Sunshine state

The bombings in Bali are so awful. I can't believe that that poor economy gets hit again...oh man. It's just so...oh man.

We're now in Brisbane! Up in the tropical area now, so it's hot and sunny, and staying with some (more) of my relatives...Uncle Richard, Fiona, Katie and Liz. It's great, the house is lovely with a huge terrace, and it's so good to see my cousins again.

Plus we're being SO well looked after. Seriously - we were greeted with home-made shortbread and magazines! It's such a contrast to hostels and dorms and yucky, cheapo pasta-and-sauce meals.

We arrived on friday after a coach journey through Surfer's Paradise, Palm Beach etc. This is the Gold Coast, which is known for wonderful beaches and weather but is also uber-touristy. Lots of high-rise blocks.

I didn't know anything about Brisbane as a city - it's so much less famous than Melbourne/Sydney (right? - or was I just ignorant?!) - but it's really cool. Built on a river, with a river-bus ferry service which is very charming and affords gorgeous views. Yesterday Vic and I did some ferry-rides, some exploring, and ate lunch at Sushi Express - where the sushi travels round on a model train. Ah, so gimmicky, but so enjoyable. Then in the evening we went out to meet our friend Matt, a guy we know from our hostel in Sydney. On the way, we made a new friend at the bus-stop. No joke. People really ARE more friendly in Australia. We just got talking...she seems nice, if a bit, um, cheery. Plus she's doing a PhD on the clothing label Billabong...beautiful choice of subject, right?!

Hanging out with Matt was fun and we went to the area known as "the Valley" - feels like we're in LA everytime we say that. We found a cool gig venue inside a converted church, but decided not to splash out on the entrance fee and spent our time sitting outside in the courtyard. It would have been a great night except that we failed on the public transport front and got the bus going in the wrong direction, missed the last bus in the right direction, and had to get a cab. Then we got home and couldn't get the TV to work. Very sad.

However, today's been great again - Fiona took us out for yum cha lunch, which is what they call dim sum over here, which was delicious. Then the girls took us shopping in the Valley. (Hehe, sounds like somehting out of Clueless). I bought a t-shirt, and some thongs (flip-flops: "go-forwards", as they're called in Barbados). And a ring, and a necklace. Man, sounds like I really splashed out, but everything was on offer and very cheap. I also managed to sneak off and get Vic a small, comedy gift for her birthday, which is on Tuesday. I need to get her something more, but it's so hard to get the chance when we're together all the time...