Day 8: A Land fit for a Queen

The eighth day Down Under began with another plane flight. This time, however, we were embarking only on a 1 hour, 30 minute journey north to Brisbane. We crossed a time zone though and gained an hour mid-flight. All in all we only lost 30 minutes of the day!

Let me back track a bit and give a quick anecdote of my Jet Star experience...

We left Wesley College and went out to Broadway Street to catch taxis to the airport. Anoop and Hein got in a separate taxi, while the remainder of the group of students fit into 3 taxis. The drive to the airport was only potentially life threatening once, maybe twice. By taxi standards I felt like we had a wonderful experience! We pulled up outside the Jet Star terminal and walked right in. After surveying the situation inside the airport, we quickly determined that the long line of 200 people or so (no exaggeration here folks) was the line we needed to enter to check into our flight. I needed to check my backpack, so I had to go drop it off before going through security. After quite some time, I made it to the counter only to get hit in the face with an A$80 checked bag fee because my ticket had not included any checked baggage. (Where is Southwest when you need them?!) I would also like to point out that the flight only cost $59. Anyway I had little choice in paying the fee, but I had to go stand in another line so that they could make the credit transaction. This mind-numbing process eventually ended and I made it through security without further difficulty. (You don't even have to take off your shoes here!) Our gate was gate 55, which was a short walk from security. On the way to the gate, I saw my first ever Jet Star plane with the motto "All day, every day, low fares" LIES! At the very least, misleading. It should read more like "Low fares, but we'll get your money anyway, every day." At least the flight was short.

We flew into Brisbane and took a taxi to our hotel in Woolloongabba. (Fun word to say!) I have learned since my arrival that it was named this by the Aboriginals because it was a swamp land. Our place here is quite nice. There are two people to a room with separate beds. We have a small efficiency kitchen, washer, dryer, and separate bathrooms to boot! The key system here is weird though, as I have 3 keys to get from the front door of the establishment to my room.

It is almost impossible not to notice signs posted everywhere in the elevator and all over the kitchen of a number of actions that will result in fines. Among the intolerables include a smoke alarm going off for more than 3 minutes. Doing this automatically calls the fire brigade and bills your account A$500, no questions asked. Bringing a single glass bottle in the pool area results in a fine upwards of A$1,027 as the entire pool will have to be decontaminated. Also, if you are in need of internet, be prepared to pay Jet Star prices. Just 24 hours of access or 100mb, whichever comes first, costs A$27.50. If you would like to purchase a weeks worth of access or 1GB, whichever comes first, it will cost you A$75. Needless to say we are in constant need of internet on our journey down under and so I am currently posted up at a 24-hour McDonald's McCafe using their free WiFi. It works great as long as none of the other 14 folks need to use it. Oh wait, they do...

Our first walk around Brisbane led us down a lovely, cool path alongside the Brisbane River that runs right through the heart of the city. This pathway is quite possibly one of the best samples of environmental design work. The pathway utilizes both the salty river breeze (Yep, it's a saltwater river) and numerous plants and trees to lower the air temperature 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit. As we walked down the path, I was struck by the large number of people using the space. Hundreds of people were everywhere running, walking, riding bikes (they ring their bell if you're in their way, which we were constantly), sunning, reading, doing sit-ups, and enjoying the city pool. My first impression of the people here is that they love to pursue healthy lifestyles! Here are a couple of pictures alongside the river:

We walked along the South Bank for a good ways and came up to a large ferris wheel. Intrigued, Anoop bought us tickets and we went around and around 4 times with a narration of the sights. Here are some of the photos I took from a "bird's eye" view of the city:

After the feris wheel, a small group of us walked over a pedestrian bridge to the botanical gardens, while the remainder of the students went back to the hotel to grill out for dinner. I wanted to see the sights while it was still daylight, so I chose the botanical gardens, which were gorgeous, though not as picturesque as the gardens in Sydney. I did enjoy the large bamboo trees though!

For dinner a group of us ate at a Japanese restaurant, Aroma Garden, though I ordered Indian food for the first time. I got Chicken Tikka, which came out bright reddish-orange and tasted exactly like grilled chicken. (No spice or extra flavor was detectable by my taste buds!) However, my stomach recognized the foreign ingredients and it took a coke to settle my stomach after the meal. Here's a picture of the meal:

After we ate, we hopped on the 110 bus to Woolloongabba to get some work done before bedtime. Bedtime came quickly for me, though I was quite happy to have a long rest!