WANDER
One Fish Take Two
May 3, 2015
Not even a week after the crazy nine day adventure and the post-trip depression was already hitting hard. The itchy feet had set in to an extreme and I was ready to up and go to just about wherever. Unfortunately, my bank account had me pumping the brakes. About three weeks after the trip one of the fishes sent Linds and I a message letting us know she would be in Gold Coast for the weekend! It was exactly what we needed. We gathered up all the fishes from Gold Coast and arranged to meet at a bar called Nobby’s Arc. Lindsey and I arrived early and waited in the bar next door. Linds found herself a craft beer to drool over and eventually the rest of the fishes showed up! There were six of us altogether and we headed next door to Nobby’s, where it was quite packed. I was really excited to find that this bar served Blue Moon, so sure enough that’s what I ordered. It was like a mini version of a night on the One Fish Two Fish tour with laughing and dancing and lots of picture taking. When the bar closed at midnight we wandered over to Jupiter’s casino. We attempted some of the slot machines with no luck. We reminisced about memories from the trip and made a few new ones. On our trek back to the tram we stopped at Macca’s to feed the fishes. I passed on the Macca’s and Lindsey settled for a giant mouthful of the pavement. With arms interlocked with one of our friends, walking in beer tainted bliss; Lindsey somehow didn’t see the 3-foot electrical box sticking in the middle of the sidewalk. I turned around to see a face down nugget dying with laughter. We pulled her to her feet and, still laughing, she looked back to see what she had just face-planted over, which only led to more laughter. Macca’s and electrical boxes behind us, we came to the tram station to find that its services were not running at that hour. There was no other option but to walk down to the bus stop, but with our fishes for company no one could complain. We said our goodbyes at who knows what hour of the morning and promised to see each other again soon :)
A Day in Brizzie
May 23, 2015
Sleeping in is not a thing here in Australia, at least where we are living. Chirping parrots and yapping dogs add to the daily alarm clock of cars passing and the mysterious construction noises to which we still haven’t figured out the source. So on this Saturday we were laying in bed and Linds received a phone call from our boss who told her to pass the message along to me that I did not have to go in to work that morning. She also gave the go ahead for Lindsey not to come in for her evening shift that day. With both our schedules suddenly cleared and the weather so gorgeous we decided that we needed to do something. I looked at LInds and said “Brisbane?” Minds always on the same page, we jumped out of our beds, got dressed, and headed straight to the train station. Brisbane is only about an hour train ride from Gold Coast and we arrived in the city around noon. We spent the day exploring the central business district of Brisbane. We passed City Hall and wandered through the streets filled with all sorts of shops and restaurants. We passed a British pub, Pig & Whistle, stopping to glance at the menu and take some pictures to send to my parents. Walking towards the water, we found ourselves in the botanical gardens of Queen’s Park. We strolled through the flowers and even carved our names into bamboo like the romantic heterosexual life partners that we are <3 As the hours passed, the hunger grew (as usual) and we found ourselves searching for a place to eat that was somewhat iconic to Brisbane. The lady at the local directory pointed us in the direction of Jo Jo’s which was a restaurant that overlooked the center of town from the second story. Hunger satisfied, we agreed to head home before it got any chillier, but made a few circles in our effort to find our way back to the train station. Train finally located, we made the trip home, discussing future travel adventures along the way.
Springbrook!
May 25, 2015
It has been decided that Mondays are now for adventures. We’ve been scanning local car rental locations and found an Avis not too far that offers a 24-hour rental for only $54. Splitting the cost makes it totally doable and completely worth it. We reserved a car for pickup at 8:30 am and endured the almost hour bus ride to Avis (which is actually only about 10-15 minutes away by car). We grabbed the keys and Linds jumped into the driver side. After several reminders to stay left and a coffee pit stop, we were on our way! Oh, the comfort of a car. It was so nice to be in control of where we were going and when we would get there, to hear the radio, and to have a place to keep our bags. The road up the mountain wove around every corner and some parts narrowed into one lane to share. After about a 30 minute drive, we reached Purling Brook Falls. We started the hike in sweatpants and hoodies, but eventually peeled the layers off as the day grew hotter. The hike started at the top of a huge waterfall and weaved its way down through the forest all the way to bottom of the falls. The views were stunning, the weather was perfect and there was hardly a soul on the trails. We spent several hours exploring and handstanding our way through Purling Brook Falls. We found ourselves back at the start where we noticed a board that listed several words and their aboriginal translations. Goomoolahra – big waterfall. Boojerahla – mystery. Koombooyana – sweetheart. And poonyahra is beautiful which I enjoy whispering to Lindsey when she least expects it hehe. We headed back to the car and I directed Linds to the next destination via a Springbrook map. Many winding curves later, we came upon the short hike to the natural bridge. It’s basically a small cave with a waterfall running through a hole in the top. It was an awesome sight to see during the day, but we decided we would come back after the sun set when we read the signs outside of the bridge about the glowworms. Since we had our own car, we chose to find a place to eat and refuel while it was still light out. We wanted to stop at one of the local eateries tucked away in the mountain but they were all closed being that it was Monday (yeah, that’s a thing here…). We drove a little further to grab a quick sandwich from a small café then drove back into Springbrook as the sun was setting. By light of iPhone flashlight, we made the hike in the chilly darkness back to the natural bridge. It was so dark in the little cave I had to stick my hands out in front of me to not run into someone. Looking up at the ceiling, there were hundreds of little greenish white glowing dots. There was no sound other than the falling water of the waterfall, but the little glowing dots were everywhere. Unfortunately none of our pictures came out too well because of the complete darkness. Back at the car, we had the brilliant decision to stop at Woolworth’s (the grocery store) and pick up some cases of water. You may be asking why water? Well, when you have no car you have to lug your 24 pack of water bottles down the road to the bus stop, onto the bus, then off of it to walk home. Not too fun. Long story short, we bought 3 packs. Each. So as far as Monday’s go, this one was a definite success :)
Check out the video I made of our trip to Springbrook! My first attempt, but I think it came out quite well :) Make sure you watch it in HD!
State of Origin
May 27, 2015
So far I’ve found that Australians love their coffee and take it very seriously. This past weekend I also learned the same goes for rugby. It was the State of Origin game which is the annual best-of-three Australian rugby league football match series. It’s between New South Wales, “The Blues,” and Queensland, “The Maroons.” Apparently, its Australian sport’s greatest rivalry and the stadiums sell out for game days. Just like football in America, the games can be watched at just about any bar that has a TV. Griffith Uni was hosting a State of Origin viewing night so I decided it would be more fun to meet up with people there. Arriving at the Uni Bar, everyone had their team’s jersey on. If not the jersey, they at least had on maroon or blue. I went with maroon. There was so much spirit in the room. Faces were painted, beers were raised, and people were chanting the national anthem. The game started and most people were on their feet, glued to the TV. Every score led to an eruption of chants as well as boos. I tried to follow along as Mike explained some of the rules, but it all just looked like a bunch of tackling to me. Mike’s roommate, wearing blue, was caught up in the game hoping The Blues would take the lead. Turns out, Queensland won (11-10) and all the people wearing maroon went wild! I took part in the cheering even though I couldn’t really tell you anything that happened in the game :D Seeing a game in person has now been added to the list of things I’ll be doing in the land down under!