Jul 28
Brisbane
So I hate to tell you all this but I am no longer in Australia. It was SOOOO hard to leave, but I gained a lot of memories and friends along the way, which are irreplaceable. I know I have a lot to catch up on, especially my last days in Australia, and I will try to do my best. I am now in Fiji (which I will tell all about later) and the internet costs an arm and a leg so it may be a bit short and sweet, but I will get all the information as I can out before I lose all of my internet credit :)!
I wasn’t going to tell but it was guite a fun night at the bar. Miranda and I met a few Frenchmen that talked us into being part of a drinking contest where the wining team would win money and free drinks. The only catch was that the team of three males and one female led to the Frenchmen having try-outs for the team. This didn’t turn out so well as not many girls wanted to take part, let alone chug their beers for fun just to prove themselves to some crazy frenchmen. Miranda, who fell for the chugging hoax, downed her beer and was left by the boys to go and check out others for their team. In the end Miranda was asked for the team and I was needed as well to complete a team. We got ourselves ready for the contest and saved our bellies for beer room. When it was finally time for the contest, Mirandas team and my team got up in from of the whole bar and were put to the test. The point of the contest was to chug a half-pint (a pot) and put the empty glass on the top of your head before the next person on your team can go. The girls started and next were the two boys. The contest was finished off my the last person, who had to chug a pint through a straw and put it on the top of their head as well. It was quite funny, even though my team lost and Mirandas team dumped nearly all of their beer on their shirts (which they also instructed Miranda to do, but in her honesty she didn’t stating that it was cheating, bless her soul 
) and won the entire contest. After Miranda and her team basked in her glory they were all rewarded with ten dollars cash and a jug (OZ slang for pitcher) to share. Miranda, being as tired as I was, headed off to bed with me as we had a long day ahead.
So I know I left you all off wondering how my walking tour went, which I must add I was accompanied by a new french friend, Victor, and was a great day! I woke early and ran out to the city for some much needed coffee and a quick stop at the plarmacy for contact soluntion (because I wouldn’t want to miss the sights without being able to see :)!) On my way back to the hostel I ran into Victor, who I had met the night before at the bar and who was also a fellow traveller. We headed right out on the city with our first stop at the Picasso exhibit at the Brisbane Museum. Victor had already seen the exhibit, and since it was $20, he left me to go through be myself while he took a walk along the Brisbane River. I paid my entry and went through the exhibit and looked at every piece one by one. It was a really good exhibit not only because it contained some of Picasso’s most famous pieces, but it was also a collaboration of art he had collected throughout his own life, which included work by Renoir, Dali, Matis, and many others. It was really amazing to see what his taste was in art while he was alive. After taking my time going through the exhibit I met back up with Victor and the two of us headed over to the free section of the Museum and learned a little about the area and its history as well as Australia in general. After going through the museum and playing with all of the kids toys throughout, we headed to the public ferry and took a ride to the end of the city and back for a little sight seeing in Brisbane. Once we took our long ride in the ferry to the subarbs of Brisbane and back into the city, all the while loading up on pictures of Brisbanes skyline, we decided it was time to haed back to the hostel and wait for Miranda to get back from her day at the nearby themepark Dreamworld. Once Miranda arrived and Victor and I finished watching our movie with some other travellers in the TV room we headed back to the riverfront and went to dinner in the middle of Brisbanes central business district. Dinner, as delicious as it was, left the three of us quite thirsty. We headed back to the hostel and decided to have a few drinks before we headed downstairs to the bar. Our hostel which was a historic building had a great deck which played home to ”Claire’s Bar” for the next few hours while Miranda, Victor, and I nearly finished off 4 liters of goon (slang for Australias box or cask wine) and goofed around taking pictures and having a good time before we headed down to the bar for some drinks. Drink after drink and before we knew it it was time to go to bed because we had to catch the bus to Byron Bay the next day, after spending a morning shopping of course! We both said goodbye to our new friend Victor and headed to bed.
We awoke the next morning, packed up our bags for Byron Bay, and headed to the main shopping center for breakfast and a little bit of window shopping. I wasn’t really up for shopping as my head ached and my stomach hurt from the goon, so I went back to the hostel and enjoyed a movie before the bus picked us up for Byron Bay.
We were picked up and I swear I nearly slept the whole way to Byron Bay, only waking to have a look around and some lunch at a small surf town along the coast famously known as Surfers Paradise. It was such a cool little surf town as I wished we could have stayed longer, but as time persisted we hopped back on the bus to go south even more.
Well its come to the point where I have run out of credit so I suppose I will add on my adventures about Byron Bay and Sydney later. Until then I hope you are having a wonderful time, I know I am, as paradise doesn’t even begin to explain Fiji
will write more later,
~Claire