Expect the Unexpected

So, we arrived in Brisbane on Christmas Eve at 6:30 am. This was after we had spent an unexpected evening in Airlie Beach. Due to a misinformed Greyhound representative, the bus we were hoping to get on for the overnight service into Brisbane direct from Townsville, didn’t work out. So, we quickly changed our plans to include a 20 hour layover in the beauty of Airlie beach (our other option was going to MacKay Airport).

I will admit, I wish we had a few more hours at Airlie beach. It was basically a sailing mega site, acting as a gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. We spent the night at Magnums, and enjoyed a really nice set up. The beach was something else too.

Back again on the bus for the overnight haul into Brisbane. It was brutal. The roads were super narrow, I couldn’t believe that the bus was able to fit with other vehicles on the road!

Over all, Christmas eve was a chill day. Wandered through the city, explored into the South banks a bit, and also caught a nap before the Christmas Eve Snow Party. There was a dinner special of a 400 mg steak, salad, and potatoes with a Schroon (size of beer, smaller than a pint) for about $10 each. For the snow party, they had used Peanut packing foam. It was rather, interesting? Kind of pulled off the look, I think at least.

It was an early night due to the rough night on the bus. Today, we waited around for the Orphans Lunch at the hostel. Basically, it was $5 for a roast beef dinner, with potatoes, yams, and veggies on the side. Oh, and an open bar. It’s actually illegal to sell liquor on Christmas in the State we are in (or it could be a federal thing, I’m not exactly sure).

After a lovely lunch, we went through to the Botanical gardens around the old government house. It was interesting to see a few of the native flowers and the bamboo growing. There was also an abundance of Lizards and what I have come to call the “creepy birds”. They are white, have a arched black beak, and are noisy.

On we went over the Pedestrian only bridge towards the South Banks. We walked by pool with sand. It was not what we expected, but then again, nothing really is here. Back we went through the city core and into our hostel to make our dinner, chicken stir fry.

Now, we are going to have a quiet evening and get ready for another couple hours on a bus as we head back into Sydney for 8 hours, and on again towards Melbourne. Once we depart Sydney, we would have completed our tour of the East Coast of Australia.

Pretty cool, and amazing if you ask me.

It’s only 5 days till the moot! We are almost half way done our time here in Australia. On one hand it feels like it’s been a long time, on the other, it feels like we just got in.

Till next time,

Yours In Rovering,

Kimberly McGilvray
xox

PS, MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone who reads.