Brisbane, QLD, Australia

After only slightly adjusting to our new life at Bond Uni, my roommate and I packed a backpack, grabbed a bus schedule and a map and hopped a train to Brisbane, Australia's third largest City and the capital of Queensland. We arrived in Brisbane in the morning and walked from the train station to Chinatown for some shopping, exploration and lunch.


We spent most of the morning there and had a light lunch at one of the many restaurants. After lunch we walked back across central Brisbane to a hostel near the train station.

We checked in and then walked on to the Queensland cultural museum. We visited a historical art museum, a modern art museum, and the cultural museum. After this adventure we found a travel by foot street saturated with various souvenir shops, clothing shops, and other shopping on either side as well as a miriad of pubs and restaurants down the center. We had dinner here and then went out for a couple of drinks at a local pub. Upon our return to the hostel we met some fellow travelers from Ireland and got the opportunity to talk with them about their travels and experiences in Australia. The next morning we got up, had a light breakfast and started walking towards the City Botanical Gardens/City Park. On our way we ran into a weekly market along the Brisbane river. We found many different vendors including opals for anywhere from $300-$2000, souvenirs, many items hand-made in Australia, but not unique to the country.

There was music and so many people that you had to squeeze through people everywhere you went. We also found a farmer's market where we purchased some homemade bread, some local fruit, and a lamington for a picnic lunch at the park.

(A Lamington-Yellow cake rolled in a chocolate coating and shredded coconut-mm mm good)

We walked through the park and climbed a tree before sitting in a grassy shaded area and eating our lunch. After lunch we walked along the river and then discovered a classical concert followed by a marching band from Scotland. Also during our visit we saw the old government building and the active Parliament house for Queensland. It was quite interesting to tour the Parliament house and gain insight to the Australian and Queensland government systems.

After two long days of walking we boarded our return train and headed home.