Jan 23rd 2006

Brisbane has really surprised me! When I first got here the City looked so small with not much to do and I really thought I would be so bored but after a week of being here I feel quite sad to be leaving! Having Tash and Teresa with me (lovely girls I met in Sydney, thanks girls been great spending time with you again!) has made everyday so much fun and we've been doing lots!

The centre of Brisbane is really quite small and compact, from Mount Coot-tha it stands out a mile, this tiny group of high rise buildings and then just residential buildings spread out for miles on either side of the river. All the streets here are named after kings and queens too, kings go one way and queens the other so its impossible to get lost! Mount Coot-tha is definitely worth a visit, you get great views of the whole City. We did one of the treks to the waterfall but cos its so hot here (and I mean very very hot!) there was actually no water in it! There was supposed to be some aboriginal art things on the walk too but from what we saw it looked like kids could have done it at the weekend!! One word of advice if u do go up there, dont try and walk back down like we did (great idea Teresa!!) you'll be walking for miles and hours, luckily a driver felt sorry for us and gave us a lift back! There is an area of the City called Southbank which I think is the coolest part of the City by far! It is the most random place, on the other side of the river from the main City blocks there's an area alongside the river so beautiful filled with flowers and grassy areas. But the best bit is the man made lagoon and beach!! Its so surreal you can be in the pool or on the beach and the city is right there across the river, as its so hot here its pretty packed there everyday, even more so at weekends. There's also a market there along the river front and lots of ice cream places mmm, those of u that have travelled with me lately will know that ice cream has become a big part of my life here now ha ha!! There are loads of shops here and so cheap too, I got 2 new tops for under $10 (bout 4 quid!) Every shop you could need is right here in one place! And of course we had to visit the Koala Park, the worlds first and largest! Its such a nice place, really well set out and the animals have loads of room! And yes as u can see from my pics we got to cuddle koalas!!! (I thought of u Penny!) This is about the only place you can cuddle them, its illegal everywhere else! They are so so cute, my new fav animal (sea turtles a close 2nd!!) They hold on so tight and just look so sleepy and content all the time, what a life just hugging people all day long! You have to pay for the pics they take (on way home now via air mail!) and the money goes towards planting more gum trees and other koala things (good deed for the day!). Then we got to take our own pics awww, so sweet I didnt want to give my koala back! There were loads of pics everywhere from when famous people have been there, never know we might make it on the wall of fame one day! There were loads of other animals there including loads of kangaroos that you could go up to and feed, also snakes, crocs, echidnas, birds etc etc. It was so hot when we were there though but such a good day! Our bus ticket there also gave us free ferry rides so when we got back we had a lazy 1.5hr cruise along the river and past some of the biggest and probably most expensive houses i've seen in Oz! The nightlife in Brisvegas is pumpin, the valley is the main place to go filled with clubs and pubs, had a few crazy nights here (from what I can remember!) So thats Bris! Tash and Teresa are setted into there new home now till March, good luck girls! Bris seems like an ideal place to settle for a while if ur thinking of working and such a laid back place to be too. We're planning to have a farewell BBQ for me as I leave Thurs in Roma Parklands. The parklands are definitley worth checking out, the world's largest sub-tropical garden located in a city centre, they are huge and have such weird and wonderful flowers, plants and trees, I wandered round for ages, theres lakes and waterfalls too (mum u would love it!!) Heading up to Noosa Thurs (7am bus arrgh!) ready for my trip to Australia Zoo on 26th for Australia Day, cant wait!! After this I'm kindve on the move every few days now till I get to Cairns so will try my best to keep you updated on where I am, got lots to do for sure!! Booked my buses back to Melbourne now for the final part of my trip (its gone so quick!) so should be there on 9th March then have to think about doing some work! Ang xx ** To see my pics they took that are on way home now go to http://www.koala.net/photo/2201012673.htm they'll be there for 60 days or if ur in uk go see my mum in week or so!