After we checked out in the morning at our hostel in Surfers Paradise, we made our way to the bus stop. There we were told that the bus to Brisbane would be 45 minutes late. A little overtired we sat on the ground and waited for the bus.

How do we survive four days in this Hostel?

Luckily the drive to Brisbane was relatively short and we were already there after an hour. From the bus stop the three of us had to make it to the hostel heavily loaded.

Luckily it was not very far, but every way feels twice as long when you have to pull two suitcases. After we checked in, we noticed quickly that it was not the best hostel we had ever been in. The kitchen was a little dirty, the room was very tiny and there were many windows but no curtains, so that we were woken up very early in the morning by the sun. Besides, there was only one bathroom and it was on the lower floor. So if we had to go to the bathroom, we first had to take a little trip around the house. To make it worse, we had a roommate who was snoring the whole night and the room didn’t smell good.

Exploring the city

We unpacked our suitcases and set off to explore the city. First, we walked through the Queen Street Mall. Thereby, we directly noticed that there are much better shopping possibilities than in Sydney. Afterwards we walked over the Victoria Bridge to the other side of the river. We stood in front of the famous “Brisbane” letters and took some photos and in front of the Ferris wheel. Afterwards we went to South Park Bank and sat at the pool there.

Than we walked over a small market, which was directly at the South Park Bank, along the river and then we walked back through the city to the hostel. In the evening there was a BBQ in the hostel in which we participated. There were sausages, onions and bread.

Not the biggest selection but as a backpacker we take everything that is free to save money. After the BBQ we did a workout in our hostel room again.

The lights of Brisbane

Afterwards we went back to the city, because we were so motivated to go for a walk.

In the night there are so many lights in different colours in the city. So that we said that Brisbane is more beautiful at night than Sydney. Still, my favourite city will always be Sydney. We were once again at the Ferris wheel and at the Brisbane letters, which shone in different lights at night.

After some time we went back to the hostel and went straight to sleep, because we were pretty exhausted. Unfortunately we could not sleep well because the light was on all night in the corridor and shone into our room.

Walking, walking and walking

In the morning we were woken up very early by the sun. While one of my friends took part in a free city tour in the morning, I was still in the hostel with the other girl. We lay in bed for a while and I did my laundry.

Then we walked to the botanical garden, because we did not want to spend half the day in the hostel. The botanical garden was very beautiful. It was very quiet, there was a fountain in a pond and in the background you could see the skyline of the city. There was also a rather large field with flowers and in between there were paths of meadow, which was very beautiful.

After we wanted to make our way back to the hostel to pick up the other girl, we got a message from her that she would go to Mount Coot-Tha with two girls from the hostel. Since we did not want to spend the day in the hostel either, we decided to join.

Since we are all somehow a little bit stingy as backpackers and Google Maps showed us that it would be (only) 7.7 kilometers there and we would make it in 90 minutes, we decided to walk instead of paying money for the bus.

After we walked along the main road for over an hour while the sun was shining down on us and our feet slowly started to ache we stopped for a short time to look again how far it still is. A glance at the phone revealed that it is still a 30 minute walk. A second look at the phone revealed that we had entered Mount Coot-Tha Botanic Garden as our destination and not Mount Coot-Tha Lookout Point.

So then we changed our destination on the phone. Then it showed us that it is no longer 30 minutes of running but still one hour. Since we were already a little sweaty, we decided to take the bus now. At least then we only had to pay 2,50$ for the trip instead of 4$ if we would have driven there directly from the city.

While we took the bus up the steep route to the Lookout Point, we quickly realized that it made sense to drive the rest of the way and not to fight our way up the mountain. When we arrived at the top, the other girls were already waiting for us at the bus stop. They told us that the bus we had just gotten off was the only bus that would be going back to the city in the next 90 minutes and that up at the Lookout Point there was only the view over the city and nothing else to see.

So we thought about what we wanted to do now. As I did not want to have driven up there for nothing without seeing anything, I was determined not to take the same bus back. The girl I went upstairs with immediately got back on the bus because her feet hurt from all the walking. The other one we met at the Lookout Point said she would walk down again.

Together with her I went to the Lookout Point and walked down. At the same time we passed the botanical garden. Then we made a little detour and walked along the river. Because we did not want to walk along the main road, where there was nothing to see anyway. After two hours we arrived at the hostel with aching feet and completely exhausted. The other girl was already back and after she told us that she had to pay 5$ for the return trip, we were relieved to have walked.

It was cloudy all day long and right in the moment we arrived at the hostel it started to rain. That evening we just lay in bed and went to bed early.

Taking everything that’s free

First thing in the morning I woke up with sore muscles in my calves from walking to much the day before.

After breakfast, I went off with only one of my friends, as the other girl was sick. Then we met one of the girls we had met in Surfers Paradise in our hostel room. Together we went to Brisbane City Hall and took part in a 15 minute guided tour, which was free.

We only went up the bell tower in a 90 year old elevator, could see over the city from there and then we went down again. Then we looked around a little in the museum before we left again.

Discovering Brisbane with old roommates

We walked through the city centre for a while before we made our way to the river. There we took the ferry and crossed the river under the Story Bridge.

In New Farm we got out of the ferry and walked along the river with the view of the Story Bridge back to the place where we got on the ferry.

On the way we met up with the guy we had met in Byron Bay. Then we walked through China Town to the botanical garden. There we had a little break of about one hour. There we decided to have dinner with two friends of the guy. We went to a burger restaurant and talked a lot. In the evening the guys dropped us off with their camper in front of our hostel. The way we were driving through the streets was not that legal. We couldn’t put seat bels on as the camper wasn’t designed for more than two people. With my luck I already saw the police stopping us and we have to pay very high bills. Luckily the police didn’t caught us, since it wouldn’t had been the first time I get in touch with them in Australia haha.

The trees of Light

Our last day in Brisbane we spent in the hostel. Both of my friends were sick and I didn’t really want to go to the city on my own. It is also a good idea to come down a bit, when we are in a different place every few days and always see something new.

In the evening we left the hostel, because we wanted to go to the Trees of Light. The two trees were so beautiful and we could take such amazing pictures. We had even been there the night before when it was not yet completely dark, but hadn’t noticed that these are the Trees of Light, as there are so many trees on the road in Brisbane, which are lit up at night.

The next day we continued our journey up the east coast to Noosa. If you would like to know what we experienced during our time in Noosa, please read my next blog post Australia’s beautiful nature in Noosa – Australia Travel Diary.