Ok so here goes.. My first installment of my blog!

I set off on my journey just over a week ago now when I said goodbye or a 'farewell for now' to friends and family. As I waved goodbye at the departure gates, mixed emotions were running through my mind as I asked myself, was I doing the right thing by going away? I was determined not to get upset as it is only 3 months and quite possibly going to be the best three months of my life.

I was quite anxious about flying all the way to Oz next to someone smelly so I was quite pleased to be sat next to a lovely Muslim girl called Amnah on the way to abu dhabi and then an aussie guy called Eddie on the way to Singapore and Brisbane who I swear was a spitting double of Mick Johnson from Brookside! We eventually touched down in Brisbane International at 9am in the morning. Even though I was exhausted, I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of excitement. As we were landing the views were spectacular, the coastline stretching for miles. I was so proud to have made the flight on my own, to me this was an achievement on its own.

Having succesfully gone through customs with no issues and then a slightly nervous wait for my bag (Why is it my bag takes ages and seems like it is the last bag to come around on the conveyor belt?!) I proceeded to walk through the arrivals door where I was faced with so many faces all waiting there for friends and family.. Banners and smiling faces (It was like out of a scene of Love Actually).. I was eagerly looking around when I saw Andy's face in the crowd coming forward.. It was so nice to see a friendly face.. Poor guy neared suffocated with my big bear hug! We then took the train into the centre of Brisbane. Andy had arrived a couple of days earlier and was already staying at the hostel. He gave good reports so I was happy. When we arrived, it was a little too early to check in so I left my bag with Andy's and we headed off to get some brekkie. The guy at the hostel had told us of this cafe on Brunswick street called Fatrics where you could get a breakfast for $4!! We found the cafe and ordered the famous breakfast. Whilst only only on my first day, I could instantly tell there was a different feeling in the atmosphere. Brisbane has a huge cafe culture, and even though it is the third biggest city in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne. Brisbane was so laid back, it captured me immediately. I have to say the $4 brekkie was quite impressive for the price.. The only thing I found a little strange was the taste of the saugage.. Andy informed me it was not pork meat! God knows what it was! Later that day we took a walk into the centre of Brisbane. It was lovely. Shops were fabulous.. V dangerous for me!

That night I could barely keep my eyes open so we had an early night. I had been a little aprehensive to say the least about sleeping in hostels and sharing a room with other people. To break me in gently, I decided to go for a 4 bed dorm share. That night to cut a long story, we were rudely awakened by a drunken girl who was also staying in the room. After her turning the big light on and making quite a bit of noise, I then waited about 10/15 mins and asked her politely to turn the big light off and use her own individual light on (These were on the wall next to the beds and everyone had one). I was so tired especially after my long flight. I just didn't want this experience to be a taste of what is yet to come. I was quite devasted that someone could be so disrespectful.

The next day we decided to go off exporing. We walked by the Brisbane River where you could see the Story Bridge. Further along, we sat on these steps and watched the world go by. A man was singing and playing his guitar. It was such a lovely sunday morning with such a chilled out atsmosphere. I instantly fell in love. Nearby you could see people dirnking coffees, people strolling by, others on leisurely jogs and families on their weekly bike rides. Later on we took a walk through the botanic gardens. Who would have thought that on the edge of the city centre, these beautiful gardens were hiding? We walked and walked. Andy had heard that Brisbane has got a man made beach so we decided to check it out. One thing that struck me as I walked through the gardens and towards the beach, there was a great respect for everything from everyone. No litter or graffiti. It was refreshing. We found the beach and how amazing to also have someone like this on the edge of the city centre. The weather was lovely so there were lots of people, I was just taking it all in.

That night at the hostel, they held a big house/electro night with DJ's by the pool. I never expected, that coming over here you would hear that genre of music. Well not straightaway anyway! One drink after another, we stayed out. Made friends with these two brothers from London and I instantly hit it off with these two cousins, Eden and Kim both Irish, but living in Oz. Sadly they were only in Brisbane for a couple of days although I hope to meet up with them later on during my trip. As you can imagine a bad hangover was on the cards for the next day. I hate having hangovers and being unproductive. That day, we booked our flight to Cairns for the Wednesday. We were making progress. I was so excited about going to Cairns, the warmer weather for one!

Later that night we went to a restaurant in Brisbane which had a 'tight-arse Tuesday'.. Two 4 One pizzas! Great for travellers and perfect for us!

When Wednesday came round, I was excited to be flying to Cairns. We managed to get a cheap internal flight with a low budget airline and off we went! When we arrived, it was raining! I couldn't believe it. I was told that rain in Cairns at this time of year is very uncommon.. great.. The Manchester weather following me! We took a fairly risky bus ride to the centre of Cairns and got dropped off at our new hostel called Cairns City Backpackers. We were shown to our room which I can only describe as a hut outside called "The Three Palms"! Just five people sharing this one. Later that day, we decided to go off and explore Cairns. We were doing so much walking! Cairns has a very different feel about it. Reminds me of an old American town (One street looks like the 8 mile music video was set there). Later on back at the hostel, we made friends with this couple, Kirsty & Gareth from South Wales (no welsh accents though!). We were told about how we could get free dinner with staying at the hostel! No traveller would turn that down! So that night we got the free shuttle bus and were taken to the restauant called The Woolshed where you could choose between a free spag bol or chilli con carni.. Great deal. The place was packed and had travellers from various hostels also offering the same deal. As the night went on the most bizarre thing happened.. Has anyone heard of Goldfish Racing?!! It was hilarious! It really got the crowd going and was very intriging to watch! Ok so the guy on the mic announced the fish one by one.. "Paddy" from Ireland, "Sushi" from Japan, "Fish Spice" from England etc.. One person at a time entered the competition paying the $6 and one by one the fish's went against each other. I remember my friend from uni, Tony telling me about the fish racing but I thought he was pulling me leg!! Ok so how do you think the fish raced? If you imagine two long thin narrow tanks.. The fish were put in the water and the person who had choosen that fish was given a straw and then had to blow behind the fish to make it cross the line!! All I can say is it is a good job there was no one from the RSPCA there!! A scottish girl who had the "Fish Spice" from England won the competition bagging herself a free bungy jump!

Well I have been on this computer for far too long considering it is 31oC outside! I am off to the Cairns Lagoon to soak up a bit of the aussie sun.. Andy and I are hiring a campervan tomorrow and taking it up to Cape Tribulation for a few days. It is meant to be beautiful so I can't wait. I will take lots of pics and put them on shortly.

Love to everyone, you are all missed. The next blog will be in about a week with all my stories from the campervan!