August 5, 2019

It has been exactly one month since I walked through DIA airport, leaving my colorful Colorado behind, stepping into an adventure abroad. That’s crazy guys. Like seriously. Crazy. I’ve had lots of ups and downs in my time spent here so far. Most of my downs consist of overwhelming University work I have to complete in my Anatomy and Physiology classes… But hey. I’m learning so much already, there is a lot of support, and I have met many amazing students in my courses. What about the ups? Well, that’s just about everything in Australia. The people, beaches, and food all come together forming a live community you can’t resist. This week I jumped deeper into the community (literally), by taking on an open water scuba course to earn my certification! I have only taken one day of diving so far, absolutely loved the experience, and have more dives coming in the next few weeks. After my diving sessions I had a couple more days of study, then my crew and I were off to a weekend trip in Brizzie… or Brisbane if we are being technical.

Starting at 9:36am we hopped on a train that headed straight to Brisbane. Taking about two hours, we arrived around lunch time and were eager to grab a bite to eat. Planning to eat at a market by the southern bay, we decided to first stop by our hostile to drop off our bags. This hostile was the first I’ve ever stayed in! I thought it was pretty cute, as it was called Banana Benders, Australian slang for “people from Queensland” I guess. Painted a warm welcoming yellow, we walked through a lovely deck that overlooked the back hills of the city, then made our way to our room up the stairs to the right. After throwing our bags down we started the trek to the market.

Not having a set plan for the weekend, we took our time exploring the city. The market was packed with hundreds of tents filled of fresh farm food, clothes, jewelry, and global dishes. Wondering through we took our fair share of samples, and all found a meal to sit down with and enjoy. I had this amazing Hungarian garlic bread dish called Langos. It was the first one I’ve tried and I could eat it all day everyday. So delicious.

Afterwards we walked towards the city center crossing one of the many large bridges that led inland to the city. It was a lot of walking, but I didn’t mind. We were able to see the ins and outs of the city which is filled with hundreds of restaurants, markets, shops, and beautiful architecture along with plenty of bridges. Bringing my camera along, I took photos of the city and my friends. I mostly did this to practice for my photography class, so as we walked along I didn’t stop often to set up a picture. But I think I snapped a couple decent ones. Once reaching the downtown my friends were excited to check out the shops, especially one that is sponsored by the famous Rodger Federer. Julia and I, not in the mood to spend anymore money tagged along non-the less, because why not check out downtown?

Strolling around for a few minutes, my friend Julia and I lost interest quickly, so we found our way to a live jazz performance outside. Enjoying the live performance much more than the clothes shopping, Julia and I sat down, resting our feet and swung to the tunes. After the band packed up and left, we found that our friends were still shopping and planned to hit a couple more stores after. Not having much else to do, we joined in. When the sun started to set, we tried to find a decent place to watch it from, but had no luck in finding a good view. So, we walked around some more, passed by more food markets, then made our way back to the hostile. There we relaxed our feet, drank much needed water, changed, then I taught the crew how to play rummy. It was fun! I won(; (Cough cough-mom.)

Connections are key when travelling, and I have become very thankful to all of the connections I’ve made and the ones my friends already formed. My friend Marlon, good guy, knew someone who lived in Brisbane and could show up around. The city is huge and filled with so many restaurants, it was nice to have a hand in choosing from the wide selection. So, meeting up with his friend Henry we started another walk to the south bay. Being a Saturday night the streets were alive with bars, music, and clubs. We decided to try out this hamburger diner and brewery close to the water. I was personally not hungry, so I just ordered a slider and a beer. And yeah, I had no idea what beer I was ordering, and was surrounded by Australians and Germans who have been drinking their entire lives. But I guess I chose the Aussie favorite! It was pretty good!

The next morning we started early, grabbing a quick breakfast provided by hostile, then headed off to a Modern Art Gallery. I was intrigued by the unique artist’s techniques used throughout the complex. My friends Moni and I found it interesting, but the rest of the crew was not so fond of it. I get it. So we split up and went to explore the city once more. The guys went to the city center to do more shopping, and most of the girls and I went to check out the Eat Street. The area had lots of food and a had a crazy colorful style, but it wasn’t our favorite set up. Tired of walking around we ate some Mexican food, caught the next ferry, found our way to the train station, and headed back home to Maroochydore. It was a fun weekend trip, nice to see the city, and I can’t wait to explore more of the coast.