Feeling retched in Brisbane

Make it go away.  I can’t shake this cold.  The headaches, coughing, sore throat and runny nose are really getting me down.  Physically I’m feeling awful and, understandably, it’s having an effect on my emotions. 

As the title of this post states, I’m in Brisbane.  It’s awful to say, but I really wish I weren’t. 

This reticence toward my geographic situation is likely due to many factors

a)      I’m generally displeased with the world as a whole right now.

b)      I like Auckland and I’d rather be there, where I’d made myself a few fleeting friends and had started to get the lay of the land.

c)     This hostel is light years away from cosy, unlike the place I stayed at in Auckland, which really did feel like a house.  Here, the floor of my room (I splurged and got a single tonight in the hopes of getting a better night’s sleep and aid my road to recovery) is bare concrete. 





It’s been painted, but there are areas where the paint has chipped, and little bits of grey rock keeps sticking to my socks and getting transferred to the bed.
The walls in all the common areas are festooned with rules, warnings and admonitions like “Don’t steal!” and “Don’t use the kitchen sink to brush your teeth or shave.”  It’s hardly welcoming, even for those of us not planning on stealing or taking care of our hygiene in the kitchen.  Oh, and there’s no Internet, so though I’m writing this Monday night, I won’t get to post it until Tuesday at the earliest (as predicted, it;s now Tuesday and I'm having to post this from an Internet cafe where pimply, unhealthy youths are talking loudly).

d)      I landed at 5:55 and was greeted with a darkened night sky, pouring rain, and unseasonably cold weather (18 degrees).  I was really looking forward to warmth and sun without the risk of flash rainstorms that Auckland was so often delivering.

The only real reason I’m here is that I needed to land in Australia before October 19^th to activate my working holiday Visa, and I figured I’d take advantage of the warmer climates and get certified for scuba diving.  Alas, not one of the six or so PADI centre is offering a course that fits in to my schedule, so I’m out of luck.   I now wish I’d made my port of entry Cairns (where I’d be sure to find a scuba course) or Sydney (where I could have visited a very good friend).

But in Brisbane I am and I will make the best of it.  I’ll take this time to really relax and hopefully get better very soon.  On Wednesday or Thursday I may also head out to Moreton Island where there are wild dolphins that come in to shore to be fed (though I’m a little against this taming of them).  I’m planning on heading over to North Stradbroke Island, a little slice of paradise that my friend and I discovered when we were here last year.  I’ll hopefully spend a few days walking along nearly-isolated beaches, spotting stingrays and sea turtles. I’m looking forward to it.

Lazy in Auckland

It`s really unpleasant being sick in a hostel.  I'm tired, I'm cranky, I just want to be left alone or be waited upon.  Neither is bound to happen.

I'm also keenly aware that I'm very likely sharing my germs with the four strangers with whom I'm cohabitating.  I know I'd hate having to share quarters with a sicko. Everyone's been very nice though, and I'm taking care to wash my hands frequently and to sneeze into my sleeve. 


There's a fifth bed off camera.  Mine's the one furthest to the right.

There's a nice group of people here at the moment.  On Friday nine of us headed out to a bar downtown and had a pretty good time (I got hit on!  Twice!).  And yesterday five of us went to a nearby Japanese restaurant for dinner.

There's a pair of Scottish brothers who seem hell bent to prove the stereotypes about their countrymen true.  They're a total riot, and I'm amazed at their consumption levels and apparent lack of any repercussions.  There's also deux français who are really great.  They actually jumped to my defence yesterday when another very snooty French chick made some derogatory remark about my accent  (Vache.)

The last two days have been less than eventful.  The combination of cancelled ferries (which were to take me to one of the nearby islands yesterday or today) and the common cold have rendered me lazy and unambitious. 

Yesterday my only real accomplishment was doing my laundry.  The rest of the day I holed up in the room and alternately read or watched tv on the Internet. I finally succumbed to cabin fever and went for a walk at around 3:00, but it wasn't a long one, and I was soon back on my comfy bed.  I did rouse myself long enough to go to that aforementionned dinner however (don't want to appear too antisocial).



Today the weather is predictably unpredictable.  At the moment it's raining cats and dogs but ten minutes ago, it was gorgeous and sunny.  In ten minutes it'll probably be back to blue skies.  When dressing, layers is definitely the name of the game here.  What hasn't been erratic is the wind.  It's been steady for the past three days.  The sidwalks are littered with debree from trees -- branches, palm fronds, leaves, flowers -- and I was cursing my decision to leave the hostel without a hat to keep my hair in check.



This is very likely the wost length of hair to have, wind-wise.  It's long enough that it hits you in the face, but too short to tie back in a ponytail.

 But leave the hostel I did.  I went for coffee (flat white!) with one of my roommates and then I headed up solo to Mount Eden, one of the 49 dormant volcanoes in the Auckland area.  This one boasts the title of highest natural point in Auckland at 196 feet.  There's a cone at the top that's 50 feet deep and pretty cool to see.  (weather update: now sunny and gorgeous).

Some 15,000 years ago, that grassy knoll was liquid hot MAGMA (cue Dr. Evil pinky mouth)

The view from up there is pretty spectacular too.



On top of the world!

Tomorrow I unfortunately have to leave for Brisbane.  I had booked the flight months ago with the idea of just landing here to activate my Visa, then heading up to warmer Australia to do the same.  The plan was to get my scuba diving certification, but it appears that there aren't any courses being offered next week in the Brisbane area. My only option would be to either fork out $400 to take a flight up to Townsville, or sit on a bus for 8 hours each way.  No thanks. 

(weather update: raining so hard it feels like the windows will open)

So looks like I'm headed to Brisbane without a solid plan.  I'll likely head to the marvelous North Stradbroke Island, and take advantage of its uncrowded beaches, and maybe do one or two touristy things. 

Let's just hope the weather is better than here :)