June marked the end of my current run performing Maestro shows with impro Melbourne, which means I had some time for some adventures!
Australians get a public holiday for the King’s Birthday in
June (why don’t Brits get this?), so I fully took advantage of headed off to warmer climates in Queensland
for the long weekend. Originally, myself and Kate (who has been on the road
since Sara arrived in April) hatched cunning plan to meet in Brisbane for
dinner on the Friday before she left Australia for SE Asia. But in the end, our flights didn't quite line up, so a solo adventure for us both.
It’s funny, back in the UK I would totally be a bit cba to
hop on a plane for a couple of hours for just a weekend, but clearly I’ve
adjusted to an Australian way of thinking, that distances I used to think were
mammoth are small. Anyway, I arrived to a gloriously warm Brisbane and stayed in
the nicest inner city hostel I’ve stayed at in Australia (well done YHA
Brisbane). One thing I have started to notice is how mixed ages are at hostels-
frequently I meet cool, kick ass women in their 50’s and 60’s, just living
their best lives. The future is hopeful. I decided to go and check out
Brisbane’s supposedly buzzing Southbank in the evening. Although it was busy, I
definitely would not describe it as buzzing. I've seen more action in Enfield on a
Friday night!
The next morning a had a lazy start, then had about 4 hours to kill before my coach to Noosa heads beach. I’ve been to Brisbane before and remember it being pleasant, but a bit boring, and I wanted to see if this was still the case (spoilers, it was). I hopped on an e-scooter and wizzed around the city for a bit. I could write an entire essay on the pitfalls of e-scooters, but they are handy (and fun!) on a day like that. And at least they come with helmets here. The weather was mid twenties and the sun was out, so I spent some time at the street beach- a free public man made beach with huge lagoon swimming pools, by the side of the river. I thought at first there was something wrong with the pool as hardly anyone was using it, but quickly realised it was too cold for Queenslanders, but not for me as a Brit.
I then headed off to Noosa, about 2hrs away by coach. Noosa is a slightly bougie holiday destination and fairly popular among backpackers. Last time I was in Aus, I had to skip it out due to time, so was determined to make it. I stayed at the YHA, which was an old timber building a couple of mins from the beach and surrounded by rainforest. It was also formally called Hillcrest- the same name as my grandparents house. The next day, free pancakes for breakfast (my favourite!) before heading to the beach. Naturally the moment I finished head to toe factor 50 suncream, the sun went in. Still, I enjoyed a swim, even in mid winter, the sea is 23c. In the afternoon, I went for a surf lesson. They gave us wetsuits, which I found kind of funny, but wasn’t complaining. Somehow, I get progressively worse with each surfing lesson (this must be about number 10), like the Benjamin Button of learning things, but it’s fun to splash about and drink sea water for 90mins. The rain poured and poured, very unusual for Noosa. The hostel was hosting a cultural evening though where a nearby First Nations Elder and some family members came to talk to us and show us some traditional dances. One particularly poignant moment was when he asked to describe what we could see all around us, then explained that even if we can't see them, our ancestors our always with us, much like stars above us*.
The following day started off with free yoga (best hostel
ever amiright?) then I went for a hike with a couple of people I had met in the
hostel-TJ (Dutch) and Emma (French). It was still raining, but we ploughed on
along the coast of the National Park. It was only my intention to do a quick
there and back, but we decided tp gp back through the jungle/forest and I’m
glad we did as there was some great nature and seeing the rain evaporate as
steam off the trees was pretty cool. Naturally, I suncreamed upon on our return to the hostel to have a whole 5mins on the beach until the clouds came back.
Speaking of nature, I came face to face with my first big boy (or girl) spider in the bathroom. I would’ve been oblivious until someone pointed it out on the ceiling. It was about the size of my hand and definitely didn’t appreciate my screeching. I think it was a huntsman, so harmless, but terrifying. Me and my bathroom mate (also called Victoria haha) decided to call her Tiffany. I could spy her every time I went in and almost got used to her.
The following weekend, I booked a day trip to the Grampians, a national park named after the one in Scotland. It’s about a 3hour drive from Melbourne, so better to do over a weekend, but difficult to coordinate with anyone, so I bit the bullet and just paid for a tour. The views were great, but as often is the case with these things not enough time to really enjoy them. It was raining too. I did get to meet some wild kangaroos up close though.
I spent most of the rest of June being a bit ill, over doing
it I think. We did have a one year birthday party at work which consisted of a
‘sausage sizzle’ aka a bbq but less fancy- literally sausages and sliced bread.
End of June marks the end of the financial year in Aus, where a lot of the
videos I've been editing were due. I also was keen to get them done because… I
was heading back to the UK for a brief 12days for my cousin Emma’s wedding.
Some may think that is a bit mad, but it’s actually one of the easiest
decisions I’ve made all year and will be a nice refresh before the last bit of
my year. I would’ve done the same for my
cousin Ben’s wedding in Feb, but the timing and finances just weren’t right.
I’m actually writing this on my second flight of the trip
home and I so bored. Hats off to people who do this on the regular because I am so
bored right now. How long is left? 5hours I hope, or less. Let me check….
Erghhh 5hours 40mins.
It’s also why this is so long. So sorry for novel, this is also my entertainment as the films are rubbish.
Onwards to July!
*I'm paraphrasing here, hopefully I've done the story justice!
No comments:
Post a Comment