Sayonara Sydney! Bye Bye Bondi! Crikey Caboolture! Bonjour Brisbane!

My last couple of days in New South Wales were really nice, made me kind of reluctant to leave. On the Monday the sun had his hat on (Hip hip hip hooray!) and I spent my first sunny day in the city as I had to go to the CBD to pick up my bank card. After wandering around George Street and window shopping a little I went to Darling Harbour where they had a massive international boat show going on. The harbour was rammed full of yachts and speed boats (I only saw one catamaran though). I was tempted to pretend to be a rich person and get shown all the boats for sale but I didn't think it would work in my scruffy denim skirt and t-shirt!

For lunch I went over to the Harbourside Shopping Centre and looked at the restaurants there. Heather and I had seen Pancakes on the Rocks the week before and there'd been a massive queue outside so I decided to check it out. The mains looked uber expensive so I popped in to the food court for some chicken nuggets instead and headed back for pancakes for dessert. I chose the chocolate and vanilla combo; very nice, but the service was kind of shoddy. Maybe the branch actually at The Rocks would've been better.

I contemplated going to see Cars 2 at the IMAX afterwards as it's apparently the biggest one in the world but I just don't think cinema screens need to be that big! After a certain point it's just showing off and hurts your eyes any way so I decided to wait until it comes out in regular cinemas. Instead I went to the Chinese Friendship Gardens which were AMAZING. Outside in the harbour there's music playing, you can hear people and the traffic but as soon as I stepped into the gardens everything is tranquil and peaceful and the whole place was absolutely beautiful. Not one bit had been forgotten about or neglected. If we had something like that back home it would just end up covered in graffiti and litter and all the plants would get overgrown, but everything there was absolutely perfect. When I'm rich I'm totally having a Chinese garden! If I worked in Sydney I'd go every day to chill out and read; in fact it's the kind of place that made me wish I knew how to do Tai Chi or meditate or something it was that peaceful.

After that I went back on my bendy to Bondi and found my roommate packing to leave to go back to Italy and she very kindly donated me a Great Barrier Reef guide book, some sun cream and an umbrella. Very kind indeed considering it was the first time we'd ever spoken!

The next day was lovely weather again and I spent the morning watching surfers and writing postcards from the beach. Lindsay joined me in the afternoon to explore Bondi. We dipped our toes in the ocean (too cold to do any more than that) and wandered around the shops a little. Vicki joined us in the afternoon and we all had cake on the boardwalk. Lindsay very kindly took my coat and hat with her to store at her sister's house because hopefully I won't need them whilst I'm further north. Vicki and I decided to go out for tea as it was my last night in New South Wales (or dinner as she argued it was called - bloomin' Southerners). The cute receptionist at my hostel recommended us a place to go to just up the road from the hostel because they give us good discounts for staying there which sounded awesome but when we got there it was dead. Not just no customers but no staff either. We stood there for two minutes looking for people or at least menus and then decided to bail and went to Nandos instead. After tea/dinner we made an early night of it as I still had to pack and Vicki had work at six the next morning so we said goodbye. I know I've only known her a couple of weeks but I'm really going to miss her. We got on really well. Heather too, now she's up in Cairns by herself. It would've been nice to spend more time together but I reckon we'll all meet again in the middle at some point.

The next day I had to get up crazy early for my 6am flight, got the bus to Circular Quay, train to the airport and checked in with oodles of time to spare. The manager at my hostel insisted it couldn't be done. He reckoned the first train would only get me there as check-in closed but I was there a good hour before that so ner ner! I was starving by the time I got there so I grabbed a croissant from pie face. I wanted one of McDonald's bagels, they looked so nice but they didn't have anything on them that I liked. Oh well.

I flew with JetStar which is Quantus' budget airline but way nicer than one of our budget airlines! The seats were comfy and actually pre-allocated which means no stampede to get a good seat. I tried to sleep on the plane but it was only an hour and fifteen minutes so by the time I was nodding off the plane was touching down in Brisbane. I could've done with the flight lasting another hour so I could've finished my nap!

My case was one of the first to turn up on the carousel so I was in and out of Brisbane airport in about five minutes! The train station is straight outside the front door so I got a ticket and directions to Caboolture and was on my way. Doc, my perspective employer had told me it was about thirty minutes away on the train. It wasn't! It was over an hour from the airport so even further from the city. I wasn't any more impressed when I got to Caboolture. Doc picked me up and I took an instant dislike to him. He didn't have a boot in his car so I had to put my suitcase on the backseat which was really high up so he watched me struggling trying to pick up my big ass case for a few minutes without even offering to help! Chivalry must be dead. Luckily my super powers kicked in and I managed to do it for myself but it bloody killed my arms. Doc was gross. He smelt bad and was chain smoking the entire drive even though he could barely get out a sentence without choking and coughing. I wasn't too excited by the prospect of working with this guy but decided to reserve judgment until we got to the hostel. It was also gross. It wasn't even a proper hostel. It was a house that he'd turned into separate apartments where people stay whilst he finds them work, a housetel as he called it. His office stank as bad as he did and was so filthy a rat wouldn't have wanted to live there. I didn't even step inside. I left my suitcase in the doorway for an easy escape. I had a look into my perspective apartment which wasn't too bad but there was a crazy list of rules like lights out by ten and no electrical equipment to be used without permission and there was a group of Koreans there who I was going to be potentially living with so I tried to ask them about the place but they didn't even speak to me. I don't know whether it was a language barrier or just ignorance but I felt very unwelcome. I went back downstairs to the office where Doc was still chain smoking, had unbuttoned his shirt (hopefully because of the heat) and to my surprise he demanded two weeks rent! What happened to the free accommodation he mentioned on the phone? I had been figuring out the best way to turn him down when it was free but there was absolutely no way I paying to say there! I just told him it wasn't what I was looking for and sorry for wasting his time. All in all I was there for fifteen minutes and the douche bag didn't even offer me a lift back to the train station! Luckily I'd been paying attention on the way there because I wanted to be familiar with the town if I was living there so I made it most of the way back without any hassle. It was just the last few turnings I was unsure of. I was saved by the Golden Arches, my Mecca, good ole Maccy D's. I went in there, bought an Oreo milkshake and used the wifi to Google map my way back to the train station and speak to the girls already in Brisbane about where to stay. Kate did offer me a place to sleep on her bedroom floor which I really appreciated but as she was only moving in that day I thought it was a bit cheeky and not fair on her roommate so I booked into a hostel close to their flats. I was a little bit disappointed that things hadn't worked out, especially as I've turned down two jobs in the meantime but oh well. You live and learn. At least the Sunshine state was living up to its name. Queensland is mighty sunny and after dumping my suitcase in the hostel I walked down to the river and sat on the grass reading a book and watching the boats (more catamarans here than at the boat show!)

I was supposed to be meeting up with some of the girls later but in the end I had to go and have a nap instead because I was exhausted. When I woke up I headed around to Lynsey, Nicola and Ben's apartment in New Farm to have a chat and watch a movie. I walked through a little bit of Brisbane on the way. The bridge and the river are really pretty when they're lit up at night and the place seems really safe and clean but other than that I haven't seen anything of Brisbane yet but to be honest I don't know what there is to see apart from the Koala Sanctuary. I think it will just be back to the job hunt for me. At least I know I have another interview lined up next month and the ice cream place might want me in October so I'm not entirely destitute. Not yet any way!