24/01/2018: Yesterday, I landed in Brisbane, Australia, after a really great flight with Thai Airways (highly recommended!). I always travel incognito with glasses and a hat. 😄
I took the Airtrain and arrived in the city within thirty minutes. It was just a five-minute walk to my hostel on Upper Roma Street. The hostel is modern, clean, and full of people. But Australia is much more expensive than Thailand, so I had to swallow hard when I saw the prices for the dorm rooms, even though I knew what to expect. I chose the cheapest option (still more expensive than my single room in Thailand 😩) and moved into a 20-bed room. Now you're probably thinking, 'Is she crazy?!' 😄 But it's not that bad. I had a good night's sleep the first night and have only met nice people so far. And besides, I won't be spending too much time here anyway.
After arriving, unpacking, and showering, I went to a real supermarket for the first time in 4 weeks and bought groceries for myself. The hostel has a kitchen where backpackers can cook their own meals. It's really great! I made wraps with avocado and salad, had dinner with other backpackers, and collected a lot of tips for my onward journey. After feeling sad about leaving Thailand, I'm now really excited about my time in Australia! Would you like a first look from the rooftop of my hostel? 😊
25/01/2018: Thanks to complimentary breakfast (hostel, yay!), I started the day well nourished. This morning, I went straight to the 'Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary', the world's first and largest koala 'zoo'. Oh, it was soooo amazing! I was with three Irish girls that I met in the hostel, and we had a really great time despite the heat (between 34-35 degrees Celsius). Take a look:
I HUGGED A KOALA!!! 😍😍😍 His name is Max and he was sooo fluffy. But because it was incredibly hot, I spent the afternoon in various (free) museums. First, I went to the 'Queensland Museum', which focuses mainly on the animals of Australia and provides a lot of information about the animals I had been petting a few hours earlier. Then, I went to the 'Gallery Of Modern Art'. Since Chicago, I've become interested in that kind of art, but unfortunately, the art gallery was already closing at 5:00 PM, so I didn't have much time to view the artwork. Maybe I'll go there again tomorrow! 😊 Instead, I visited the 'State Library of Queensland':I love libraries! I wandered through the aisles, randomly pulling out books and flipping through them. It's so crazy to be in a 'real', civilized city again. 😄 It feels pretty good. To finish the day and catch the sunset, I walked along the Brisbane River to South Bank. From there, I had a great view of Brisbane's skyline and there was also a pool or alternatively a beach right next to the river. Beach or pool? 😋 You can discover so many things for free here, I think that's great. That's why I really like Brisbane, even though many backpackers prefer bigger cities like Sydney or Melbourne. But I love it when cities manage to combine water, green spaces, and architecture, which is why I also love Chicago so much. The size of the city doesn't really matter to me. By the way, Australia in general reminds me a lot of the United States. The streets, the cars, the houses. Everything is very similar. It was good that I got to pet koalas and kangaroos today, because that's when it really hit me that I'm actually in Australia! 😄However, I can't take the Australian dollar, the currency, too seriously. Even less so than the Thai currency. The banknotes are very colorful, often have a relatively wide, transparent plastic strip in the middle, and feel suuuper fake. Tomorrow is 'Australia Day', a public holiday with fireworks in the evening. But I'll tell you more about that the day after tomorrow! ☺️Greetings from Australia! ❤️
