We woke and checked out of our room before having a walk in to the centre of Surfers. When we got back to the hostel we decided to cook all the meat that we had won yesterday. Luckily the hostel had a BBQ which was free to use. It was only really when we started cooking that we realised how much meat there was... we wouldn’t be able to eat it all before it went off!
We had a creative thought all of a sudden.... a load of fresh cooking meat wafting it’s aroma through the hostel + a hostel full of hungry backpackers = opportunity to make a few bucks! We announced around the hostel that we would sell some meat and soon enough we had a queue at the BBQ. We decided that as we had not spent any money on the meat, we should sell it for around a couple of dollars per piece – a bargain! Overall we made over $30 and kept some of the chicken / sausages – stuff that we would eat over the next few days. We also made a box up for the Irish couple who invited us to the pub in the first place!
After we had cleaned the BBQ, we packed up and headed to get the bus to Brisbane, which was around an hour north. We arrived there at 3pm and only had one evening as we had been told there was not much to do there. We stayed at the Base Central Backpackers, which was a 15 minute walk from the bus terminal – again in the crazy heat and the extra weight of all the meat made it even more difficult to walk! The Base hostel was disgusting! There is no other way to put it! The rooms were small, cramped and dirty, it was noisy and hot. However it was very central and only cost us $18 (£15) for the night as we got a voucher when we booked out Whitsunday / Fraser island trip, otherwise we would not have stayed there!
We dropped our bags and headed straight back out again. Walking from the hostel we crossed the Brisbane River and dropped down on to South Bank. This area of Brisbane was completely underwater last year when the river flooded, however you can’t even tell now – it’s open for business again. It reminded us of London how there was a huge ‘eye’ Ferris wheel on the embankment looking over the city. We walked through South Bank and rewarded ourselves with an ice cream. There had been a charity run that day so there was plenty of activity and people dressed up all over the place.
Further around South Bank is the Streets Beach. A huge manmade lagoon in the middle of the city, which looks just like the sea side, surrounded by palm trees – even with sandy beaches! It’s very strange to see, especially with the skyscrapers towering all around. It was very busy so we sat on the edge for a while and cooled our feet off.
From Southbank we walked around 45 minutes to the West End of the city centre. Here the streets are lined with eateries and bars, it’s a little more run down than the rest of the city, but that just adds to the relaxes atmosphere, and the culture. We stopped in a bar – Gav got a beer and Mand got a cider. The bar had an open mic night so it was cool to chill and listen to some live music. Lots of locals had dreadlocks.
On our walk back to the hostel we stopped in a supermarket and bought a jar of curry to go with our pre-cooked chicken from the meat we won. Gav had been craving a curry so it went down a treat! The hostel kitchen was as grubby as the rest of the hostel, and there were homeless people with a guitar running around the kitchen singing – all a bit too much when you just want to cook your evening meal(!) so we ate our food and headed to the room. For somewhere to crash for one night it was fine. We wouldn’t want to stay there any longer!!
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