Right! As promised here is my blog post for my trip to the land down under. Just a quick info, I went to Australia on the 19th of July (Sunday), but only reaching Brisbane on the 20th in the morning. I left for Melbourne on the morning of 23rd, and went back to Jakarta on the 25th. It was rather a short trip and I wish I could spend longer days there but oh well. No worries, hope to return one day!
I reached Brisbane at 9:30 AM and went to take a train to Fortitude Valley station to meet Vithya and Candy! It was sooooo good to meet them again. It felt like a long time (err 6 months haha) since I last both met them. I went to drop my luggage and stuff at Candy's place first. We Uber-ed from Valley to her place (it was my first uber experience!) and dropped my stuff there. I spent my first night at Vithya's place as we were going to Gold Coast on the next day. So I just took whatever I needed.
My pot of Chai!
We then headed for lunch at Gunshop cafe at West End. We accompanied Yisheng to drop her car at a repair shop first, and then we Uber-ed again to West End. We met Yiyin there as well! So great to see her as well. I haven't met her in 1.5 years. The food at Gunshop was awesome. I had Fish and Chips and I feel that their fish was very fresh. I had a pot of Chai Latte as well which was lovely.
Brisbane River
Yisheng left with her friend while the rest of us went to Southbank for a walk. We were walking along the Brisbane river. And then we went to the city to walk around as well. I asked them if we can go to a CD shop first as I had a list of CDs to get mwahaha. I got all of them! Weeee. From the city we Uber-ed again to Vithya's place as we're cooking dinner. But we went to Indooropolly mall first to get the ingredients. And booze haha. And oh my goodness I fell in love with Aussie's supermarket!
Walking towards the city
We went to Vithya's place to cook dinner. We helped prepare the ingredients while Vithya did the cooking (she's the chef for the night! :P). It was a great dinner of curry I must say. Although yes, I know, I need to stop it with the salt haha. Thank you very much to the three of them for celebrating our three birthdays (Yiyin, Candy and mine) after dinner with an awesome carrot cake and wine. And thank you for the card and to Vithya for the book as well. I haven't drank in 7 months and I was the first to get knocked out. Sorry! :P Candy and Yiyin went home after that. That's all for day 1!
Thanks for the dinner!
The next morning Vithya and I were headed to Gold Coast. We took a train from Indooroopolly to Roma Street, and then from Roma Street to Nerang, which is in Gold Coast. It was a long train ride but it was made enjoyable thanks to the conversation we had! It was cloudy in Brisbane but thankfully it was sunny and blue in Gold Coast. Our first stop was Surfers Paradise. It's such a pretty beach. And cause it was winter, the beach was rather empty too. The blue skies and medium waves made the whole beach look pretty. And the sun made the whole place warm too (thankfully).
Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast
After Surfers Paradise we wanted to go to Curumbin National Park but we were afraid that it will be too late by the time we reached there. So we went to Burleigh National Park instead. It was a nice park with a nice hike as well. I love the trees there! They look beautiful and the whole park is very serene. Okay something funny happened here.
Album cover photo opportunity haha
Vithya and I were hiking when we came across this part of the park where we can see the ocean in between the trees. So we were spending some time taking photos there, thinking that there would not be any lookout that faces the ocean. But after 15 steps, there was actually a lookout! Hahaha. Spammed lots of photos there because the view was amazing. So worth the hike, totally.
View from Burleigh National Park! So worth the climb
We made our way back to Surfers Paradise and stopped by a nice Indian vegan restaurant called Govinda. Where we encountered a guy who ate a mountain-pile of rice hah. Pretty awesome deal. $11 for a single serve of whatever you want, without any limit to portion size. We went back to Nerang and took another long trip back to Brisbane. It was 9:15 PM when we reached Roma Street.
Since it was pretty late, I decided to spend another night at Vithya's place. I had a nice chat with Vithya's house owner, Jill, over tea and cakes again. Jill is such a lovely person really. And she has such a lovely and beautiful house. Reflective of her personality I guess? Thank you very much to Vithya for letting me stay in your place for 2 nights. And to Jill for allowing Vithya to let me stay in her house I guess haha. Oh and I will miss your cats too! They're really cute and very active heh.
The next morning Vithya and I went to meet Yiyin and King George Square Station, where Candy and Jesslyn went to pick us up there. We were headed for Eumandi Market! Up in Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. It was about 1.5 hours drive there. So glad to see Jesslyn again!
Exploring Eumandi Market
I really love the atmosphere in Eumandi market. It is relaxing, chill and just a feel-good vibe place really haha. Everyone is so relaxed there. We went to get brunch first. I had an awesome vegan burger, where the patty is made from brown rice. So good. After that we walked around to see if there are nice things we can buy. I bought a nice shirt from there, and also I found Himalayan sea salt! I've been wanting to get it and so I bought a bottle of crystals with grinder.
Wine tasting!
From Eumandi we went to visit the ginger factory. Bought some ginger goodies from there to bring home. Then to the nut factory (which is kinda expensive) and then to a coffee roaster beside it. Before heading to Brisbane, we went for wine tasting. Although it wasn't really such a pleasant experience.... Heh. Ask me to find out more. We drove back to Brisbane cause Jess, Candy and I were doing the story bridge climb! Vithya and Yiyin waited for us at a nearby bar-restaurant. Sorry to keep you waiting!
Us at Story Bridge Climb! Isn't the lights so pretty
The story bridge climb was such an exhilarating experience! The view on top was so beautiful, seeing the pretty night lights and tall buildings of the CBD area. The climb up was alright, it was when we started climbing down that I was feeling super scared haha. Cause you see the cars passing you by, beneath your legs. And the stairs are made out of metal railings so you can see what's beneath you. So yes, pretty heart-pumping. But nevertheless it was an awesome experience. And seriously the views are amazing. Too bad we can't bring our cameras there. I understand why.
After the climb we went to Sunny Banks for dinner. Decided to go with Korean! I had a nice kimchi soup and it was awesome. Cause it was pretty cold outside and I just want to eat something warm haha. After dinner we went to send Vithya and Yiyin home. Felt really sad saying my goodbyes to them. Cause I really don't know when I will see them again :( After reaching Candy's place I did a lot of packing. And we also checked in online for our flight to Melbourne the next day.
Although I spend really little time in Brisbane, walking around the city makes me fall in love with it. It reminds me a lot, somehow, of Chicago. People are friendly there, and they seem pretty relaxed. Actually Australians seem like pretty relaxed people haha.
Reunited and it feels so good!
Thanks for everything guys! :)
Anyway I just want to thank Vithya, Candy and Yiyin for being such an awesome host to me in Brisbane! Thank you Vithya for letting me stay in your place, and for the awesome curry dinner (and the book!). And for the short but really awesome trip to Gold Coast. A place we both never been before! Mwahaha. Thank you Candy for letting me stay in your place for that one night as well. And for letting us use your car while we were in Brisbane. I definitely had a great time reuniting with all of you in Brisbane. Although I really wish I can spend more time with all of you there :(
Alright this is end of part one! Continuing to part 2 - Melbourne! :)
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