Despite our flight being delayed and us not getting in til after 8pm on Friday night, as we walked off the plane, we didn't care. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. It was so warm and humid...nicer than any weather that had been in Melbourne since early April if not earlier. Thus, I was stoked for the weekend.
Mike and I took the train from the airport to the central station in Brisbane where Kota met us - he didn't think we could handle getting from Brisbane to his place. After this semester, I'm def not a newbie at traveling. From there, we took the bus 20 mins. to Kota's house which was in St. Lucia, right near UQ.
Queen St, Brisbane
The Casino
Our plan for the night was to go hit up some bars/clubs in Brisbane; however, since everyone knew the next night (Saturday) in Gold Coast would be insane as we were celebrating Bridget's 21st, no one really wanted to go out. That left Mike and I drinking and playing video games/watching movies all night with Kota and his roommates.
The next morning, we slept in, packed up, and headed out to Gold Coast - 2 hour trek by train and then bus. Even though it was a pretty far trip, I was surprised that it only cost us $6 round trip - not a bad deal. When we got to Gold Coast, it was disappointing to see that it was cloudy - I was really looking forward to some epic beach time. Of course, the terrible Melbourne weather would follow us - it's our beach curse (this is seriously the 4th time we've beached and it's went from sunny to cloudy by the time we've got there).
Gold Coast
After checking into our suite at the Holiday Inn (it's not like the crappy Holiday Inns at home - this hotel was insane), we said screw the weather, got some lunch, and headed to the beach. While the girls were freezing cold at the beach, I definitely thought it was really warm out even without the sun out, and Kota, Mike, and I went swimming in the ocean and played some football on the beach.
View from one window in our suite
View from our balcony
Kota loves his robe
The beach
View from our suite at night
Pregaming - the bros
Rebecca and me
Christine and me
Holly creepin in the background
Heading out to the clubs
The next few hours were filled with club hopping, free drinks, tequila shots, and tons of dancing. All I have to say is that if you end up on the Gold Coast, go to Sin City and Vanity. These were the best clubs we went to, and overall, Gold Coast has some of the BEST partying in Australia.
Sin City
The Birthday Girl
Free drinks =]
Attempted pic of our many stamps
Canadian in the closet
Robe party
After cramming 6 people on the bed and the rest of the gang sprawled throughout the suite, the next morning was not much fun. Everyone was pretty hungover and tired from a not-so-comfy night of sleep. Kota knew about this $10 all you can eat breakfast so we went there. Let me say, it was the perfect hangover cure and start to the morning. Eggs, tots, bacon...mhmmm so goood.
As we were eating, the sun came out so we went to the beach for a little bit. However, Mother Nature hates me so it started raining after an hour or so, and all of us headed back to Brisbane. When we got back, Mike and I went exploring around the city...and realized that Brisbane itself is pretty boring. We ended up going to see Pirates 4, which I hated beyond belief. Johnny Depp did a great job as Jack Sparrow (as per usual) but there were so many stupid plotlines. I mean seriously, the whole Spanish thing could've been taken out of the movie - when they walked into the Fountain of Youth, it was like "WTF? not necessary at all".
On Monday, Mike and I went to Australia Zoo, which is the zoo Steve Irwin's family owns. This semester, I've already been to the Melbourne Zoo, went to the Penguin Parade, and saw tons of wild animals, yet I was still looking forward to this because its STEVE IRWIN. The Zoo was literally one of the best zoos I've been to in my life. The zookeepers were super friendly and informative, and a large amount of them were stationed around with the zoo with animals for visitors to pet or hold. I pet several koalas, an American alligator, some lizard-y thing, piglets, and sheep along with kangaroos in the 2 kangaroo areas. Mike and I also got to feed Siam, the elephant that was in Water for Elephants with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson...which I think is pretty cool. Since it was the Croc Hunter's zoo, of course there were tons of crocs. I didn't bother counting but there was one part of the zoo that just housed crocs...there must be over 40 of them in the entire zoo. We even got to see 2 feedings and I felt like I was watching Steve Irwin's Animal Planet show (despite it not actually being him). Spending the whole day at the zoo was well worth it, and if you are in Brisie, definitely take the train up to the zoo. You will not regret it!
Steve Irwin print on the bus
Siam - elephant from Water for Elephants
The Crocoseum - may be cooler than the Coli
Walking the dingos
After a nap on the train back to Brisie, we were debating whether or not to go out that night since we hadn't actually been out partying in Brisie. But the rain prevented us from doing it. That night we watched How to Train Your Dragon, which I had been wanting to see but never gotten around to. It was even better than everyone said it was. Can't wait for the sequel.
Anyway, that was our whirlwind trip to Brisie and Gold Coast. Need to get my 2 papers done before MUSEX Gala tomorrow, Mike's 21 this weekend, and then the Whitsundays on May 30, where I will be spending 3 days/3 nights sitting on a catamaran and snorkeling on the reef! So stoked.
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