I’ve got to stop putting it off and actually write one of these things. I’m kind of forcing myself to do it. The reason I haven’t been churning out posts every few days for the past three weeks is because for the majority of the time I haven’t done a whole lot. I got into a comfortable routine of hanging out in Brisbane and not really achieving much. I s’pose I could have written lots of reviews about the venues I went to and provided great insight into what it would be like to visit Brisbane… butttt I didn’t really care about that. But I’m definitely overdue an update so here it comes.

If I believed everything I’d heard about Brisbane from the Australians I’ve met I would probably never have come. It was painted out to be super dull, backwards, tiny, inconsequential, rubbish… kind of ridiculous things to describe a city of like a million people. The staff in the hostel told me that people either come for a day and hate it, or fall in love with it and never leave. Me? I liked the city a lot, but despite there being several excellent reasons to base myself here, I don’t think I could. Mainly because I know Sydney and Melbourne exist and, as a fan of large cities, I’ll probably like them even more.

So I can assure you, valued reader, that if you ever heard Brisbane wasn’t worth visiting from some cynical person, don’t believe them. The reason so many people say this is because Brisbane did use to be dire. It’s absolutely up and coming, with everything you’d ever want from a city; trendy and modern cafes, restaurants, museums, art galleries, parks, bars, clubs and shopping. I think it’s really unfair how it always gets compared with Sydney and Melbourne – it’s like comparing Sheffield with London or something. You just wouldn’t do that. No one hates on Sheffield for not having as much to do as a capital city. So leave Brisbane alone!

So anyway, I had an enjoyable time in Brisbane and met some wonderful people, but I was essentially killing time till my friend Freddie arrived from the UK. For some genius reason he had booked his flight way after mine… However I don’t want to make my blog into a record of Freddie’s blunders because I simply haven’t the time to write them all (just kidding Freds). Anyway he arrived a couple of days ago, and I was picked up by his godfather Jonathan to pick him up from Brisbane airport and go to Jonathan’s place in Currumbin which is on the Gold Coast.

Jonathan works at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary so on our first day Freddie and I went to check it out. And it was super duper fun. Saw my first koalas, tazzie devils, wallabys and other awesome Australian creatures that defy nature and logic with their weird and wacky designs. The best part was getting to sit with and pet the kangaroos – their fur is way softer than I imagined. That’s what struck me. And the fact their arms look like people arms! =D

After the sanctuary and today Freds and I got acquainted with the beaches of the Gold Coast. And they are incredible. Beautiful sand, bright blue and powerful waves, rocky headlands providing great views, and one of the best things; the skyline of Surfers Paradise a few kilometres north up the coast. I also couldn’t get over how quiet they were! I know it’s a week day but the weather was gorgeous and I’m surprised there weren’t more people making the most of that. After getting a bit sunburnt and checking out a great farmers market at the sanctuary we headed back. And that takes me up to right about now. Enough of an update for you?

Freddie and I have a plan forming for the next few weeks, but I’m not gonna get ahead of myself and write it here, just in case everything changes. So just hope that I update this in the next 3 weeks! 😉