Brisbane: Through My Eyes

Photo Credit: Brisbanetimes.com.au

I left Chinchilla and  headed 2 hours to the east coast, where I would catch my flight from bustling Brisbane. The city was lively, musical, artsy and in bloom. Unfortunately the hostel I chose called The Tin Pan or something like that was dirty, overcrowded and stifling, with not a window in any room. I made the best of it by spending most of my visit in Brisbane exploring the outdoors and the rad art installations all around the city. 

I headed down to walk along the riverbanks of Brisbane, since the city itself is actually 9 km or so away from the ocean. It was really quite beautiful. It's where the stunning modern architecture of the city meets the natural beauty of earth, air, and water. I was giddy about all the great aarchitecture, and became even more excited about Brisbane after checking out the street buskers.  

One stands out in my memory. A slightly overweight woman with a beautiful face. I remember her like it was yesterday. She had dark hair, dark eyes and plumps lips traced in deep red. She was sitting down, proudly playing this full-bodied, enchanting song on her cello. She was dressed in this crimson red dress made of a light, lingering material, which danced in the light breeze, and draped over her body, down to the ground and across the cobblestone path. She caught my eye and as I passed my face turned to keep watching her. When I looked away I realized everyone was doing the same. She was the fire.  The city seemed to be in perfect balance.

Passing under pergolas of vines and flowers, my friend and I (who had eventually got back onto speaking terms) made our way to the outdoor markets and to the revered Spanish Restaurant, OLE.
  
The food and drinks were very good and I enjoyed the atmosphere. I started to think I should have come to Brisbane sooner. The energy in this city was so different from other Aussie cities I experienced. I had been in Sydney many times, and in honesty, it was nothing spectacular. I skipped over Melbourne, which Ive heard has an amazing nightlife (but not much else, of course depending what your interests are) and  made my way to Adelaide, which was likeable- but Brisbane, now that's my kinda place. 

If you like art, green space, local food and a community feeling in a warm, sunny place, Brisbane just might be for you.

 Fortunately my not wanting to leave was combated by the fact that I was headed for New Zealand (!), one of the greatest destinations in the world. It was looking like my wishlist was starting to come true.  

The next day I caught a direct train to the "Brissy" airport and flew over "the ditch" to Wellington, New Zealand.

Flying Solo

To all my beautiful and loyal blog-readers,
You may be asking if I have fallen off the face of the earth- I know, it's been awhile.
The answer is, YES, I have fallen off the face of the earth because I feel like Ive been living in the sky! The last 3 months have been insanely fun and filled with more flights to various destinations than I can count. Since leaving Australia I have been on the go- constantly! In exhausting times I found myself thinking of one of my favourite quotes:

The good news is I have so much to share with you- and I am going to do my best to catch you up on what's been happening to me and My Roaming Backpack as we've been checkin out the world in all it's amazingness.

As you know, Australia was a rough go for me (I can post about that later- but let's just say financially, physically, mentally, the gamble didn't really pay off and the WHV wasn't all it was cracked up to be.) However! The stellar backpacker friends I made in Chinchilla (in the middle of nowhere) were my favourite part of my whole experience and Im glad I met them- otherwise I would have left Australia with a chip on my shoulder, remember all the bad experiences I had there. Saying goodbye to those amazing people on my last days was so hard but it left me departing Australia on a happy note and with good memories. 

*Shout outs to Lydia, Marie, Julia, Elaine, Dori, Dickson, Jack, Sam, Felix and Im sure Im forgetting some people, but you know who you are!*

Now, you may know that I originally flew to Australia with my friend Scott. We had backpacked across Thailand for 9 weeks earlier in 2012 and he proved to be an excellent travel companion, however- when traveling with someone for along time "break-outs" can occur. Scott and I had a pretty massive "falling-out" (of which I won't bother getting into the dirty details) and after this argument I was very, very upset and didn't know where to go, or what to do. All I knew was that it was time for me to get back on the road- and this time, alone. 

Brisbane is beautiful in the summer. Flowers, street music, walking trails...

After we split ways I traveled Australia alone for a month and a half (which is how I ended up in Chinchilla of all places-aka- the sticks, and found my way into a great circle of new found friends in the outback), but after working out in the hot, dusty Australian nowhere I had yet another feeling it was time to get going, again. After awhile you just have a knack for these things- if you pay attention and listen closely to the signs you will know when to stay and when to go.  But then I found myself in a pre-dicament...