Day 8 Brisbane

Today we were leaving Sydney to go to Brisbane.  I was very excited about getting to see a new city that wasn’t as big as Sydney.  Our bus passes had expired so we had to split up into groups to take taxis to the airport.  The airport was packed and we had to wait in line to check in since we had neglected to do so the night before online.  This was mistake number one.  After about 30 minutes of waiting in line we finally got up to the ticket counter. This is where it all turned sour because I don’t think the man checking us all in wanted to be dealing with a big group.  We were informed that we were only allowed to take to take one carry on bag per person that is less than 10 kilos (about 22 lbs), or take two that added up to 10 kilos.  This was news to most of us because the general understanding was that as long as our carry on bags were each under 10 kilos and met the size requirements we were fine.  Then came the best news of the morning.  Each person had to pay $80 to check their bag that they had intended on carrying on in the first place.  I was not happy, and neither was half of the group that were in the same boat  as me.  We finally talked him in to only making us pay for 3 checked bags which would equal about $23 per person.  This was very nice of him; however, it left a bad taste in my mouth about Jet Star Airlines.  I guess this is how all of these bargain airlines earn their money.  After going to a different counter to pay for bags and get a new boarding pass, Jay, Reel, and myself still had to make it through security.  This was another extremely long line and we were all thankful to get to our gate with about 30 minutes to spare. 

I learned a few lessons today.  First of all it always pays off to get to the airport early.  After this incident I will always be at least an hour and a half early.  Second, check in online.  If we had done this we would have been able to carry everything on just like we had planned.  Finally, don’t go to the check in counter with someone that was on the last leg of his shift that had started at 4:00 a.m.  I know there isn’t really any way to know who is in a good mood or who is in a bad mood when picking ticket counters, but I feel like it would have made all of the difference in the world if we had gotten the right person to check us in.

After that debaucle we finally arrived in Brisbane.  As soon as we left the airport I knew I was going to really like it here.  Brisbane is located in the state of Queensland, Australia unlike Sydney, which is located in New South Whales.  Our accomodations for Brisbane are much nicer too.  Instead of staying at a university we are in a hotel.  This hotel is great because it has all of the ammeneties of home.  Most importantly, we have air conditioning.  You don’t really appreciate this luxury quite as much until you have to sleep without it in the summer for a week.  We also have a regridgerator, a washer and dryer, and a small two burner stove.  Another added luxury about this place is that there is a grocery store right next door.  This is huge because we can now save some money by buying groceries instead of eating out all of the time. 

My Bed and our sweet TV and Boom Box 

The Kitchen/bathroom/laundry room

The Hyundai Centre beside our hotel.  Home of the Brisbane Lions in the AFL (Australian Football League)

We were planning on taking a river tour of the city in the afternoon but had misjudged the times of the ferry.  So, we had to settle for an awesome ferris wheel ride that looks out over all of Brisbane.  This massive wheel had six person air-conditioned cabs that allowed us to view the city in total comfort.  Just like zoos, I love ferris wheels.  It was a great way to see the city from a birds eye view in a short period of time. 

After the ferris wheel we knew we were going to have to start thinking about what we wanted to do for dinner.  We had seen that there was a grill by the pool of our hotel on the 7^th floor so naturally, we all wanted to grill out.  It was perfect, we had a grocery store and a grill within walking distance from eachother.  The store had fresh barramundi filets and I was pumped to get to try it.  We also got some asparagus and a salad which would make for the perfect summer meal.  I was a little shocked when I got up to the pool deck to see that the grill was actually an electric flat top grill.  Even though this was not my preferred means of cooking, it was still better than going out to dinner.  It was a blast getting to cook with everyone and it all ended up turning our really good.  We ran into some problems getting the grill to stay hot and so far no one has gotten sick from uncooked fish, so I think we are good!  I miss cooking out at home, but this was a awesome!

Grilling out by the pool

The grill

The results