Gay Clubs and Futurama Quotes: My Time in Brizzie

So I'm back from Brisbane, the capital of Queensland (one of Australia's states). While I'm glad I can say that I went there, it wasn't nearly as awesome as Sydney, and I'm glad to be back.

Dave and I share a passion for Futurama and liberal politics, so many of our conversations revolved around quoting episodes and debating what makes a person ready to have a child (among other things). We stayed in a hostel in the center of Brisbane in a 4-person room. The first few nights, our roommates were a 29-year-old British man named Dave as well and a German guy named Yup (I'm spelling it phonetically, I don't know how that would be spelled in German). The last two nights it was a Korean guy named Doram, I believe...I forget exactly. He didn't talk all that much.

The first night, however, we stayed with Dave's friend Geoff. We checked out The Wickham, one of the main gay bars (I spent a lot of time with gay people this weekend). Since it was Anzac Day, old people were wandering around wearing medals. One older gentleman had come into the club, so I stopped to talked to him. He had fought in the Vietnam War. He was so funny. He asked me if I was at the pub with my boyfriend, and when I responded no, he said, "Oh, that's right..." Although that wasn't the reason why I didn't have my boyfriend there, he had the logic right. Then, a young man started shaking his booty in front of us, and the veteran tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, you're lucky I'm not gay!" I laughed pretty hard, but Dave and Geoff were ready to leave, so I politely exited the conversation.

Thursday we wandered around the city and I went shopping while Dave met up with another friend, Rob. We all went to dinner, and then Dave and I went to The Beat, another club. The club was split about 50/50 guys and girls, which was nice. Often clubs are dominated by one gender or the other.

Friday we went to the Carlton Brewery for a tour. It was interesting, not a bad way to spend the morning, and I got a few things at the gift shop plus a chance to pour a beer at the tap! Dave wanted a Pure Blonde (aka one of the girliest beers ever) so I poured it for him, with barely any foam. One step closer to my new dream of being a bartender.

The highlight of the trip, however, was Friday afternoon. We went to the Lone Pine Koala Santuary, and I got to hold a koala and pet kangaroos!! I saw a baby koala on its mommy's back too!! It was amazing. I bounced around excitedly while Dave followed me around sighing, the jaded Aussie.

Koalas' fur is a lot stiffer than you'd expect, and a kangaroo's fur is softer than you'd expect, especially after holding a koala. Visitors could feed the kangaroos and wallabies (they look like kangaroos but they're smaller), so the kangaroos would come up, sniff my hand, and, realizing that I had no food, hop off.

Saturday we went to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast. It's the toursit capital of the Gold Coast, home to the gold-bikini meter maids who roller-skate around and put money in the meters. I hoped to see one, but I think they may be seasonal. It was cold and gray, and I didn't have my bathing suit to swim. Thus, Surfer's Paradise was kind of boring.

Sunday I went to the markets in South Bank and Riverside (two neighborhoods in Brizzie) and took the CityCat and the Ferry. Brisbane is divided into two sections by a river, so you have to cross the river by boat or by a bridge. My favorite bridge was the Goodwill Bridge, followed closely by the Victoria Bridge (can you guess why?). The main one, however, is the Story Bridge. Underneath Story Bridge is Kangaroo Point, a park with a beautiful view of the main part of the city. I wandered around the park and the rest of the penisula for awhile before heading back to the main part of the city, where Dave and I met up with Rob again for dinner.

We went to Pancake Manor, an amazing resturant that's in a converted cathedral. It's open 24-7 and serves gourment pancakes. I had Blackforest Cherry, chocolate pancakes with chocolate ice cream and cherries. It was amazing but I was full halfway through. After dinner, Rob was going to come with us to Family, one of the best clubs in Brisbane (it goes gay on Sunday nights), but he was too tired. Dave and I went and hung out for a bit until we decided we needed some sleep before heading home the next morning.

So that was my weekend in Brisbane. Boring city. Sydney has so much more life to it. I love my pseudo-home!

9 weeks and 2 days left until I'm back in the States.