Day 295-301: Brisbane
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
49
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Brisbane,
Australia
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Job hunt starts today, got some agency numbers from Bunk and called them in the morning. Paul went off to do some sightseeing for the day as he's off to Byron Bay tomorrow. Didn't get very far with the agencies, doesn't look like there's much around for such a short timescale. Gotta send in the CV to a couple of them and see what happens. Wandered around till 12 which is when a cheap net cafe opens, $10 all day and I had a shitload to catch up on so knew I'd be on for a while. Spent the afternoon doing emails and diary....took bloody ages. Late in the afternoon met up with a bloke from Newcastle who I'd got talking to on the net. Had a couple of drinks and went to the Sportsman which is a homo bar, mildly scary, looked like a working men's club, hadn't been decorated since 1983 I think. A few of his friends joined us and got a good lead for getting sponsored in Sydney, one of the girls had a number for an agency who are really good at getting that sorta thing so will get in touch with them.
Got back to the hostel not long after 6pm, Paul was already back and in the dorm after wandering around Brissy for the day. As it was our last night together we went out for a meal to one of the chinky restaurants round the corner. Got some BYO and had a great meal, sat chatting for a couple of hours. Finished off the BYO on a bench near the restaurant and finally told him that I was gay, mentioned that I'd met a bloke for a drink later in the afternoon so kinda explained why. As usual he'd had an idea but didn't want to offend me by asking in case I wasn't. Good bloke tho and wasn't bothered at all, kinda wish I told him earlier as I might have been able to be more myself around him at times. Either way it's been real good to have someone to travel with for the last couple of weeks and he's been real good company, I'm sure we'll keep in touch. Went for a drink to the Elephant and Wheelbarrow till about midnight before heading back to the hostel.
Tuesday 05/07/05:
Paul was up around 7am to get ready to go get the bus, said our goodbyes and I went back to sleep....will miss the guy but I'm sure we'll meet up at some point in the future. Got up about 9 and thought I really should go for a jog coz I haven't been for one since Cairns which is ages ago....so hauled myself out of bed and got my arse into gear. Wasn't too difficult, ran down to the river and along the river and back for the usual 30 mins. Moved rooms today too, as Paul as gone I've booked a 4 bed instead. The room I ended up in was really good, clean, only a couple of other blokes at the mo, and as big as the 6 bed with no bunks so loads of room. Around lunchtime headed out to search for a cheap net cafe where I can get the pics burned to CD, and still got loads of emails to do and a whole weeks worth of diary. Found a $2 an hour one...bargain, bloody card reader wouldn't work tho but managed to finish the diary and do the emails. Spent forever there.
Got the pics burnt to CD on the way back to the hostel. Had to have a cold shower when I got home coz the bloody hot water was off, and the aircon wasn't on in the room...rubbish! Went out for a wander around the area in the evening, met up with a bloke called Ryan for a couple of drinks, which turned into a few. Went to The Beat club which was dead but drinks were dirt cheap, plus there was Disco Bingo...hmmmm, however there was a bar tab prize so joined. Won a $10 tab but you could only use it at the weekend...boooo. Wasn't late in, about midnight I guess.
Wednesday 06/07/05:
The bright mornings seem to be waking me around 8...which isn't a bad thing coz I don't really wanna be laying in bed all day. Caught the shuttle to the transit centre to go back to the net cafe again....still need to send more emails for jobs and to visa agencies to get the ball rolling for sponsorship, spent the morning there. In the afternoon wandered around the city centre, went to the City Hall where you can go up the clock tower for free to get a view of the city. It's not very high but it's the only place you can get off the ground, there's no tower or observation deck like in many other cities. Spent a good couple of hours reading loads of magazines for free in Borders...don't ya just love Borders.
Headed into a food court on the way back to get some food and also in the hope that as it was near the end of the day there'd be some bargains to be had...and there were, had some chinky before wandering home. 'State of Origin' decider on the TV tonight....big big thing over here, it's a serious of 3 rugby matches between NSW and Queensland held each year. The decider is being held in Brisbane and it'll be on in every bar with a TV screen. Watched the first half at the hostel before heading back to the room to read for a while. Not that excited about rugby other than for the obvious reasons ;O)
Thursday 07/07/05:
Bright and breezy for another jog this morning. Went over the Story Bridge this time and ran along the otherside of the riverbank, bloody difficult on the way back with a slow incline. Checked the test results from the other day and all ok now, a picture of health and good looks apparently. Called another agency who again said I wasn't here long enough for temp office work, so decided to go to the factory temps place and register with them. You have to do it in person tho and there god knows where in South Brisbane. Managed to find out how to get to them on a couple of buses. Left just after lunch and only took half an hour to get there...some suburb called Underwood, luckily the bus stopped right outside the place.
Just had to fill in a few forms and watch a safety video and that's it. Took about an hour in total, bloke said they didn't have anything at the mo but would call me if anything suitable came along...won't hold my breath for fear of suffocating. Had to sit around waiting for a bus coz in these parts they don't run very often. Stopped at a Garden City shopping centre for the afternoon to kill time and buy a padlock...yes this travelling malarkey is a whirlwind of excitement. Spotted a rather bargainous Sony digicam which took my fancy - a Sony DSC-P100 for the camera geeks - originally sold for $799, then $549 and now $399. It's a smaller and better version of mine...very tempting.
Back to the city for dinner....guess I should really get some groceries and cook at the hostel sometime considering I'm trying to save money. The kitchen is such a shitehole tho. More net cafe action and whilst there started hearing stuff about explosions in London, listened to BBC Five Live on the net hearing it all unfolding. Reminded me of when I was at Virgin Money watching the Trade Centre stuff on TV, sat there for a couple of hours checking news sites and listening to the radio before the cafe shut at 8.30pm.
Back the hostel BBC World was on in the bar with a few people milling around watching it, watched it for a little while before going out to the Wickham for the evening. Chatting to a local guy for a little while but generally the place was pretty quiet.
Friday 08/07/05:
Gorgeous morning, blue sky and all that. Walked through the Botanic Gardens.....every place in the country has a botanic gardens. But with the weather it was a lovely stroll...then over the Goodwill Bridge - which is the only pedestrian bridge over the river - to South Bank. It's a kind of outdoorsy, artsy, beachy, sandy, walky kind of area. It's got Brisbane's city beach in it, ie a fake beach....not as big as I was expecting but nice in the hot weather, tho bit too cool for that at the mo, plenty of people out in cossies tho, probably poms. Some random Nepalese Temple in the gardens too, something to do with the World Expo of 1988, amazing building considering it was hand carved from wood.
Pondering over buying that camera, torn between being a poor backpacker looking for work and really wanting a new shiny camera which is smaller and better than what I've got, and of course it's such a bargain it's too hard to resist. When I saw it yesterday there were only 3 left so called the store to see if any left...and there were, which is kind of a good/bad thing. So jumped on a bus to the shopping centre, continuing to ponder on whether I really should spend $400....and I did. Once I got it in my hands it was like holding a new born baby, I simply couldn't let it go. And I further justified the purchase to myself when I realised I could sell the other camera for at least $100. Headed home with new toy shining in a bag.
Went out to the Wickham again in the evening tho not till about 10pm. Much busier thank god, actual people around. Obligatory drag show happening at midnight, then I got chatting to a bloke called Tony, all tall and beardy, very cute. Danced, chatted and drank till about 3.30am before we buggered off and er well....the rest is none of your business.
Saturday 09/07/05:
Was gonna go to a gym this morning but with a mouth like a sewer and not many hours sleep that was highly highly unlikely. In fact not much happened until I finally stepped out the door about half two in the afternoon and had some breakfast, well a roll. Did consider taking the old camera to Cash Converters to see how much money they'd give me for it, then thought I could eBay it, then thought but not till Sydney, then thought bollocks I do it another day. Bought a Sydney Morning Herald...yes they sell them interstate....and went to a nearby food court thing to sit and read, loads of coverage about the bombings so caught up on that.
Tried to snooze in the evening but couldn't fall asleep. Went for a wander out and about, it's Valley Fiesta this weekend - the valley being Fortitude Valley which is where I'm staying. Live bands in the mall all day, and various things happening in bars. Generally not the sorta music I'm into so I stayed clear though the whole area was rammed. Wandered around for an hour or so but an overwhelming desire to save money and not drink meant I just went back to the hostel, read a bit and went to sleep.
Sunday 10/07/05:
Weather looked great when I looked out the window, blue sky, etc....that was until I walked outside to go for a jog and felt the freezing cold wind which was blowing around...feck it was cold. Jog warmed me up and if you managed to find sun without wind it was lovely. After the jog and late breakfast wandered into town down to the Pier St market, usual arts and crafts with food fare. Rest of the day was aimless wandering, reading the paper, reading mags for free in Borders and some net stuff. Also bought a cheapy $20 watch until I find a way of replacing the dearly departed and sadly missed Storm.
In the evening went to see Madagascar which was very good indeed. Bloody freezing on the walk home, getting back about half 9. Changed and buggered off out to the Wickham for a bit before going to Family which is a nightclub which has a gay night on Sunday. It's one of the best clubs in Brisbane and considering it was a Sunday it was pretty busy. Music was cool and the place itself is pretty funky, lasted there until about half 2.
