Once again, got lots to talk about since I last wrote! Now I’m on my journey to Byron Bay from Brisbane and what an epic week I’ve had.

Since I last blogged I’ve visited Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, Rainbow Beach and Brisbane so let’s begin with talking about Brisbane.

What a city! I’m really gutted I didn’t book to stay here longer. Unfortunately I only booked 2 nights and with coach times it worked out I actually only had 24 hours to explore the city. In my defence though, I’ve never heard anyone speak well about Brisbane or tell me how beautiful it is, most people said there was nothing to do there! But again, I really need to stop listening to people.

I checked in around 5pm and was told there would be a pub crawl with free drinks and free pizza at 6pm for only $2 and ran by Peter Pans (the travel agent, very big out here for backpackers)

For such a small cost I thought there is no way you get much for your money but how wrong was I! The pizza was so yummy, like dominos style and I scoffed about 6 slices! I also got free goon on arrival followed by 2 glasses of cider, at the next bar a free shot and the final bar a free drink of anything I wanted. What a great bar crawl! Not just that but drinks were super cheap, $10 for a pitcher of cider and shared between 4 of us made for a bargain.

It was ladies night at the final bar so all the men were wearing dresses for cheap drinks, there were drag queens everywhere and the whole place was crazy but fun. I met lots of girls on this pub crawl and had a really good time. Ended up spending most of my time with a girl from Ireland and we ended the night in Hungry Jacks scoffing burgers before bed.

That was my first night out in Australia so far and I spent $5 all night! Loving Brisbane already.

The next day I felt a bit rough but I didn’t want to waste my only day in the city so firstly I headed for free breakfast, a shower then it was out into the world. My first stop was Subway where I felt like I was in dire need of lunch. I ate my sarnie whilst watching the courts, there’s a bunch of camera crew outside which made me think there must be a high profile case going on, for a moment I thought it may be Johnny Depp and the whole pet scandal but that turns out to be further down the coast.

Walking a bit further down the street I saw more camera crew and a news presenter but don’t think I’ll ever know what’s going on there.

As I continued to walk I ended up at a street market where I tried my first cricket. Yes the insect – a cricket. It was actually really yummy but they’d added paprika flavouring so hard to tell whether it was just nice because of that. I also stopped for a free taster of lemon juice where the man running the stand recommended places for me to visit.

He mentioned the free museum that had a dinosaur exhibit, I’d have loved to have spent the day in there but I didn’t want to spend my only day in Brisbane around a museum. I did however spend a short amount of time in here as I could tell it was about to pour it down outside. I was right and after a few minutes outside I ended up having to stop in a cafe for a vanilla hot chocolate whilst waiting for the rain to stop.

I’m so lucky that it didn’t last for long and didn’t come back either so I was able to enjoy the lovely walks Brisbane has to offer! South Bank is beautiful and I walked it’s entirety. Admiring the views of the harbour and the sunny day alongside the gardens, Japanese lanterns and make shift beach and pool. It was really nice and i felt that had I not of booked onward travel I could definitely settle here.

I then crossed over the main bridge to reach the university campus and botanical gardens. What a lovely place to study! A campus right by beautiful gardens, I’m jealous.

I spent a good amount of time wandering around the gardens although I was surprised to not see flowers but see so much wildlife instead! It started with the lizard type creature I saw on the path. I wasn’t expecting at all, it was so massive and I had no idea what it could be. Looked like it might be an iguana! I then looked around and they were everywhere! Lizards of all sizes spread out across the gardens hiding in bushes. There was also beautiful waterfalls where birds bathed and swam around. I really liked it here and it’s one of my favourite botanical gardens I’ve seen.

After this I was massively craving Nando’s so I headed through the city on a search for one. Enjoyed my meal outside and it made me think about how often you can do that.. The answer is mostly never in England. So I enjoyed the moment whilst it lasted.

I felt shattered after the long day and headed back to the hostel for an early night. Had such a great day in Brisbane and saw so much that I’d love to return one day and I’m really glad I didn’t skip this place like most people advised. Really proves only you should decide whether a place is worth visiting or not.