cab back to the hostel cuz it was still a long walk away. After talking to them for a bit the cab showed up and the guy handed me 20 bucks, I told them they didnt have to of course, but they said that they would feel better if I had it. So thank you to Valery and Steve, for saving me :).
When I got back to the hostel, I ate, watch the Ugly Truth, and then somebody got the great idea to put on Marley and me. Well, I gotta tell you, I liked the movie, but had I gone into it knowing what it was about, i wouldnt have done it, I spent the last like 20 mintues of that movie crying my eyes out because it's one of those movies that just hits way to close to home. Made me miss my puppy and re live everything, even though its been 3 years. But, it was a good movie, dont really know if I'll watch it again but, maybe I will, just to reminice..
But now I'm in rainbow beach and will be off tomorrow to the Whitsundays hopefully.
Thats all for now.
Love you all.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Heathers Solo Adventure #1
Bri and I have split up for a little while and I am going to slowly make my way up the coast of Queensland for a couple weeks. My mission, to see and do as much as I possibly can on my way up.
I left Brisbane yesterday, and headed up to Caloundra. It looked uninviting yesterday because it was pouring down rain and so dark because of the clouds, so I just spent most of the time at the hostel. They had a free BBQ though, which was nice. This hostel is way smaller than 'Chill', the hostel in Brisbane that we stayed at. When they were getting ready for the BBQ, they asked the backpackers for help to get it ready, so I cut up some peppers lol. I sat and listened to a group of Irish people talk for about an hour and then watched the move 'The Antichrist', if you've never seen it, be warned, it is a hecked up movie.
Because it was so lousy weather wise yesterday, I decided that today I was going to go to the Zoo again today because I wanted to make one more trip there before i left the vacinity. It was cool because I got to see everything that we missed last time. I found out that we missed a lot last time. The aviary, the koalas, the red kangaroos, the wallabees and the SNAKES. I took pics of every single snake just because I love them sooo much. I got to feed the elephants, which was cool, there trunk feels really cool when it touches your hand, it basically engulfed mine trying to get the food. Then, just because I'm a tourist, and I really wanted to, I went and got some pictures taken with a huge snake, that they draped around my shoulders.. so heavy, it was awesome. I also got a pic with an alligator, he felt really cool. I got to see a bunch of kangaroos with joeys in there pouches, one of which was big enough to come out and hop around, cutest:D. Saw the croc show and the tiger show again, donated 5 bucks to the tigers, which keeps a tiger alive in the wild for one day, or so they tell me. I got a wrist band for doing that.
After I was done at the Zoo, I took the bus back to Caloundra and decided to go for a little walk on the beach. This was a beautiful. Lots of surfers to watch too. The sand on the beaches in this country is so soft and white and wondrful. It's so nice to be able to walk on the beach in the surf and not have to worry about cutting your feet on barnicles or rocks.
Surfing looks awesome, I definately want to try it.
The one thing I really like about this hostel though, the beds are so much more comfy than the one at Chill were, and they give you sheets and TWO blankets!! They didnt even give you one at Chill.
Haha, I talk to a French girl yesterday, and when I said that I was from Canada she thought that i would speak french. Sucks sometimes that you dont come from the french speaking part of Canada, seeing as over half the people in this particular hostel are French, including the manager. Of course he speaks english too but still. Sometimes I just feel lame only knowing one language...
But, I wont bore you anymore,
Good day today and moving up to Mooloolaba tomorrow.
All very exciting.
Lovelovelove
Heather
I left Brisbane yesterday, and headed up to Caloundra. It looked uninviting yesterday because it was pouring down rain and so dark because of the clouds, so I just spent most of the time at the hostel. They had a free BBQ though, which was nice. This hostel is way smaller than 'Chill', the hostel in Brisbane that we stayed at. When they were getting ready for the BBQ, they asked the backpackers for help to get it ready, so I cut up some peppers lol. I sat and listened to a group of Irish people talk for about an hour and then watched the move 'The Antichrist', if you've never seen it, be warned, it is a hecked up movie.
Because it was so lousy weather wise yesterday, I decided that today I was going to go to the Zoo again today because I wanted to make one more trip there before i left the vacinity. It was cool because I got to see everything that we missed last time. I found out that we missed a lot last time. The aviary, the koalas, the red kangaroos, the wallabees and the SNAKES. I took pics of every single snake just because I love them sooo much. I got to feed the elephants, which was cool, there trunk feels really cool when it touches your hand, it basically engulfed mine trying to get the food. Then, just because I'm a tourist, and I really wanted to, I went and got some pictures taken with a huge snake, that they draped around my shoulders.. so heavy, it was awesome. I also got a pic with an alligator, he felt really cool. I got to see a bunch of kangaroos with joeys in there pouches, one of which was big enough to come out and hop around, cutest:D. Saw the croc show and the tiger show again, donated 5 bucks to the tigers, which keeps a tiger alive in the wild for one day, or so they tell me. I got a wrist band for doing that.
After I was done at the Zoo, I took the bus back to Caloundra and decided to go for a little walk on the beach. This was a beautiful. Lots of surfers to watch too. The sand on the beaches in this country is so soft and white and wondrful. It's so nice to be able to walk on the beach in the surf and not have to worry about cutting your feet on barnicles or rocks.
Surfing looks awesome, I definately want to try it.
The one thing I really like about this hostel though, the beds are so much more comfy than the one at Chill were, and they give you sheets and TWO blankets!! They didnt even give you one at Chill.
Haha, I talk to a French girl yesterday, and when I said that I was from Canada she thought that i would speak french. Sucks sometimes that you dont come from the french speaking part of Canada, seeing as over half the people in this particular hostel are French, including the manager. Of course he speaks english too but still. Sometimes I just feel lame only knowing one language...
But, I wont bore you anymore,
Good day today and moving up to Mooloolaba tomorrow.
All very exciting.
Lovelovelove
Heather
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Beginning of Month 2!
Hello Guys!
Just want to do a quick re-cap of what went down yesterday! We decided that since the 2 night/3 day tour of Moreton became a one day tour, that we would go to the Lone Pine Koala reserve and use the refund from the tour to pay for entry. I have a good 500 pictures to upload later today by the way so keep looking at our flickr feed!
We bussed from downtown Brisbane out to lone pine, which is a beautiful reserve park, about an hour or so ride away from our hostel. The day was a little cloudy at first, but raining - YET - so we went straight to see the Koala's and Kangaroos. The Koala's are in really open and natural looking habitats where you can take excellent photos of them sleeping, scratching, and being all around adorable. Fact: Koala's are not drugged up from eating the Eucalyptus (sp) tree leaves - which is a common misconception - they are slow and lazy looking due to the lack of nutrients found in the leaves and the high fibre content which takes most of their enegery to break down. Fact 2! Koala's totally look like Ewoks from Star Wars!!!!!
We got our pictures taken with the Ewoks and took some better ones ourselves with my super camera. The picture that the sanctuary took makes me look like a petrified doll. Quite scary. Won't be posting that one online XD
They had a big a koala demonstration as well so we learned some facts and history about the little teddy bears :)
The enclosure with the kangaroos and emus was one of my favourites because we were allowed to just wander around molesting all of them as we pleased lol. Kangaroos - have big balls - totally hilarious discovery. We also found in the shops around Brisbane that they take kangaroo balls, stuff them, and sell on top of beer bottle openers and lighters...gross haha.
I left my floral print purse out in the kangaroo/emu enclosure and one of the emus decided to go investigate it. So to defend my precious and expensive camera equipment and Ipod, I walked back to it and managed to get about a food away from the emu's face. He was so big! I got some good pictures when he managed to stand stil.
The next demonstration was the birds of prey, which consited of a barking owl, a huge Australian eagle, and a barn owl. All of which were fed mice mid air, and photos were taken of all of them despite the progressed rainy and dark conditions. Heather volunteered to have the barn owl land on her arm which was wicked! Pictures of that will be up soon for sure. The other animals we witnessed were various parrots and owls, a platypus (which we got to see murder a crayfish :D), dingos, wombats, sheep, goats, chicks, and probably more that i've already forgotten.
Tonight is our last night in Brisbane before me and Heather split up for 2 weeks, myself heading to Rockhampton to live with family while the job search continues, and Heather to tour up the coast where we will meet up in Cairns at a later date. We have decided to celebrate our last night by having real people pizza for dinner!! (we previously bought some aisian pizza, which sucked, and we now need the real stuff to feel complete inside).
Time to go! Will post soon. Check back in the next day or so for photos :)
Love you Canada
xoxo Briana
Just want to do a quick re-cap of what went down yesterday! We decided that since the 2 night/3 day tour of Moreton became a one day tour, that we would go to the Lone Pine Koala reserve and use the refund from the tour to pay for entry. I have a good 500 pictures to upload later today by the way so keep looking at our flickr feed!
We bussed from downtown Brisbane out to lone pine, which is a beautiful reserve park, about an hour or so ride away from our hostel. The day was a little cloudy at first, but raining - YET - so we went straight to see the Koala's and Kangaroos. The Koala's are in really open and natural looking habitats where you can take excellent photos of them sleeping, scratching, and being all around adorable. Fact: Koala's are not drugged up from eating the Eucalyptus (sp) tree leaves - which is a common misconception - they are slow and lazy looking due to the lack of nutrients found in the leaves and the high fibre content which takes most of their enegery to break down. Fact 2! Koala's totally look like Ewoks from Star Wars!!!!!
We got our pictures taken with the Ewoks and took some better ones ourselves with my super camera. The picture that the sanctuary took makes me look like a petrified doll. Quite scary. Won't be posting that one online XD
They had a big a koala demonstration as well so we learned some facts and history about the little teddy bears :)
The enclosure with the kangaroos and emus was one of my favourites because we were allowed to just wander around molesting all of them as we pleased lol. Kangaroos - have big balls - totally hilarious discovery. We also found in the shops around Brisbane that they take kangaroo balls, stuff them, and sell on top of beer bottle openers and lighters...gross haha.
I left my floral print purse out in the kangaroo/emu enclosure and one of the emus decided to go investigate it. So to defend my precious and expensive camera equipment and Ipod, I walked back to it and managed to get about a food away from the emu's face. He was so big! I got some good pictures when he managed to stand stil.
The next demonstration was the birds of prey, which consited of a barking owl, a huge Australian eagle, and a barn owl. All of which were fed mice mid air, and photos were taken of all of them despite the progressed rainy and dark conditions. Heather volunteered to have the barn owl land on her arm which was wicked! Pictures of that will be up soon for sure. The other animals we witnessed were various parrots and owls, a platypus (which we got to see murder a crayfish :D), dingos, wombats, sheep, goats, chicks, and probably more that i've already forgotten.
Tonight is our last night in Brisbane before me and Heather split up for 2 weeks, myself heading to Rockhampton to live with family while the job search continues, and Heather to tour up the coast where we will meet up in Cairns at a later date. We have decided to celebrate our last night by having real people pizza for dinner!! (we previously bought some aisian pizza, which sucked, and we now need the real stuff to feel complete inside).
Time to go! Will post soon. Check back in the next day or so for photos :)
Love you Canada
xoxo Briana
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Today, 1 month pretty much
Today we went out to Moreton Island. This is an island that is completely made of sand, with a huge jungle on it. It is the most beautiful place that weve been since we got here and maybe even in my life. It was cloudy but that wasnt really a big problem.
We drove right off the ferry onto the beach and drove down the beach until we reached one of the only roads that run though the trees that are of course, just packed down sand. It was a bumpy ride through the jungle but it was really cool. Our first stop was the sand dunes. They're huge dunes in the middle of the island and you know what we did there? (other than take pictures of course) - We jumped on these thin ass boards and just like crazy carpiting in the snow, we slid down the sand dunes! It was awesome! Althought, you get sand EVERYWHERE. It was amazing and one of the only time you dont mind getting a little sand in your mouth (they really need to get escalators there though, holy crap, is it a workout coming back up those hills:D).
After, we were done that we went to the place where we were going to have lunch and while it was being prepared we went for a walk and I ended up going for a swim in a lake that had a reddy tint to it (formerly known as Blue Lagoon - pre-floods), it was the same temperature as our lakes lol(fun observation). Bri took some cool photos of stuff while I was swimming of course. :D.
After lunch we jumped back in the truck and went for a tour around the island, driving on the beach still of course:). We went up to the lighthouse that's on the island and looked out on the spectacular view. Nothing but ocean and the entire island from up there. At some point, in between the sand dunes and the light house, our tour guide, in Steve Irwin style, jumped out of the truck basically before we had realized it had stopped, to catch a snake that was in the middle of the road. Then, of course, we jumped at the chance when the opportunity came up for us to hold it. So we got to hold a wild carpet python - just picked up off the floor of the jungle-- :D:D:D. AWESOME!!! I think it was about as long as I am tall and I could barely get my fingers around it!! AWESOME!! lol
Okay moving on. He also drove in at least knee deep water which is really cool on our way to the other side of the island. There, we stood in the other side of the pacific ocean, big waves crashing, it was amazing how much the ocean can boom.. :D. Then the tour of the island was done so we got a little sun on the way back to the ferry. Near the ferry we got some cool pictures of the ship wrecks and sea stars. The one downside was we didn't get to go snorkelling, but there will be plenty of time for that at the GBR.
On the ferry home I saw the most perfect rainbow that I have ever seen in my life over the ocean, it also had a bit of an outer rainbow and you know what that means.. DOUBLE RAINBOW!!! :D:D:D.
Speaking of big, we saw the moon as big as I have ever seen it tonight, it was beautiful!
Outstanding day it was, if i do say so myself!
Love you all
Heather
We drove right off the ferry onto the beach and drove down the beach until we reached one of the only roads that run though the trees that are of course, just packed down sand. It was a bumpy ride through the jungle but it was really cool. Our first stop was the sand dunes. They're huge dunes in the middle of the island and you know what we did there? (other than take pictures of course) - We jumped on these thin ass boards and just like crazy carpiting in the snow, we slid down the sand dunes! It was awesome! Althought, you get sand EVERYWHERE. It was amazing and one of the only time you dont mind getting a little sand in your mouth (they really need to get escalators there though, holy crap, is it a workout coming back up those hills:D).
After, we were done that we went to the place where we were going to have lunch and while it was being prepared we went for a walk and I ended up going for a swim in a lake that had a reddy tint to it (formerly known as Blue Lagoon - pre-floods), it was the same temperature as our lakes lol(fun observation). Bri took some cool photos of stuff while I was swimming of course. :D.
After lunch we jumped back in the truck and went for a tour around the island, driving on the beach still of course:). We went up to the lighthouse that's on the island and looked out on the spectacular view. Nothing but ocean and the entire island from up there. At some point, in between the sand dunes and the light house, our tour guide, in Steve Irwin style, jumped out of the truck basically before we had realized it had stopped, to catch a snake that was in the middle of the road. Then, of course, we jumped at the chance when the opportunity came up for us to hold it. So we got to hold a wild carpet python - just picked up off the floor of the jungle-- :D:D:D. AWESOME!!! I think it was about as long as I am tall and I could barely get my fingers around it!! AWESOME!! lol
Okay moving on. He also drove in at least knee deep water which is really cool on our way to the other side of the island. There, we stood in the other side of the pacific ocean, big waves crashing, it was amazing how much the ocean can boom.. :D. Then the tour of the island was done so we got a little sun on the way back to the ferry. Near the ferry we got some cool pictures of the ship wrecks and sea stars. The one downside was we didn't get to go snorkelling, but there will be plenty of time for that at the GBR.
On the ferry home I saw the most perfect rainbow that I have ever seen in my life over the ocean, it also had a bit of an outer rainbow and you know what that means.. DOUBLE RAINBOW!!! :D:D:D.
Speaking of big, we saw the moon as big as I have ever seen it tonight, it was beautiful!
Outstanding day it was, if i do say so myself!
Love you all
Heather
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Day Something
Day 12-20...?
Hello everyone!
Sorry about the lack of updates!!
So I am going to talk about as much as I can remember of the last two weeks since the last blog was published.
Well we met our very first friends Bruce and Wally by walking into a duty-free shop/store here in downtown Brisbane. We then went with them that evening to see Fast Five which was fantastic.
After that me and heather hung around town, taking advantage of the free actives and sightseeing there are here. We spent some time down at the man-made beach that houses a water-park and a street market. There we found coin operated barbecues so we plan on having a lunch day there soon since the weather has been so nice lately. In the market Heather bought a really pretty new necklace (which is green of course) and some ceramic figurines of frogs and lizards. Later in the same area (the section of town called SouthBank) we found an asian pagoda and discovered a possum looking down at us from one of the rafters!!! We have a picture, but it is currently on Heather's camera so you'll have to wait until she uploads her picture files.
Later in the hostel we met a group of very drunk boys: Adrian, Chris, Will, (who are all from the UK) and Isaac (USA). Somehow we became friends and had many intoxicated and hilarious adventures with them. I remember Adrian for his calm demeanour and lack of flashing us his junk!! I remember Will because he often told us to "Fuck your face!", the beer and ice-cream challenge, and how much better he did when we karaoke-ed "Dirty DIana" at a nearby bar! (pictures of this are on Facebook I am sure) Chris I remember for his obsession with balls, lighting pubic hair on fire, and because he always had background commentary to whatever we watched on television or people he witnessed walking around. Lastly Isaac, the pretty Yankee boy, I haven't decided yet XD ;)
Recently, apon meeting Lee (our very first Australian friend -- Woop Woop) piled myself, Heather, and Isaac into his cute little beater car and drove us out to the Gold Coast so we could finally see the ocean!! Lee wasn't very impressed with my music choices on my ipod while we were driving, but Isaac gave me some kudos for having Prozaak! C-mon everyone had a thing for Prozaak in 1999. So the beaches are GORGEOUS! White sand that is so fine it makes a squishy sound when you run on it, and lots of warm waves. Unfortunately, after taking some photos and being in the water for roughly 15 minutes I dove into a wave and Isaac accidentally elbowed,kneed, or kicked me in the face! So, that was fun, lots of blood and a Bay-Watch style rescue from Isaac, resulting in a possibly broken nose. Pictures available!
After that eventful day, we went out dancing the night after which I must admit I got a liiittttlllleee too drunk :P I had fun though! Before and after my one-on-one with the club toilet. XD I also managed to fool the general public with a heavy dose of mac concealer that I was not a victim of two very purple black eyes that night hahaha.
Alcohol is retarded expensive here by the way. Like seriously 2.5x as much as anything in Canadian liquor stores. We've been drinking a lot of "goon" - also know as 12$ wine that comes in a 4L box. Sad I know, but cheaper than fancy bar drinks by far.
Next Heather and I are going to do an overnight camping trip to Moreton Island which has sand-boarding, snorkelling (around sunken ships!), 4WD tour of the island, and a nature hike! It will be the last expensive thing I do before me and Heather split up for 2 weeks. Due to my miserable failure to get a job here in the city I am going to live with my Aunt and Uncle up by MacKay and job hunt in Cairns while Heather does some solo touring. We're going to meet up back in Cairns after and keep on keeping' on form there. Hopefully, our friend Isaac will join us at some point. And if you're reading this Isaac, if you don't I'll kick your butt!!
Lastly, I heard everyone at Whitespot got their postcards so thats fantastic. I need someone to tell me weather Dale liked his, because I picked his out extra special here.
Okay guys! Will blog again soon I hope! More pictures added today as well so check them out!!
oxoxox
Briana
Hello everyone!
Sorry about the lack of updates!!
So I am going to talk about as much as I can remember of the last two weeks since the last blog was published.
Well we met our very first friends Bruce and Wally by walking into a duty-free shop/store here in downtown Brisbane. We then went with them that evening to see Fast Five which was fantastic.
After that me and heather hung around town, taking advantage of the free actives and sightseeing there are here. We spent some time down at the man-made beach that houses a water-park and a street market. There we found coin operated barbecues so we plan on having a lunch day there soon since the weather has been so nice lately. In the market Heather bought a really pretty new necklace (which is green of course) and some ceramic figurines of frogs and lizards. Later in the same area (the section of town called SouthBank) we found an asian pagoda and discovered a possum looking down at us from one of the rafters!!! We have a picture, but it is currently on Heather's camera so you'll have to wait until she uploads her picture files.
Later in the hostel we met a group of very drunk boys: Adrian, Chris, Will, (who are all from the UK) and Isaac (USA). Somehow we became friends and had many intoxicated and hilarious adventures with them. I remember Adrian for his calm demeanour and lack of flashing us his junk!! I remember Will because he often told us to "Fuck your face!", the beer and ice-cream challenge, and how much better he did when we karaoke-ed "Dirty DIana" at a nearby bar! (pictures of this are on Facebook I am sure) Chris I remember for his obsession with balls, lighting pubic hair on fire, and because he always had background commentary to whatever we watched on television or people he witnessed walking around. Lastly Isaac, the pretty Yankee boy, I haven't decided yet XD ;)
Recently, apon meeting Lee (our very first Australian friend -- Woop Woop) piled myself, Heather, and Isaac into his cute little beater car and drove us out to the Gold Coast so we could finally see the ocean!! Lee wasn't very impressed with my music choices on my ipod while we were driving, but Isaac gave me some kudos for having Prozaak! C-mon everyone had a thing for Prozaak in 1999. So the beaches are GORGEOUS! White sand that is so fine it makes a squishy sound when you run on it, and lots of warm waves. Unfortunately, after taking some photos and being in the water for roughly 15 minutes I dove into a wave and Isaac accidentally elbowed,kneed, or kicked me in the face! So, that was fun, lots of blood and a Bay-Watch style rescue from Isaac, resulting in a possibly broken nose. Pictures available!
After that eventful day, we went out dancing the night after which I must admit I got a liiittttlllleee too drunk :P I had fun though! Before and after my one-on-one with the club toilet. XD I also managed to fool the general public with a heavy dose of mac concealer that I was not a victim of two very purple black eyes that night hahaha.
Alcohol is retarded expensive here by the way. Like seriously 2.5x as much as anything in Canadian liquor stores. We've been drinking a lot of "goon" - also know as 12$ wine that comes in a 4L box. Sad I know, but cheaper than fancy bar drinks by far.
Next Heather and I are going to do an overnight camping trip to Moreton Island which has sand-boarding, snorkelling (around sunken ships!), 4WD tour of the island, and a nature hike! It will be the last expensive thing I do before me and Heather split up for 2 weeks. Due to my miserable failure to get a job here in the city I am going to live with my Aunt and Uncle up by MacKay and job hunt in Cairns while Heather does some solo touring. We're going to meet up back in Cairns after and keep on keeping' on form there. Hopefully, our friend Isaac will join us at some point. And if you're reading this Isaac, if you don't I'll kick your butt!!
Lastly, I heard everyone at Whitespot got their postcards so thats fantastic. I need someone to tell me weather Dale liked his, because I picked his out extra special here.
Okay guys! Will blog again soon I hope! More pictures added today as well so check them out!!
oxoxox
Briana
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Day 8
Day 8
Hello All,
So here's what we did yesterday!
Heather and I are still job hunting and got an interview for today at 4pm to fundraisefor UNICEF on the street. It's a full time position and the money is good but I decided not to go and just accompany Heather on the trip there, because I don't want to work full time standing on the road for eight hours a day :P Initially, I was excited, then I decided to keep looking.
We went to the Queen street strip mall and handed out some resume's, signed up for an online backpacker job search site (10$ for the week) to apply for some more jobs, and I've found a few I'm going to apply to doing easy warehouse work and what not.
We were walking around town in the afternoon after doing our job hunt and got a few extra things done. One of which is that I went and made my tattoo appointment for this Sunday morning! I'm getting a calla lily and I drew it up for the tattoo artist to re-draw. Luckily, it's going to be within my budget so I am super excited.
After doing that, we went into a duty free store (because we wanted to know if we were eligible for no tax - which we're not until we have a boarding ticket for another country :P) and we started chatting up a very cute, James Franco-esque, English guy named Bruce. Well we ended up swapping info with him and thus we now have a real live friend. We set up a hangout date for later that night to go see Fast Five with him and his roommate! I want Vin Diesel in all the ways possible *drool*. The movie was excellent and everyone should go see it. The most expensive looking car chase I have ever seen. Seriously.
The funny thing about Bruce is my Dad teased me that I would meet a hot guy named Bruce who would teach me to surf and call me 'sheila' lol. When he said his name was Bruce I was lmao inside.
Hmm what else did we do? Oh when we were searching for the movie theatre I had to stop into a cafe to ask where the washroom was. Well when I asked " Excuse me, where are the washrooms?" and they laughed and said "you mean toilets?" and I nodded and heard them say "haha washrooms…" as i left. It was really funny. I loved being the foreign kid. That also reminds me of the time that someone asked Heather is cold in her shorts and tank top when it was barely cloudy out. She replied " Are you kidding? I'm from Canada!" I'm serious guys, there are Aussie's wearing sweaters, coats, and scarves when it's cloudy out.
We finally managed to go get groceries to the other day! So now we've been on a spending lock-down until we're employed haha.
Love you guys!!
More pictures to come. OF MY TATTOO!!
xoxo Briana
Hello All,
So here's what we did yesterday!
Heather and I are still job hunting and got an interview for today at 4pm to fundraisefor UNICEF on the street. It's a full time position and the money is good but I decided not to go and just accompany Heather on the trip there, because I don't want to work full time standing on the road for eight hours a day :P Initially, I was excited, then I decided to keep looking.
We went to the Queen street strip mall and handed out some resume's, signed up for an online backpacker job search site (10$ for the week) to apply for some more jobs, and I've found a few I'm going to apply to doing easy warehouse work and what not.
We were walking around town in the afternoon after doing our job hunt and got a few extra things done. One of which is that I went and made my tattoo appointment for this Sunday morning! I'm getting a calla lily and I drew it up for the tattoo artist to re-draw. Luckily, it's going to be within my budget so I am super excited.
After doing that, we went into a duty free store (because we wanted to know if we were eligible for no tax - which we're not until we have a boarding ticket for another country :P) and we started chatting up a very cute, James Franco-esque, English guy named Bruce. Well we ended up swapping info with him and thus we now have a real live friend. We set up a hangout date for later that night to go see Fast Five with him and his roommate! I want Vin Diesel in all the ways possible *drool*. The movie was excellent and everyone should go see it. The most expensive looking car chase I have ever seen. Seriously.
The funny thing about Bruce is my Dad teased me that I would meet a hot guy named Bruce who would teach me to surf and call me 'sheila' lol. When he said his name was Bruce I was lmao inside.
Hmm what else did we do? Oh when we were searching for the movie theatre I had to stop into a cafe to ask where the washroom was. Well when I asked " Excuse me, where are the washrooms?" and they laughed and said "you mean toilets?" and I nodded and heard them say "haha washrooms…" as i left. It was really funny. I loved being the foreign kid. That also reminds me of the time that someone asked Heather is cold in her shorts and tank top when it was barely cloudy out. She replied " Are you kidding? I'm from Canada!" I'm serious guys, there are Aussie's wearing sweaters, coats, and scarves when it's cloudy out.
We finally managed to go get groceries to the other day! So now we've been on a spending lock-down until we're employed haha.
Love you guys!!
More pictures to come. OF MY TATTOO!!
xoxo Briana
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Day 6
Day 6
Hello everyone,
This entry is a day late, but we were pretty busy and so getting our pictures up were the priority (internet costs money at our hostel --- today we're going to go to the library an see if they offer free internet). I hope you've seen the pictures we have uploaded to the blog page (link on my profile) because we haven't put any on Facebook just yet.
So yesterday was our first full day of living at the hotel "Chill Backpackers". We chose a fairly bad time to move out of Jill's house, because it's the long Easter weekend and Anzac day (Australia and New Zealand's Remembrance Day) and thus everything is closed!! We ended up spending A LOT on food when we could have gone to the grocery store and made food ourselves. We found a 7-Eleven though and managed to pick up mini peanut butter, mini jam, a half a loaf of bread, milk (which they label "low fat, original etc" instead of "1%, 2% Homo, Skim") and some fruit.
Our first encounter with another backpackers was with the guy in our room, John - from France-, and he is quite friendly when we bump into him. It's a little awkward sharing a room with a guy because when you're changing you're on high alert listening for the door lock incase you need to cover your crap ASAP. Same thing with the co-ed bathrooms! I go in there to brush my teeth and no man will pee in the stall unless I'm running water lmao. It's like "c-mon now, I'm not an alien. I am aware that men have to pee and it won't scar me. So just go already!" The manager said he'd be moving us into a girl's only room of 3 today so that should be alright.
The hostel is really really nice here. It has a movie theatre with leather couches -- we watched Star Ship Troopers last night :D -- and a tv room, a pool table, a big kitchen, 3 decks that have excellent views of the city, and an internet cafe. Everything is blue themed, Kayla would appreciate it :P
Another down side to it being a holiday is we have had to wait to job search. They have a job club here at the hostel and we've made up some resumes on my computer ( i mate them very funky with my graphic programs XD) so hopefully come Tuesday we can get working before my precious monies run out.
P.S the other night when we had a celebratory dinner down town, the very cute waiter asked me 'where is your accent from?' and I was like YAY I HAVE AN ACCENT NOW! hehe. btw I had steak, veggies and mashed potatoes. Effing delicious, stupid expensive :P
Love you guys! Miss you :)
xo Briana
Hello everyone,
This entry is a day late, but we were pretty busy and so getting our pictures up were the priority (internet costs money at our hostel --- today we're going to go to the library an see if they offer free internet). I hope you've seen the pictures we have uploaded to the blog page (link on my profile) because we haven't put any on Facebook just yet.
So yesterday was our first full day of living at the hotel "Chill Backpackers". We chose a fairly bad time to move out of Jill's house, because it's the long Easter weekend and Anzac day (Australia and New Zealand's Remembrance Day) and thus everything is closed!! We ended up spending A LOT on food when we could have gone to the grocery store and made food ourselves. We found a 7-Eleven though and managed to pick up mini peanut butter, mini jam, a half a loaf of bread, milk (which they label "low fat, original etc" instead of "1%, 2% Homo, Skim") and some fruit.
Our first encounter with another backpackers was with the guy in our room, John - from France-, and he is quite friendly when we bump into him. It's a little awkward sharing a room with a guy because when you're changing you're on high alert listening for the door lock incase you need to cover your crap ASAP. Same thing with the co-ed bathrooms! I go in there to brush my teeth and no man will pee in the stall unless I'm running water lmao. It's like "c-mon now, I'm not an alien. I am aware that men have to pee and it won't scar me. So just go already!" The manager said he'd be moving us into a girl's only room of 3 today so that should be alright.
The hostel is really really nice here. It has a movie theatre with leather couches -- we watched Star Ship Troopers last night :D -- and a tv room, a pool table, a big kitchen, 3 decks that have excellent views of the city, and an internet cafe. Everything is blue themed, Kayla would appreciate it :P
Another down side to it being a holiday is we have had to wait to job search. They have a job club here at the hostel and we've made up some resumes on my computer ( i mate them very funky with my graphic programs XD) so hopefully come Tuesday we can get working before my precious monies run out.
P.S the other night when we had a celebratory dinner down town, the very cute waiter asked me 'where is your accent from?' and I was like YAY I HAVE AN ACCENT NOW! hehe. btw I had steak, veggies and mashed potatoes. Effing delicious, stupid expensive :P
Love you guys! Miss you :)
xo Briana
Friday, April 22, 2011
Steve Irwins Pad!!
Today, I must say, was an awesome day. We took our first trip out to the Australian Zoo, which, if you dont know, is where Steve Irwin spent his life in the persuit of saving and protecting animals of all kinds, particularly crocodiles :).
Well, I'm just going to come rightout and say it that we lucked out big time and got to watch the Wildlife Warriors Show at the Crocoseum that featured the Irwin family themselves which as far as we know isnt often. We got to see Wes(Steves bestmate), Terri, Bindi, and Robert(who is an exact replica of his father). So they talked for a bit then they brought out the croc, I'm pretty sure his name was Monty, and they did a demonstration with him. We got to see Bindi feed Monty and Wes get chased throught the water(apparently Monty hates Wes). It was quite an enjoyable show.
NOTE: If you are ever filming something that you are so happy that you are filming that you cant wait to watch it later, make sure that you are actually filming it :(. I made the mistake of not waiting for the delay on my camera and didnt realise that it wasnt filming and missed the whole thing, BALLS.
We also got to see the tiger show and got some awesome pics of them.
What an awesome place it was and we plan to go back there one more time before we leave Brisbane.
I just have to say, that if you are at all a lover of Steve Irwin, like I am, walking into that place makes you want to cry(I teared up a bit, such a wimp I know), because of all the love that there was for Steve and everything they have there in memorium of Steve. It was amasing.
PS. We also saw the Irwins when nobody else did, being all happy and normal, and what can I say, I blew it because I didnt want to be a gawking tourist and bug them I didnt even say anything to them. But we still got to see them and no one else we know(or I know anyway) can say that. :D (not to brag or anything)
Anyway
Lots of Love
Heather
PPS. Pictures and Videos are come we just haven't gotten them onto the computer yet.
Well, I'm just going to come rightout and say it that we lucked out big time and got to watch the Wildlife Warriors Show at the Crocoseum that featured the Irwin family themselves which as far as we know isnt often. We got to see Wes(Steves bestmate), Terri, Bindi, and Robert(who is an exact replica of his father). So they talked for a bit then they brought out the croc, I'm pretty sure his name was Monty, and they did a demonstration with him. We got to see Bindi feed Monty and Wes get chased throught the water(apparently Monty hates Wes). It was quite an enjoyable show.
NOTE: If you are ever filming something that you are so happy that you are filming that you cant wait to watch it later, make sure that you are actually filming it :(. I made the mistake of not waiting for the delay on my camera and didnt realise that it wasnt filming and missed the whole thing, BALLS.
We also got to see the tiger show and got some awesome pics of them.
What an awesome place it was and we plan to go back there one more time before we leave Brisbane.
I just have to say, that if you are at all a lover of Steve Irwin, like I am, walking into that place makes you want to cry(I teared up a bit, such a wimp I know), because of all the love that there was for Steve and everything they have there in memorium of Steve. It was amasing.
PS. We also saw the Irwins when nobody else did, being all happy and normal, and what can I say, I blew it because I didnt want to be a gawking tourist and bug them I didnt even say anything to them. But we still got to see them and no one else we know(or I know anyway) can say that. :D (not to brag or anything)
Anyway
Lots of Love
Heather
PPS. Pictures and Videos are come we just haven't gotten them onto the computer yet.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Day 3
Hello Canadian followers :P
So today me and Heather got our tax file numbers figured out at the Australian Tax Office (TFN's are the equivalent of having a SIN) and the lady gave us a slip to show our employers saying we've applied and not to overtax us while we wait for it to arrive at my auntie Jill's in the mail. We went to the botanical gardens and saw scary spiders and geckos, but i had my blonde moment there which sucks smelly wrinkled butts, I bought some really cute sandals and forgot the bag with them in it in the park cause i was too busy photographing everything so I was like UGGHH!!. They were 20 bux, so its not the end of the world but it still sucked.
We also took the Citycat ferry that runs through the centre of the city to see it from the river and I got some really amazing shots of the skyscrapers with the sun just starting to set. Hmmm trying to think where else we went. OH the postoffice. I bought 40 postcards for 15$ and mailed them in bulk to my friends at work and then saved some for other people and for scrapbooking so that went well. Everyone is super super friendly here! The moment we pull out our map, before it's fully unfolded, someone just stops and asks where we need to be and happily points us in the right direction. Really helpful :)
I got a quote for my tattoo idea a this really fancy tattoo parlour and it was less than i expected. 130$ for a small, black and white lilly on my side so I can hide it. I think I'm going to get it after Easter, since that's when the stores will be open again. I love how here in Oz they're "shops" and not stores, its very British sounding.
So far Ive been applying sunscreen like a Nazi and have got no colour what-so-ever, exactly as I planned. I want to come back as hauntingly white as I left so I dont look weird.
Anywho I was going to skype you guys tonight but realized I waited too long in the evening and it's easily 1:30am where you are so its no wonder no one is answering lol
I have to say, Vancouver is a very lovely city but Brisbane is 10000x more gorgeous. The things that strike me the most are how modern, green, and super clean it is.
Have a good Thursday! I did :)
xoxox Love Briana
So today me and Heather got our tax file numbers figured out at the Australian Tax Office (TFN's are the equivalent of having a SIN) and the lady gave us a slip to show our employers saying we've applied and not to overtax us while we wait for it to arrive at my auntie Jill's in the mail. We went to the botanical gardens and saw scary spiders and geckos, but i had my blonde moment there which sucks smelly wrinkled butts, I bought some really cute sandals and forgot the bag with them in it in the park cause i was too busy photographing everything so I was like UGGHH!!. They were 20 bux, so its not the end of the world but it still sucked.
We also took the Citycat ferry that runs through the centre of the city to see it from the river and I got some really amazing shots of the skyscrapers with the sun just starting to set. Hmmm trying to think where else we went. OH the postoffice. I bought 40 postcards for 15$ and mailed them in bulk to my friends at work and then saved some for other people and for scrapbooking so that went well. Everyone is super super friendly here! The moment we pull out our map, before it's fully unfolded, someone just stops and asks where we need to be and happily points us in the right direction. Really helpful :)
I got a quote for my tattoo idea a this really fancy tattoo parlour and it was less than i expected. 130$ for a small, black and white lilly on my side so I can hide it. I think I'm going to get it after Easter, since that's when the stores will be open again. I love how here in Oz they're "shops" and not stores, its very British sounding.
So far Ive been applying sunscreen like a Nazi and have got no colour what-so-ever, exactly as I planned. I want to come back as hauntingly white as I left so I dont look weird.
Anywho I was going to skype you guys tonight but realized I waited too long in the evening and it's easily 1:30am where you are so its no wonder no one is answering lol
I have to say, Vancouver is a very lovely city but Brisbane is 10000x more gorgeous. The things that strike me the most are how modern, green, and super clean it is.
Have a good Thursday! I did :)
xoxox Love Briana
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Day 2
Hello
So today we took the train out to Central Brisbane to do a little exploring around and try to find the hostel that we are going to be staying in when we leave Jills. After checking out 4 different hostels we decided on Chill Backpackers hostel because it offered the best price for the things that we are actually looking for, plus its a smaller room, so we wouldnt have to share as much lol :).
We also opened a bank account for eash of us just to make it all a little easier when it comes to spending money and we wont get dinged everytime we want to buy something. Getting that all set up was super easy.
In between getting these important things that you need when youre backpacking we also spent a lot of time exploring the area around the hostel. We went to the fine arts gallery, some of the things that were in there were really cool. What is awesome about that is that in that area there is the fine arts gallery, the museum, and a couple of other places that are all really cool that are FREE to go into.
After looking aroung a bit more we found the giant street market that has all sorts of shops and a whole part that sells fresh fruit and veggies and other things. Eventually it came up to a huge three story mall. What an amasing place it was.
After we had done all we needed to do and seen quite a bit, we decided it was time to head back and took out the map to see how far we needed to go and found out that we had looped around perfectly without knowing it and were only 3 blocks from where we had started, just gotta say, thats pretty impressive :D.
We caught the train back and on the walk back to the house we came across some horses that were happy to see us lol. We stood there for a good ten minutes and fed them grass and pet them. It was a happy moment.
We managed to get home in time for dinner and before it got dark. All in all, it was a great day. Even when it rained, it was a beautiful warm rain that was wonderful.
PS. There coins are awesome. Theyre so huge and heavy, as i put it when I first got some, You could huck them at somebody and it would actually hurt. I thought it was funny. :D
Hope everyone is doing awesome.
We are:)
<3Heather
So today we took the train out to Central Brisbane to do a little exploring around and try to find the hostel that we are going to be staying in when we leave Jills. After checking out 4 different hostels we decided on Chill Backpackers hostel because it offered the best price for the things that we are actually looking for, plus its a smaller room, so we wouldnt have to share as much lol :).
We also opened a bank account for eash of us just to make it all a little easier when it comes to spending money and we wont get dinged everytime we want to buy something. Getting that all set up was super easy.
In between getting these important things that you need when youre backpacking we also spent a lot of time exploring the area around the hostel. We went to the fine arts gallery, some of the things that were in there were really cool. What is awesome about that is that in that area there is the fine arts gallery, the museum, and a couple of other places that are all really cool that are FREE to go into.
After looking aroung a bit more we found the giant street market that has all sorts of shops and a whole part that sells fresh fruit and veggies and other things. Eventually it came up to a huge three story mall. What an amasing place it was.
After we had done all we needed to do and seen quite a bit, we decided it was time to head back and took out the map to see how far we needed to go and found out that we had looped around perfectly without knowing it and were only 3 blocks from where we had started, just gotta say, thats pretty impressive :D.
We caught the train back and on the walk back to the house we came across some horses that were happy to see us lol. We stood there for a good ten minutes and fed them grass and pet them. It was a happy moment.
We managed to get home in time for dinner and before it got dark. All in all, it was a great day. Even when it rained, it was a beautiful warm rain that was wonderful.
PS. There coins are awesome. Theyre so huge and heavy, as i put it when I first got some, You could huck them at somebody and it would actually hurt. I thought it was funny. :D
Hope everyone is doing awesome.
We are:)
<3Heather
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
First Day in the Land of Oz
Hello everyone!
We arrived in Brisbane, Australia this morning at dumb 'o' clock in the morning (6am Brisbane time). We had survived our 7 hour Los Angeles lay-over and then our 14 hour flight across the planet. It was retarded hard trying to sleep. It felt like a non-stop thunderstorm of rumbling, turbulence, some kid in front of us yelling at his mom, and chairs that don't recline far enough.
I saw a woman that looked like the swamp witch from Howl's Moving Castle though, Becka will appreciate that, so that was fun. We did not, however, see any celebrities :( We are now hopefull we will run into either Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Nicole Kidman or Keithe Urban.
Today we made up some kick ass resumes for our future job hunt, and skimmed some guidebooks to decide which hostels we want to check out. Now we just need a bank account and an Australian tax file number (like a SIN number).
We saw the effing-cutest-ever tree frog on the front porch this evening which was wicked. We both whipped out our cameras to capture him which we will load as soon as my laptop has wifi, and as we were doing that we discovered a really well camoflauged gecko! He didn't offer us any insurance discounts, but he was cute.
OH OH OH and it was totally trippy driving on the other side of the road. Just saying. o.O
We now have a Skype number/account as well (before we forget) so if anyone wants to get a hold of us they can either call 07 5660 6535 (which will access the iphone we are sharing, equipped with voicemail, or call us via a computer with the username briana.cunningham1.
If anyone has any special requests for souvenirs, speak now or you're getting a postcard. <3
xoxox Briana
We arrived in Brisbane, Australia this morning at dumb 'o' clock in the morning (6am Brisbane time). We had survived our 7 hour Los Angeles lay-over and then our 14 hour flight across the planet. It was retarded hard trying to sleep. It felt like a non-stop thunderstorm of rumbling, turbulence, some kid in front of us yelling at his mom, and chairs that don't recline far enough.
I saw a woman that looked like the swamp witch from Howl's Moving Castle though, Becka will appreciate that, so that was fun. We did not, however, see any celebrities :( We are now hopefull we will run into either Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Nicole Kidman or Keithe Urban.
Today we made up some kick ass resumes for our future job hunt, and skimmed some guidebooks to decide which hostels we want to check out. Now we just need a bank account and an Australian tax file number (like a SIN number).
We saw the effing-cutest-ever tree frog on the front porch this evening which was wicked. We both whipped out our cameras to capture him which we will load as soon as my laptop has wifi, and as we were doing that we discovered a really well camoflauged gecko! He didn't offer us any insurance discounts, but he was cute.
OH OH OH and it was totally trippy driving on the other side of the road. Just saying. o.O
We now have a Skype number/account as well (before we forget) so if anyone wants to get a hold of us they can either call 07 5660 6535 (which will access the iphone we are sharing, equipped with voicemail, or call us via a computer with the username briana.cunningham1.
If anyone has any special requests for souvenirs, speak now or you're getting a postcard. <3
xoxox Briana
Friday, April 8, 2011
Shopping
Good evening
Today Bri and I got together and accomplished many a last minute thing. I managed to find the sandals I was looking for for half the price they are worth anywhere(outstanding). Bri managed to find a camera bag that will protect her camera that isn't huge and bulky and awkward, so that's a plus. I got a beautiful shirt and is light and easily my favorite shirt now even though i have yet to wear it out of the store.
After our fun filled shopping we came back to Bri's house to make our list of everything we are going to pack. While here she started to play with her backpack and ran into a big speed bump. The woman who helped us was totally wrong when she said that that backpack fit Bri. It is definitely a backpack made for a man, so tomorrow at a week before we take off she needs to exchange for a new pack made for a woman(Oh joy.)
Overall still a successful day.
9 days and counting
Until next time
-Heather&Bri
Today Bri and I got together and accomplished many a last minute thing. I managed to find the sandals I was looking for for half the price they are worth anywhere(outstanding). Bri managed to find a camera bag that will protect her camera that isn't huge and bulky and awkward, so that's a plus. I got a beautiful shirt and is light and easily my favorite shirt now even though i have yet to wear it out of the store.
After our fun filled shopping we came back to Bri's house to make our list of everything we are going to pack. While here she started to play with her backpack and ran into a big speed bump. The woman who helped us was totally wrong when she said that that backpack fit Bri. It is definitely a backpack made for a man, so tomorrow at a week before we take off she needs to exchange for a new pack made for a woman(Oh joy.)
Overall still a successful day.
9 days and counting
Until next time
-Heather&Bri
Sunday, March 13, 2011
YAY
Hello All,
Our first post is going to test the blog page. Today, Heather and I planned out a big map of travel itinerary and stuff to bring/do before we leave on April 17th to Brisbane Australia :D
WOOP WOOPA month to go!OXOXHeldridge and Briana
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