Australia: Part Four (Brisbane)

The bus from Lismore to Brisbane took about 5 hours, with stops in Ballina and Byron Bay along the way. It was a lot tamer than our South American and Asian busses (no sketchy food stops, we were able to keep our shoes on, and there was even a functioning bathroom). Brisbane isn't really a popular tourist spot, but we were actually there to see a recently-made friend. We had met Nadja in Turkey (she and her partner Gabriel were the inspiration for our Vietnam adventure) and told her that we would come see her when we were in Australia, so here we were. We got into town before she finished work, so headed over to check out Fish Lane, a popular café and nightlife spot. None of the cafes had free wifi though, so we made our way over to the Queensland State Library to kill some time. We made our way to a craft beer spot back on Fish lane...where Kyle accidently ordered a $24 beer (when they're served as "pots" and "schooners" and you can't understand the accent, these things sometimes happen). Finally, Nadja was there to pick us up.

We made our way back to Nadja's place that she shares with 3 flatmates. It is on a hill in the Coorparoo neighborhood that has a sweet view overlooking the city. Nadja cooked a roast with a side of veggies, and we spent the night catching up, drinking wine, and playing boardgames. The following day we attempted to go sailing. A local yacht/sailing club lets people come aboard the ships (and help to sail them) on Wednesdays for a $25 fee (it apparently used to be free). However, because of the windy, crappy weather, it was called off. We decided to go to a favorite cafe of Nadijas called Paw Paw for brunch before Plan B! Plan B was to head up to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We had been in Australia for three weeks and had yet to see a koala or kangaroo, so this was a must. The sanctuary turned out to be a really cool spot. In addition to the rescued koalas, there were several other Australian species: crocodiles, dingos, Tasmanian devils, and a large open kangaroo area where you could feed them right out of your hand. While there we also watched a sheep dog show and a display of trained raptor birds (owls and a red-tailed hawk).

After Lone Pine we stopped at Nadja's friend's apartment. The apartment had a rooftop lounge area and pool with what had to be the best view of the city. We watched the sun go most of the way down from there, then rushed home to watch the final sunset from Nadja's place (we were pretty lucky to have both viewpoints!). We had some more wine and some Indian takeaway for dinner. We also played some more games, and attempted to find a good recipe for the peanut butter whiskey that we had picked up. A mixture of the whiskey with orange juice, red wine, and kalua was the favorite. Mixing it with milk and salt was a close second. By itself, with was sweet to the point of being undrinkable.

On Thursday Nadja had to work, so we went back into the city on our own to explore. We walked to the train station and hit up a good pie place on the way (when Kyle is responsible for directions we always tend to walk by "cool food spots that we should definitely try"). We took the tram to the South Bank area, which has a great river-walk. Along the way we passed a man-made beach/pool called "Streets Beach," which allegedly was built to fulfill Australians cravings to be near the beach (a river winds its way through Brisbane, but you have to drive an hour north or south to get to the good beaches). We ended up at the Queensland Modern Art Museum, which only had two displays open. One was a paid display which we did not enter, and the other was a collection from high school students all around the state of Queensland. The theme was "issues facing your generation" so all of the artwork dealt with some pretty intense representations of mental health issues, body shaming, and similar. Despite the bizarreness of it all, it was cool to see the range and creativity of the kids.

After the museum we headed into the central business district to check out some cafes (seriously, there is good coffee all over Australia) and to see what else might be there. We found a cool mini-golf and bowling spot called Holey Moley (named after the TV show) and an underground board game shop called The Vault. We also grabbed a happy hour beer at a cool basement spot. We met Nadja back at the train station and grabbed some groceries for dinner. Nadja made an amazing spaghetti-Bolognese... but had to go buy a camp-stove from Kmart halfway through as the gas to the house ran out. One interesting thing we have seen in Australia: most of the cooking equipment is gas-powered, but homes do not have dedicated utility gas lines. Instead, they have giant gas-tanks that periodically get changed out. Since these ones had missed a change cycle, they ran out. But Nadja is an extremely resourceful person, so there was no hesitation in getting the temporary stovetop. We, of course, drank some more wine, more peanut-butter whiskey concoctions, and plaid even more boardgames that night.

The next day it was time to say good-bye to Nadja and Co. We cooked breakfast and hitched a ride with her to the airport. Thanks again to Nadja for the amazing hospitality, and to all of the flatmates for allowing us to crowd your space! Next stop: Sydney.