Getting to Uni

-this is just a ramble, so it's not very interesting, but I wanted to put it up so I can read it when I look back on my Year Abroad- 

Getting to University from Brisbane was by far the most nightmarish trip to date (I'm sure worse will come in the future but anyway)

Starting at the beginning, I had to get up at 5am, or rather I had to get up at 5am after getting 3hours sleep because 2 girls in the room decided it was a good idea to have a silent war over the air conditioning meaning the room was either constantly freezing or roasting. Getting the train to the airport went smoothly though - I’m savouring the small things which went right

But things started to go a little sour as soon as I got to the airport really, the lift was broken so I had to try and maneuver my suitcase on the escalator where it didn’t really fit… Then there was a Korean Pop group arriving so the airport was packed! Meaning I had to detour and squeeze past the massive crowd of screaming girls and paparazzi. Then I was told my flight was delayed… by 6 hours! They checked me in though and gave me a $15 food voucher (which I thought was really nice and I made good use of)

After a quick skype the internet disappeared from my kindle, and the internet wasn't available for my laptop so I went to change some of my random currency which I've steadily accumulated into something useful… but they couldn’t exchange half of my notes because they weren't accepting dirhams for some reason(?). I did eventually get change and sat down at one of the computers but then the computer swallowed my money, so I couldn't contact anyone.

By now I was 4hrs into the supposed 6hr delay, however while I failing to access the internet the time for departure was steadily getting later and later. Which meant instead of getting into Auckland mid-afternoon I’d now be lucky to get in before midnight so I wouldn’t be able to catch my bus. And since i didn't have access to the internet, or a working phone, I couldn't ask a friend to pick me up.

After a minor breakdown when tiredness caught up me, it soon became clear that I the midnight prediction had been optimistic, and the early hours of the morning was looking increasingly likely. 

The plane did finally arrive, although it took another 2hrs to ready it. And then they decided to change the boarding gate from 21 to 75… 10 minutes before we were meant to board. The mad rush from one end of the airport to the other was the perfect end to my time at Brisbane airport. 

My seat on the Airbus was pretty good though I have to say - 3 whole seats all to myself again!

Getting through customs took an age, there weren't very many people on (it was 3am so I wasn't surprised) but there were a lot of people to get through. It also took me 4 attempts to fill in my form as well - I was so tired I just kept making silly mistakes!

Anyway I got through fine (although I forgot I had Banteel dates so I had to declare them which was a bit of a pain). Then I found out I had just missed the bus was going to catch into Auckland, typical. Only as soon as I sat down, consoling myself about the hours wait, the bus rolls up! The joys of everything being late in NZ!

Once I got to the hostel I had the fun of trying to navigate the lift. The buttons didn't correspond to the right floors, so you could press level 2 and end up on 3 or you could press 4 and end up on the ground. When I did eventually find the right level everyone was awake and playing tennis in the corridor. Then I noticed receptionist hadn't written the number of my room very clearly so I had to just go around and try all the different doors and see if any worked!

And then my room was the only one where everyone was asleep so I felt really bad coming in dragging my suitcase! Oh and the guy in the bed beneath me came in at 5am and decided that was a good time to try and have a conversation with me… not quite sure what made him think that…

And the final little drama, i asked at the hostel desk where i could get a bus, she told me every single bus leaves auckland from the ferry stop. So I got the joy of pushing my suitcase down Queens Street (the busiest street in Auckland) for 15 minutes only to be told they don't actually leave from here, no they leave from the other end of the street. Another wonderful 20 minutes passed as I walked to the other end of Queenstreet… Once I booked my bus I then got the truly lovely news that the bus stop was behind the Skytower. The Skytower is on top of quite a steep hill. So then I had to push my suitcase up the giant hill. And I have to tell you, if you've never pushed a 26kg suitcase with a 9kg backpack up a hill in the middle of the a city centre, at lunch time when the streets are packed you haven't lived. I suggest everyone gives it go, oh and try it when you've had no sleep, it's especially fun then, even more so when you're in a maxi skirt which keeps getting tangled. 

The woman spelt my name wrong on the bus list… I'm now R Hashwood. Then there were road works so the bus arrived into Hamilton 2hours late. Then the ATM wouldn't accept any of my cards, I tried all three, so I had to ask a taxi driver to take me to an ATM on the way as by now schools were out so there were hundreds of children at the transport centre and there was no way I could get through them with my suitcase. 

When I eventually got to Orchard Park the office had closed at 1:15 and I don't have a phone yet so I couldn't ring the number to get someone so I had to walk around to try to find someone - luckily a girl let me borrow her phone and stayed chatting to me until someone came to let me into my room.

All in all, not been the best 48hours, but I'm in my room, I'm in one piece and it could definitely have been worse.

P.S Then when I did a wash the machine left my clothes all soapy :( 

Mt Coot-tha

Today was a little cloudy, so I figured today would be the nicest day to walk up to Mt Coot-tha. Which might sound strange but it’s just been too hot recently to even think about walking up a mountain so the cloudy weather looked promising. Oh how wrong I was

Love this photo!

The blanket of cloud seemed to simply increase the humidity and after 20minutes I was already slightly regretting the decision to walk up rather than simply catch the bus (I didn’t get the bus because then I’d have to bus a $10 card and top it up and it seemed like a lot of hassle when I didn't have much time left)

About half way up it rained.. which was pure bliss for about 5 minutes until it stopped and the humidity returned with a vengeance. Needless to say by the time I got to the top I was wishing I’d just caught the stupid bus, but the views from the lookout really were beautiful and definitely made up for how sticky it was getting up there!

From the point you can see Brisbane in all it’s sprawling glory, and I definitely just stood there for 5 minutes taking it in!

I bought myself an ice cream and proceeded to spend most of the afternoon up there in the café reading and enjoying the view, the weather also really picked up towards the end of my walk and by the time I reached the top the sun was starting to come out. So all in all it worked out pretty well and I’m really glad I made time to go to the look out!

 After making my way down I popped back to the hostel before going to Southbank and having a dip in the 'lagoon'! From walking around the past few days I figured out the quietest times to go and 2pm on a Thursday was the quietest I'd ever seen the place, and by this time the sun was shining so it was perfect to spend one of my last days in brisbane

 I basically had it all to myself!

 The clouds returned in the early evening and as I strolled through the city I stumbled upon a little market setting (There was also a political rally happening in the same square which gathered momentum as I was leaving)

 handmade soy candles  - I wanted to get one but I wasn't sure my package allowance could handle a candle

Goats milk soap!

Botanical Gardens

Today I popped to the Brisbane Botanical Garden, it's definitely more of a park than actual botanical gardens but it was pretty, and it was a lovely place to spend some time in the middle of the day - the shady trees were a welcome respite from the midday sun!

I loved these beautiful flowers

I saw so many lizards today! I still can't quite get used to them being everywhere- I lost count at around 5

little photo of me and one of the lovely water fountains 

These birds are so much more common than pigeons here - aren't the cute!

There's also nearly always the odd crazy turkey running around any green space int he city!

A banyan tree (I love these trees and their aerial roots)

another lizard!

After walking throughout the gardens I headed to their southern point and then followed them up the river where there were some pretty boats moored with the skyscrapers as their backdrop

after following the river I ended up back in the city centre - so lots of old buildings to admire

The sky turned the prettiest colour as I was walking home, sadly I've yet to catch a proper sunset - I think Singapore spoilt me as they had amazing sunsets every night!

Brisbane City

Today I ventured into the main heart of Brisbane. I took the more scenic route – it’s possible to simply turn right outside the hostel and then just follow the road straight into the city but I think crossing the bridge into southbank is much prettier and takes about the same time.

My lovely view as I cross the bridge!

I love how they have these emergency stops every so often - there's water so you can have a drink or fill up your bottle, there's normally a little fact about Brisbane, and there's a button you can press if you're having an emergency (I think this is to do with the amount of runners and the heat)

On one of the bridges 

It didn’t take very long to hunt down Queenstreet – the main shopping road. Dotted along Queenstreet and George Street are not only lots of individual shops but there’s quite a few little malls and arcades too – a big bonus when it’s blistering outside and the malls have air conditioning!

I spent most of the day strolling around the shops – I love how there’s tons I don’t recognize! Once my purse was a little lighter, I crossed another bridge over to southbank.

The view from one of Brisbane's many bridges

me and the Brisbane Skyline from Southbank

I really do love how there’s such a relaxed and green space so close to the city centre, and it was here I spent the remainder of the day, enjoying the view of the skyline and generally relishing the lovely weather!!

Once again the clouds made themselves known as sunset – the sky was still very pretty though

Southbank

I was pretty tired today – I’ve avoided any serious jet lag so far, but I didn’t actually climb into bed until close to 4am so I wasn't too thrilled at getting woken up at 9am by a girl leaving.

Since I couldn’t be bothered doing too much I opted to explore the hostel and the surrounding area a little bit. The hostel has a pool, which I didn’t know about, it’s pretty small but the deck has amazing views over the river! The kitchen also leads out onto the deck so it’s a lovely little area.

the view from the hostel

After pottering about I thought I’d try to find Roma Park as the map I have seemed to show it being right opposite the hostel… It wasn’t right opposite the hostel, infact I’ve still no clue were Roma Park is. I ended up crossing the bridge and walking for half an hour along the river until I reached Southbank Park.

This was my view as I crossed the bridge- such a beautiful day

The view of the city centre from the other side of the bridge

I didn’t realize how close Southbank actually was but it’s a great green space and because I went on a Saturday (I can’t pretend this is down to my planning, I actually had no idea what day it was) there was an arts and crafts little market. Strolling around the stalls in the gorgeous heat was the perfect way to spend my first day in Brisbane.

Some really pretty buildings line the square where the market was being held

One of the craft stalls 

I picked up some melon and strawberry organic soap and then picked up a snowcone and read some of book in a shaded corner of the park. It was a lovely lazy day enjoying the park and the views of the city over the river.

This guy came over as soon as I sat down with my snow cone

So far I’ve seen 3 lizards, and 3 rather odd looking birds, although of course, there's always a few pigeons around and about!

There's also a few 'lagoon's at Southbank. They're saltwater pools with imported golden sand, I'm assuming they were so busy because it's a saturday. Anyway it's pretty cool that there's somewhere to swim and sunbathe in the middle of the city!

The park was really lovely, and there are a plethora of different cafes and restraurants surrounding it which is nice - I can already see this being the sort of place I pop by most days! There was an ice cream shop which caught my attention as not only was there a pretty big queue (normally a good sign) but there was smoke escaping out the door every so often! Anyway I thought the idea of nitrogenie was pretty cool and couldn't resist picking up one!

some of the 'smoke' starting as she made my ice cream

The finished product (I picked the honeycomb bomb alaska so I got meringue on top too)

After wandering around the park a little more with my ice cream i headed back up the river

I absolutely love this idea! they had tea, salad, and citrus plants which you could take trimmings of or the leaves/fruit. I just thought this was such a nice idea - and it's actually being used as I saw a few people picking off some tea leaves and putting them in little bags to take home!

I also saw this! It's a community bike repair station!

The Brisbane wheel

The clouds came in for the sunset sadly, but I still think this is a pretty lovely shot :)

I haven't made any real plans for Brisbane, I'm planning to just relax and wander around the city!