C and J Down Under: Brisbane

After a whirlwind 3 days in Surfer's Paradise, we had a sad little train ride back to Brisbane. Not only were we sad to be leaving all the fun that was the Gold Coast, but also sad because we knew this was our last day in Australia, and a 14 hour flight back to LAX awaited us in the morning.

Upon arriving back at the train station (which is attached to the Brisbane airport) we made the tiny realization that the hotel we had booked in Brisbane was about an hour away, and roughly a $90 train ride. Or an even more expensive cab ride.

We momentarily debated renting a car. Let me backtrack, Jenn tried her damnedest to talk me into renting a car. I believe my exact words are "I don't even trust your driving in the states, let alone here, on the opposite side of the road. I don't want to die in our last 12 hours in Australia"... or something like that.

Thankfully, Brisbane airport's free wifi came to the rescue and I booked us a new hotel room 15 minutes from the airport, with free taxi service, all while Jenn cancelled our existing room. Before long we were checking into our room on Kingsford.

It was still early evening, we were starving, and not about to spend our last night down under cooped up in the confines of a 3star hotel room. We changed clothes & headed out the door to wander. A few blocks down we stumbled upon a gas station. Red Bull's in hand, we asked the clerk where to go and were promptly pointed in the direction of the pier. We split some Mexican food & had a few beers at the Burrito Bar while debating our next move. Lo and behold as soon as we left the pier we spied signs for a Containerval.

You heard me right... a festival focused on a plethora of shipping containers. Oh, Aussies, you do everything SO right. It was like food trucks meets box trucks, with a mix of hipster shopping and a bar'tainer.

It was, quite possibly, the cutest thing I have ever seen. There were a ton of seating areas and tables all made out of deconstructed pallets and shipping spools, astro turf, and SO many different food "containers".

Before we knew it, 10pm was rolling around and a thunderstorm was brewing. Our table was full of empty champagne glasses, half-eaten crepes, and the biggest bag of kettle corn ever made. Two giggly girls scurried out of the awning into the lightening-lit sky arm-in-arm and hurried in an attempt to make it back to the hotel before the storm hit.

Lo and behold, luck only goes so far, as we rounded the last corner the clouds let lose and we got SOAKED.

Cold, wet and drunk on champagne we sauntered back to that hotel room for one last sleep in the land down under. I think we stayed up half the night talking about what the past 10 days had thrown our way.

Been around the world (na, na, na)

Last year, post #PopGoesMyLung, when I was still bedrest-ridden at my parents, LT helped me out with a project I had had in mind for a while.

LT. Ha. There's a name we haven't heard in a while. I'll say his help on this was appreciated, and leave it at that. 

I found out the mileage, as a crow flies, to each passport stamp I've gotten and painted them on these pieces of deconstructed pallet. And then threw them in a box and they sat in my closet for 12 months.

My parents were over helping me do some yardwork when my mom brought it up. To be honest, I had sort of forgotten all about them. So we drug em out, laid em out, let my dad dig a post hole, and busted out the Makita. 

Less than an hour later, I have brand new yard art that I absolutely love. The only down fall is that I am already 4 signs behind, for the places I went in Australia!

I can only hope that my biggest problem in the future is needing a bigger pole because I've run out of room!

C and J Down Under: Surfers Paradise

When we planned to fly into Brisbane and hop a train to the Gold Coast we had never heard of the phenomenon aptly titled "Schoolies".

Boy, were we in for a treat. An hour or two after touching down in Brisbane we hopped off a public bus and drug our suitcases roughly three blocks (yes, uphill both ways, no snow though - sweltering heat actually) past hundreds of baby-faced kiddos.

Momentarily blinded by the abundance of high-waisted booty shorts, crop tops and Vans we checked into our hotel and asked what the HECK was going on.

You see, our silly friends down under graduate high school in November (as they enter their summer). And instead of going on "spring break" halfway through their last semester as us yanks do, they go to "Schoolies" after graduation.

Did I mention the legal drinking age is 18 down under? Cue two American 20somethin amidst a sea of fresh-faced, albeit shit-faced, Aussies. I will say, it was probably, hands down, the BEST people watching I've ever experienced in my life.

Just like American Spring Break, everyone had shirts made (singlets, in Aussie'ism). It took a lot of willpower not to get our own done. A LOT.

After being guests in friends' parents' home and then crashing at a hostel, it was nice to finally enjoy the luxuries of a hotel. Like room service, maids, and a balcony with a view.

We spent a lot of time drinking. People-watching and drinking. Getting hit on by 18 year olds. It was an experience for sure.  Got tipped off by a very not-ugly security guard that open-containers were frowned upon. Proceeded to drink wine out of Sprite bottles, filled up said Sprite bottles in port-o-potties outside the liquor store, made friends, drank Bundy with our new friends on the beach til the wee horus of the morning, burying every bottle we emptied.

Hey.... while at Schoolies, do as the Schoolies do - right!?

Have no fear, we didn't waste three days down under doing nothing but boozing. We also canoodling koalas.

Highly recommend Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Awesome experience! We saw kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, koalas, a ton of birds, wombats, and more.

(big snakes down under) 

I have to say we truly were sad when our third day in Surfer's arrived and it was time to leave. It was so hilarious being a part of their "schoolies" week, not to mention the gorgeous beach, and the all-around fun atmosphere of the Gold Coast.

We boarded a VERY crowded city bus to head back to the train station. There were a LOT of hungover kiddies on board, and we just sat giggling, glad it was them and not us!

C and J Down Under: Cairns

Cairns was city 2 of 4. Cairns was a must. Hello, Great Barrier Reef! 

Tuesday afternoon we hopped on a flight two hours north to Cairns. Their north is our south, north means hotter. 60s in Sydney turned into 80s-90s in Cairns. You're so backwards, Oz!

We went from staying in someones home where they made us coffee every morning and drove us to and from the train stations, to staying in a hostel. Total 180 there as well!

We really only had one full day in Cairns, so the girl running the desk at the hostel scheduled our snorkeling excursion for us as soon as we got into town. We had to be at the pier bright and early the next morning. We ventured to the mall and the grocery that first night. Imagine our delight when we stumbled upon an Australian Target!

Australia also left me with a deep-running love for Cotton On! We laid low and lounged around by the pool at the hostel that night. Snacking on grapes and chatting about life. There's always plenty to fill the silence when you're two best friends who live on opposite ends of the country!

The next morning we boarded the Big Cat and headed out to snorkel the good ol' Great Barrier Reef.  I'll be honest. Snorkeling isn't my favorite. The mask gives you goofy indents on your face, I hate tasting salt water for hours on end, and in general I just get bored snorkeling and end up floating around soaking up the sun.

That being said, the water was gorgeous and the fish were bigger than any I had ever seen snorkeling. I'm glad that we went. It was an added bonus that there was a gorgeous beach nearby with equally as gorgeous Australian life guards (what? Just being honest... Australia has GREAT scenery. And that's before they even opened their mouths!)

We spent that night exploring Cairns, stopping for a drink or two and dinner. We had acquired some pretty gnarly sun burns and were facing another flight the next morning and kept it pretty tame though!