Brisbane and Koala Cuddling

Hey guys, so not too much has happened since I last wrote. ... well ok thats a bit of a lie, but not much interesting has happened.

Since last writing, we moved hostels again! This time ... due to bed bugs! Grrrr. Turns out the hostel we were staying at in Surfers had them (my room was fine) and they decided to keep Erin and Erika company here in Brisbane. We thought maybe it was the hostel room that had them, so we got it fumegated, and all our stuff had to go into the wash before they would let us back in the room. Unfortunately, at this point it had been raining for like 16 hrs straight so the dryers were all in use as were the washing machines. I ended up doing my laundry at about 2am just so I could get it done! Sigh, oh well. Sadly, once we got everything done, Erika still kept getting bitten and she found bugs in her bed. so She freaked and decided to switch hostels to City Backpackers (where we are at now)

The plus side : Large kitchen, swimming pool, free internet ....
The down side : expensive bar, 30 man dorm (yup 30!!!), foul cheesy foot smell in the dorm, unfriendly night manager.

Oh well. I had a pretty shitty time moving over here. Sam and Erika jumped ship on cloud 9 on Thursday night, leaving Helen and I there until Friday with Michelle. Not such a big deal, but in the process my toothpaste went missing and my favorite necklace that I brought out here got shattered. I was not happy about that. Mostly because a) I still cant find my toothpaste, and b) no one would own up as to who smashed the necklace.

Being in the 30 man dorm isnt as bad as I thought it would be, except my bed is in the middle of the room ... as in no walls around me at all. Its kind of funny really. But Shawn the boy beneath me is really nice. I've just had to be extra vigilant with my things to make sure that nothing goes missing while I'm staying with that many people.

Aside from that lets see ... Oh I know Brisbane's CBD fairly well now, having travelled it nearly a hundred some odd times already, and I finally got to taking some scenery photos I also met a girl named Claire while I was at Cloud 9, and I helped her find some accomidation in Bundaberg to do some fruit picking, so at least I'll have a friend up there for when I finally arrive. That will be nice.

Claire is a blast, shes so funny! She's been hanging around with the girls and I since she is all alone here for now. She leaves for Bundy tomorrow though, which is too bad, but I should meet up with her again in July anyway, so no big deal.

Claire, Helen and I went to the Koala sanctuary yesterday. It turned out to be a blast! we were like a bunch of little kids when we got there, running around to see as much as humanly possible in the time that we had. We got there kind of early ... just before noon, and just in time to catch an educational show about Birds of Prey in Australia. We got to see a sea eagle (no not a sea gull) and a wedge tail eagle! Both were fantastic sights as they fly in over a small lake to land on perches. The wedge tail was especially cool since it was a windy day. He Soared and rolled and had a great time in the air before coming in to get his reward. After that we high tailed it to the Koala area to catch another information session there, but the slide projector was broken ... so the lady had to hold a Koala and just chat to us for a half an hour. We got to pet the koala too Except it had only 1 eye ... and it was named Monacle. ... yeah anyway. After that I decided I really really wanted to cuddle one. You can get your photo taken holding a Koala here for $15 and the proceeds support the habitats and trees they need to support the Koalas. there were also options to hold snakes, crocodiles and a bird of prey, but I didnt quite have the funding for those. Anyway, holding a Koala is cool. They are alot softer than I would have thought, and their fur is really dense! The information talk was really neat. And the official word is ... no Koalas do not get stoned / drunk / intoxicated off of Eucalyptus leaves. They are just sleepy. (heard that one before!)

While we were at the sanctuary we also got to hold baby chicks, feed kangaroos, get baahed at by a really loud sheep, almost got pecked by emus, were mesmerized by the Wombat (big and squishy!) and we saw bats, dingoes, kangaroos, joeys, and a some snakes. No Tazmanian Devils though they werent out. I was sad. Then we headed home.

Today I went out with Claire, Sam and Helen to a place called the South Bank. Its a little suburb not far from where we are located. Its right on the river and its got a little man made beach (not too impressive) but the grounds are gorgeous! I got some photos which I'll upload to facebook later. We also visited the markets, bought some badges (buttons) and wandered about. Since its a long weekend though, people start drinking here really really early, and Helen promised to go out with some of her friends from work, so we left before we had a chance to visit the galleries and museums. Claire and I are going to get up early though, and go tomorrow before she has to get on her bus to Bundy. Look for more photos and an update then! For now though, I need to go. I think we are doing dinner soon.

Ciao!
Love Amy

Ps. you may be happy to know for the past 2 days its been freezing here! it finally warmed up today, but it was only about 15 yesterday