Lamington National Park & Brisbane

Friday November 13th at 830 we walked over to the bus stop and Maz & Cat, our study abroad coordinators, picked up 16 of us and we headed out to Lamington National park for a hike in the rainforest. It was about an hour and 45 min drive up a curvy road around some very tight switchbacks. The view from the top was so pretty. It reminded me of Northern California and Utah. The lush green mountains and the valleys full of grapes were so pretty. The air was so fresh and crisp and the temperature was just right. When we got to the park we loaded up our backpacks with lunch food and started our 5k hike down to a watering hole. When we hopped off the bus we were swarmed by tons of red parakeets! They came over and landed right on our shoulders and heads, they were definitely not afraid of humans. They were trying to steal our food and we were trying to have a peaceful walk. Even when we started walking they would stay on us and follow us wherever we went. Finally when we got to the entrance the birds left us and we started walking into the thick forest. It was nice and cool so we didn’t get hot, but the entire way down was up hill….which meant that the entire way up would be up hill.
The walk was pretty and we stopped at a waterfall then kept walking and by the time we got down to the watering hole we were all so tired and hungry that we dug into the delicious food Cat and Maz prepared for us. We were all so hesitant to sit by the water because there were leaches everywhere! By the end of the hike I had plucked off 5 leaches. There were tons in the water and some small fish, and oh yeah and a giant eel!! The eel was huge and very friendly so naturally we fed it the food we had which were some tortillas, cheese and some veggies…it didn’t go for the veggies. After lunch we packed up and headed out on the long walk all up hill back to the bus. It took what seemed like forever to walk out of the forest! It had warmed up quite a bit since we arrived so that made it even more difficult. Thankfully the boys were all walking behind me so they kept my spirits high and talked the whole way out which made it go by a little faster. When we reached the top of the hike all we wanted was water and snacks, but no, we had another little hike to go do. It was a tree top hike, basically a swinging bridge 70 ft off the ground, so we were mid-tree level. There was a very sketchy vertical ladder you could walk up and get an even higher view of the actual treetops, but I was too tired and decided I probably wouldn’t see anything anyways. Instead I just walked on the bridge admired the trees and the fresh air. When we finally made it back to the bus Maz had some yummy biscuits (cookies) for us that we all devoured in 2 minutes!
The drive back was just as pretty as the drive in, except we were all so tired that we couldn’t stay awake for the whole thing. We stopped at a winery on the way down and did a wine tasting of O’Reillys wine. I bought some delicious desert wine that is super sweet! I am saving it for Christmas, so hopefully everyone likes it ☺
The rest of the ride home I slept a little and socialized for a while with the remaining people who were awake. We got home around 530 so I jumped in the shower real quick, ate dinner and went to bed by 8! I was sooo worn out from the hike. It was so intense but good!!
Saturday I woke up and made my way to the bus stop to catch the bus to the train station, then took a train up to Brisbane to visit one of my friends I met while I was in Cairns. When I got off the train I called my friend, Katie, who I was supposed to meet around 130 but I took an earlier train so I was an hour early. She was still in her final so I just wandered around and followed the big crowds of people until I found my self on Queens Street. Queens street is a huge street that is dedicated to shopping, whatever you want you could easily find there!! I walked into a mall and went to some stores and found that everything was very expensive, so I just window-shopped for the rest of the day. I met up with Katie and we had lunch a cute café just out of the city and then we walked over to South Bank. There was a man made beach and more little shops filled with trinkets. These shops were cheaper so I bought some good souvenirs to bring home to everyone!!
Saturday night we went to O’Malley’s Irish pub and had some drinks then went out for delicious pancakes at Pancake Manor! I got Belgium waffles that were to die for!! We took the bus back to Katie’s apartment and went to sleep. I woke up at 9 on Sunday and wondered down to the local coffee shop with Katie’s roommate Kelly and we grabbed a quick bite to eat and some coffee. I stayed for a while and watched some TV, oh how much I miss TV!!!! Then decided to trek back down to bond around 1 pm. I almost made it to the train station without any problems, but of course, I took the bus two too many stops and had to get off, and take another one back in the opposite direction. I finally got to the train station and made it back on the train and was down at Bond by 430. I was exhausted but had a very fun weekend! It was so nice to see the city, its small so spending one day is plenty!!
My next big excursion is New Zealand, and shortly after that I am going home…This has gone by way too fast, but has been the time of my life!!