Day 121 - Brisbane

Today I went to the zoo! Australia zoo, to be precise - home of the late and great Steve Urwin. I went with Laura, and we had to get up at a rude 7am and catch a 1 hr train and then a bus to get there, and then pay 47 bucks to get in, but it was worth it. (Plus my tan got topped up nicely!)

Here are the pictures:

Taz (tazmanian devil)


Sleeping Dingo


Wombat (soo cuute)



What! No food?



Even cuter than the wombat... sleeping koala


Manically depressed kangaroo


Lazy Kangaroo



Lazy elephant (not dead, just sleeping)


Steve Urwin wannabe annoys a 17 ft croc


Kookoburra (urm, don't know how to spell it!)


Huuuuge tortoise (you can't really tell from the piccy, but this beast comes up to my knee)


The story of the late Harriet - interesting stuff!



I've also added some pictures of me in wetsuits/drunk (tho not at the same time thankfully) to the Day 115 post.

Day 120 - Brisbane

Today I got up too late to go to the zoo, so I went for a wander around the city instead. I found the library and did some reading, and wondered into a few shops (resisting the temptation to purchase, may I add). Very uninteresting. I've got a few more days here in Brisbane, then I'm making my way north to Hervey Bay for xmas in the heat - it's going to be soooo wieeerrrd.

Oh... and I've been doing some boredom-browsing and discovered that for all of you who have expressed an interest in zorbing, you can do it in the uk too!

I quote:

• Hesitant? Just sit and slide all the way down. (yeah - this was me, hard to run when there's three of you in the ball!)
• Hero? Take on the Hydro-Zorb challenge: Run all the way inside the wet zorb from the top of the hill to the bottom.
• Hungover? Ask for really cold water and you are guaranteed to come out cured.
• Have friend? Try two or more inside the Hydro-zorb together - a great bonding experience!

Now you really have no excuse not to do it! (Well, you don't if you are anywhere near Dorset)

Day 119 - Brisbane

I left Byron bay yesterday noon, after waving goodbye to the 7 guys I share the apartment with (bye smelly boys, bye dirty dishes and piles of empty beer cans and pizza boxes in the kitchen every morning) and swapping my books at the book exchange.

Marc and Helena were also leaving on the same day. Fortunately most people were staying in Byron for xmas, so we had the mini bus to ourselves. It was a 1 hr drive to surfers paradise, where we were picking up some more people, and because we were running late, we stopped off at a beach on the way.

It was a lovely beach, and the white sand was so fine that it squeaked as we walked over it, and I was shaking the stuff out of my clothes for hours afterward.

Naff beach picture



After we picked up the lot form surfers paradise (4 brits, 5 canadians), we had a suprise - we were going zorbing! Zorbing is a crazy thing invented by the Kiwis (no surprises there) that involves climbing in a huge inflated ball with water in it, and rolling down a hill. Marc, Laura and I volunteered to go first...

Rolling down the hill



Climbing out




It was so much fun, 6 seconds of the ball bouncing/rolling down the hill and us 3 sliding around inside and laughing our socks off. After it finished we decided to be 'speed bumps' i.e. lie in the path of the oncoming ball. That was also funny, like getting whacked on the back by a huge beach ball (which is, I suppose, essentially what was happening)

The Zorb ball team photo



We arrived in Brisbane at about 6. Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, and the 2nd largest city, in terms of area, in the world. It sucks a bit if you don't have a car, but there is still quite a lot to do: I want to go to the koala sanctuary, the zoo and the dolphin resort. I can't wait to hug a Koala - cuuuute! But today I'm going to be all active and go to the gym - need to work off the yoghurt and pancakes I ate for brekkie.

Day 117 - Byron Bay

I've booked my ride out of here, I'm leaving tomorrow on the 2 o'clock bus. Quite glad, it's nice here, but already getting a bit boring; the options being a)beach b)tv or c)shopping. Unfortunately a)it's currently raining b)is boring and c)I'm broke. So I'm off-ty, going to Brisbane.

Yesterday I did some cycling midday, but mostly hid from the freakish downpouring of rain. In the evening I met a load more oz experience guys and spent couple of hours playing hilarious, complex drinking games and guzzling hideous, cheap aussie wine before crossing the road to visit cheeky monkeys. Consequently, today I have spent half the day recovering from a hangover (they get worse with old age) whilst occasionally wincing when I have a flashback of some drunken act and vowing never to drink again.

I've sorted out my xmas plans; I'll be in Hervey bay for xmas. I've booked a luxary day trip to Fraser Island, Oz's giant sand pit, for xmas eve. Then, on the 27th, I head north to Airlie beach, for some sailing round the Whitsunday islands, and maybe some snorkelling/scuba diving in the great barrier reef.