Hanging in Brisbane

Hey Guys

well another quick update for you all. We arrived safe and sound in Brisbane yesterday morning at about 11:15am. Hit up a McD's, and then headed off on the long ass trek to find our hostel. Ok so it wasnt a long ass trek, it just felt that way carrying all our luggage. Let me tell you, its not fun. It was only about 10 mins away, but most of it was seriously up hill. Not cool!

Anyway, we were supposed to be booked into a place called Banana Benders here in Brisbane. The reason we booked with them was because there are 6 of us and they said they could fit us all in the same room, which we thought was pretty damn cool. Well, we showed up more than an hour before our check in time, only to be told there had been a mistake. Turns out there was no 6 bed dorm available, and we could all stay in the hostel together, but we'd have 2 in one room, 3 in another, and one person would be on there own. But hey since the dude at the desk was oh so nice, he would arrange to have a single mattress brought in to the 3 bed dorm so that one person could sleep on the floor. Oh right, and the price had gone up to $150 / week. No thanks! We booked one night and headed off in search of greener pastures. Being that we are in the central district of the city, there are plenty of hostels within walking distance of each other. We ended up booking cheaper at a place called Cloud 9, in an 8 man dorm. But at least we are all together, and we have an ensuite bathroom! yes no strangers walking in on me in the shower! Sweet.

Anyway, Brisbane's weather is pretty great, and what I've seen of it so far is alright... but all in all, I dont know if I'll spend too much time here. The girls are really itching to get jobs, since they are all low on funds. In fact, Helen and Sam started at their friend's Bar today, and Michelle and Erika dropped off resumes at some temp agencies. But me... well I don't want to work in an office. I've thought about looking into cafe or coffee shop work for a bit, but most places want to know you are going to be some place for at least 2 months, and I'm just not prepared to commit that much time to a place I don't even like that much. I really dont want to be rude and bugger off on my own or anything, but at the same time I know there are plenty of fruit picking opportunities for the solo traveller up in Bundaberg. and I could always meet the girls up there. I just have to figure out what I want to do first. I really dont want to end up in a new city all alone again, but we'll see. It would also mean having to do Hervey Bay and Fraser island alone.

On the plus side though, Simon and TK are here, so we have an even larger group to go out with tonight (hopefully) and Cloud 9 has its own bar, so we wont have to go out a long distance. Hostel bars are always cheap too which is another bonus. After the last week in Surfers though, I'm officially on a budget. We are all buying food at the local supermarket to cut down costs. the only crappy part? you have to rent dishes at the new hostel But since we will be there for a whole week at least its not a big deal.

The last night in Surfers was fun. We had an awesome (if expensive) dinner at the hard Rock cafe, and then headed off to meet Rob and Dylan and some of their friends for a quick beer at an Irish Bar. It was supposed to be ladys night at this bar called the Shack, so we headed back to our hostel to get ready (as in pre drink and re dress) before going out. Dylan came out with us, but Rob and the rest went to a house party some place in Surfers and we didn't feel like going to find them. Turned out there, there was no Ladies night at the shack, and instead we ended up at a place called the monkey cage, where we had the whole club to ourselves. It was great! the bar tender, Johno I think was his name, was also the DJ, and he kept asking Helen and I for requests. Combine that with $4 daquiris and $2.90 beer, and we had a great night

well for now, I've uploaded the few photos I took in Surfers, and now I'm off to go shopping and think about applying for a job. Its Friday night here, and I'm hoping Simon will come out with helen and I, even if everyone else wants to stay in. I'll let you guys know what I decide

In the mean time, as usual I'll leave you with this, I've seen more 7-11s in Brisbane than I have Kangaroos in all of Australia!

Ps. Mom, check your home email please, I need my resume
Grandma - mail is on its way to you I miss you!
Dad & Aggie : I miss you guys! take care and give Sam a hug for me. I'll call you guys later

Love
Amy