Welcome to Brisbane

I have been in Brisbane for a week now, and while it has not been quite as eventful as the four days spent in Sydney, there has been so much to do to get settled in.  We have a great flat with a balcony that is only a 10-15 minute walk from campus.  

Our balcony is second from the top on the right!

There are Bowls fields behind our apartment that we still need to check out.  Bowls is kind of like Bocce Ball and is pretty popular over here.  Bowls clubs will sometimes have barefoot tournaments which consist of people gathering to play Bowls, taking off their shoes, and proceeding to drink (sometimes a lot).  Check out this video to learn more about Bowls…this is pretty much the extent of my knowledge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PonGXrse4MU

I am pretty sure the city that boasts 300 days of sunshine each year is just trying to spite us Americans being here…because it has rained nearly every day since we arrived in Brisbane.  But when it is clear and sunny it is absolutely beautiful.  See?

This past week was orientation week at UQ, which is about as exciting as it sounds… But actually it was fun to get on campus and meet people.  I of course got lost multiple times.  It is a huge campus and completely different from the city-like layout at Pitt that I am used to.  Armed with my handy campus map, I am and easily picked out as “the new girl,” but am finally getting my bearings.  As long as I can find someone who is not one of the other 11,299 international students, people are happy to point me in the right direction.

Also part of orientation was the Marketplace event, which is the huge student activities fair.  Unaware of the plethora of free things we were going to receive, my roommate Jess and I moseyed on over to campus with our little bags and ended up with more than we could carry.  No complaints though!  I managed to sign up for the Beer and Rum club and the Wine and Cheese club.  What else does a girl need in life?  CHOCOLATE.  But I couldn’t find the Chocolate Appreciation Society (I’m still on the hunt for any more info about this MIA club, don’t worry), so I opted for field hockey, beach volleyball, and QUEST, which is the study abroad/exchange student organization that plans a bunch of fun events and trips for student friendly prices throughout the semester.  Our first trip with them is to Byron Bay in two weeks…more on that to come!

Speaking of student friendly prices…those are far and few between in Australia.  Everything here is so darn expensive!  Gone are the days of Subway’s $5 footlongs…they are $7 here.  It just doesn’t have the same ring to it.  Interestingly enough, there seems to be more Subways here than in America.  But anyway, the cost of living is quite high and my credit card is not too happy about it.

Last Saturday we were supposed to head to the Gold Coast for surfing lessons, which we were all quite excited for.  But Mother Nature had other plans, as storms and huge waves slammed the Gold Coast beaches.  Needless to say, that event had to be postponed, but lucky for us, this happened to be the one day without rain in Brisbane.  So instead we made the trek to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which started off quite eventfully…

The ferry to Lone Pine left from downtown at 10:00 am and by the time Jess and I got ourselves out the door it was 9:36.  Knowing it is about a 20-30 minute trek to get downtown we were slightly worried but comforted knowing we looked presentable from the extra few minutes spent getting ready.  Our other friends who live downtown were already at the ferry, getting a play by play of our every move as they held the entire ferry full of people until we got there.  Once Jess and I got off the CityCat (which is the boat version of Brisbane’s public transportation) we broke into a sprint up the river bank to get to the ferry.  We were greeted, sweaty and out of breath, by the ferry crew who were actually very nice and pretended not to mind that they waited for two little American girls.  No wonder Americans have the reputation we do…

But it was worth it.  Even though the ferry ride was quite hot, it was cool to see other parts of the Brisbane River and learn a little more about it.  There are gorgeous, multi-million dollar homes situated all along the banks of the river and it made me miss all the summer days spent tubing and kayaking at the lake house (shout out to the Indy Matteis!).  We finally arrived at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and excitedly ran off the ferry with a kind yet stern reminder of the ferry departure time and advice to not be late this time.  Whoops. 

Fun fact: Queensland is one of the only states in the world where you can actually cuddle a koala! Knowing there were koalas waiting to be held, we made our way into the park on the lookout for koalas.  And they were everywhere!  Look who I found!

Maximus the koala

 Koalas actually live a pretty good life.  They spend 4 hours a day eating eucalyptus, but since it doesn’t have much nutritional value, all the have energy to do for the remaining 20 hours is sleep.

Since it was so beautiful out, I spent the rest of the day exploring and taking pictures of the city and South Bank area.  South Bank is located right on the river and is home to restaurants, markets, running paths, and Brisbane’s man made beach.  Since Brisbane is about an hour from the coast, someone had the bright idea to bring a taste of the beach to the city and this has become a hot spot for sunbathers and children looking to cool off and play in the water.  It really is a very nice place.  The only thing missing is the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.  But hey, no complaints!