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
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
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
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