Today is Labour Day in Australia – a month after the US one. Many of the shops are closed, and we’re avoiding tourist attractions like the plague, so we headed up to Mount Coot-Tha to get a good view over Brisbane.
Wait, BRISBANE?! That’s right, we finally left sunny Mildura to head back to an even sunnier Queensland, almost four months after leaving with the intention of coming back a lot sooner.
We spent a few days in Melbourne, which rendered us the coldest we’ve been since leaving the UK (or at least Scotland), before flying up to Brissy and throwing ourselves headlong into job applications and resumes.
We also arrived just in time for the Riverfire event which closed the Brisbane Festival. Kickstarted by a flyover of fighter jets and a Globemaster plane, we were treated to 20 minutes of fireworks over Storey Bridge that kicked the shit out of any fireworks you see in the UK.
Plus we were given free duck pens that quack, a massive police boat went past blaring an orchestra of bagpipes, and some of the fireworks were set to the JURASSIC PARK THEME TUNE! (I got a video)
Other activities on the agenda included a walking tour through King George Square, South Bank and the botanical gardens, where we saw many water dragons and I got very excited. I only ever left the pond because a thunderstorm that had been looming suddenly exploded over us and we ran like hell with our guide!
Yesterday, we headed up to Roma Street Parkland to find even more water dragons, and as it was a beautifully sunny day this time, I got my photography hat on.
Did I mention I love lizards? Just look how cool this dude is.
And tomorrow we are hoping to get to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary because the school holidays will finally be over!
I’ll be blogging about Melbourne soon. We spent three days exploring the city and I think we came up with a pretty perfect itinerary (including spotting some wild penguins!!!), so I’ll be sharing this with you very soon. We had a couple of reunions with friends from Mildura, and plenty of delicious food, all on a tight budget!
And of course we’ve been enjoying the hell out of having slightly more reliable wifi!
Wish us luck on the job front. I worked a trial shift over the weekend which went well, so I’m keeping my fingers well and truly crossed.
An Orcadian Abroad 