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Dinner With a View in Brisbane
Last night was Jana’s (my German friend that I worked with in Barcaldine) last day in Australia so we decided to have a little farewell dinner before parting ways. After strolling around the city, doing errands and eating sushi, we stopped by Coles and bought a mix of all our favorite finger food, such as prawns with lemon, baugettes, cheese, strawberries, olives, chips and a bottle of rose wine before heading back to the apartment just in time to see the sun set.
Ivy and Eve Riverside Apartments in Brisbane
During her last days in Brisbane, Jana rented an apartment in the newly built Ivy & Eve riverside apartments located in South Bank and it’s safe to say that I am in love! The self-contained apartments has that resort-amosphere that makes you feel like you’re staying at a luxury hotel instead of “just an apartment”. Not only do they have the most insane view over the Brisbane river, the Wheel of Brisbane and the stunning skycrapers in CBD – they also have pretty much all the facilities you could possibly dream of. How about a large recreation deck overlooking the city with a pool, heated spa, gym, an outdoor cinema (!), a big teppanyaki table which makes it possible to host amazing dinner parties, outdoor pizza owens and grills and a large “event room” that you can book for parties and gatherings.
Even if it’s currently in the middle of the winter here in Australia, it doesn’t really show on the temperature which is one of the reasons why I love Brisbane. Most days here are sunny and last week we had some days with 27 celsius! But even if it’s warm, the sun still sets quite early, around 5:30 p.m, so we were just in time to set the table before the sun went down and the skyscrapers lit up in the dark.
Self contained apartments
If you are looking for an alternative to hotels and want to have your own kitchen to be able to cook and get that “homey” feeling (that I really missed after travelling for 4 months), I would really recommend booking an apartment at Ivy & Eve Brisbane, even if it’s only for a few nights. A one room riverside apartment costs around 100 euro/night, and considering how expensive a single room at a hotel or even hostels is (I’ve paid around 60 AUS dollars/night for a single room at hostels during my first weeks in Australia…), sharing an apartment here with a friend or even alone is well worth the price. I promise, you won’t want to check out.
Ivy & Eve Brisbane
1, 2 or 3-room self-contained apartments
Adress: 22 Merivale Street, South Brisbane, 4101 -
Eleven Rooftop, Brisbane
The weekend is almost over! I’ve been really bad at taking photos here in Australia but here’s three pics from my Friday which started with Acai bowls and coffee in the sun and ended with drinks and a wonderful view of Brisbane at Eleven Rooftop in Fortitude Valley.
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Waterfall Hike at Springwood National Park
Twin Falls Waterfall, Springwood National Park 
Natural Cave, Springwood National Park Last Saturday we drove to Springwood National Park, about 100 km south of Brisbane (1,5 h drive) for a day of hiking and exploring. As you can tell from the photos the nature here was pretty amazing and just the drive up to the mountain was so scenic that we had to do a lot of stops at different lookouts along the way.
Once there, we started with a visit to the Natural Cave before driving to Canyon Lookout where the Twin Falls Circuit Walk starts. The waterfall hike takes about 2 hours and is 4 km long and I can highly recommend a visit here. If I get the chance to visit again I will come when it’s dark so that I can see all the glow worms in the Natural Cave.
How to get there:
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Friday 13th
Heli Lounge Bar, Kuala LumpurDet är fredag den 13:e idag, min lyckodag! Och jag har varit på resande fot i över 3 månader nu, 100 dagar!
Just nu är jag på biblioteket igen att skriva ut mitt CV och efter det ska jag träffa en vän för lunch. Jag börjar känna mig lite bättre nu. Jag är fortfarande förkyld men febern har åtminstone gått ner – så i morgon eller söndag ska jag lämna mitt CV till lite caféer. Jag vill verkligen börja jobba igen snart och få någon slags rutin om jag ändå vill stanna i Brisbane ett tag. En annan prioritet är att flytta in i en mysig lägenhet – jag har fått nog av vandrarhem, hotell och AirBnb för ett tag. Jag vill bara ha hemlagad mat, en tvättmaskin och min egen adress, haha.
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Back in Brisbane
Hi! I’m back in Brisbane and I have already been here for a week. Time flies! Since i’ve been back I have done quite a lot so I’d thought I’d share some mobile pictures from what I’ve been up to the previous week:
Roadtrip from Barcaldine to Brisbane
I’ve missed Brisbane!
Beautiful sunset in Barcaldine, Australia
Last days at workLast Saturday I worked my last shift at the bar and on Sunday morning we packed the car with all of our suitcases and started the 13 hour journey back to Brisbane. My month in Barcaldine has gone by really fast and I’m very happy for all the memories. Not even many Australians have been this far out in the country so I’m glad I’ve got to experience something different.
Wild kangaroos in BarcaldineSince it’s dangerous to drive in the outback in the dark because of all the kangaroos we stopped in Roma for the night. Roma was a bit bigger than Barcaldine, but it’s still a very small country town with a population of only 6,848 people. We stayed at a motel and went out for an early dinner at an Indian restaurant, but we were already back to bed by 20 p.m haha. In the morning we ate breakfast at the local bakery before continuing the journey “home”.
Flat tire one hour from Brisbane…When we were only one hour from Brisbane, the car got a flat tire (!) in the middle of an intersection. Luckily, a super friendly man who worked in a nearby car shop had seen us and before we hardly had understood what had happened he helped us to replace the wheel. Thank God this happened close to the city and not somewhere in the outback…
Roadtrip to Noosa
After one day in Brisbane, I went on another road trip – this time to Noosa, a hippie/surf resort town about 2 hours away with car. Even if it’s winter here in Australia at the moment and the weather wasn’t on our side all of the time, it was really nice to just relax, eat good food and wine and hang out on the beach.
Eat Street Food Market
Eat Street in NorthshoreOnce back in Brisbane again, I went on a long-awaited second visit to Eat Street food market. It’s open every weekend and has over 70 food vendors + live music. If you are visiting Brisbane, I can really recommend a visit here even if it’s a bit far from town. And for all Aussie-Swedes that are craving Swedish candy, they have a little Swedish candy shop here! However, it’s very pricey – two small bags of candy cost 26 dollars which is 169 SEK.
Adress: 221D MacArthur Ave, Hamilton QLD 4007
Opening hours: Friday, Saturday: 4 – 10 p.m, Sunday 12-7 p.m
Entry fee: $3Job Hunting at Brisbane State Library
I’ve also spent many hours at, what has become, one of my favorite spots in Brisbane…. The State Library! Since I don’t have a real “home” here in Brisbane yet and live at hostels or Air Bnb’s with other people, I have realised that the library has been one of those places that I’ve been drawn to since I can just sit in peace and quiet for hours and “fix things”. I’ve been writing my English resume, searched for jobs, blogged, and looked for apartments (I’m actually here at the moment). Plus The Library Cafe is the perfect “working cafe” and serves great coffee and vegeterian pumpkin lasagne!
Exploring Brisbane
Fish Lane, a cosy street in Brisbane with nice bars and restaurantsI’ve also had some time to explore Brisbane with other backpackers. I’ve been at Fox Hotel rooftop for drinks, ate a lot of sushi, seen the new Jurrasic Park at the cinema and last but not least I’ve become sick. I guess it was about time but it still sucks. It was so funny when I told my roommate (from Japan) that I got a fever and a cold, because she immediately put on her surgical mask haha. Well, I can’t blame her. I have not been this sick for many years…
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Update från “the outback”, Australien
Det är en surrealistisk känsla att stå och blanda ”Lemon, Lime & Bitters”, hälla upp ”pots” och ”schooners” med öl och se kängurur hoppa förbi utanför fönstret i kvällsskymningen. Surrealistiskt, för att jag för knappt en vecka sen nog var den person som visste minst om öl och hur man blandar drinkar, och surrealistiskt för att det bokstavligt talat studsar förbi kängurur utanför fönstret.
Jag befinner mig i Barcaldine, en liten westernliknande stad med dryga 1400 invånare, mitt i the outback, 18 timmars bilresa från Brisbane. Jag jobbar i baren på The Commercial, ett gammalt hotell/pub tillsammans med en tysk tjej och tänkte vara här i en månad.
Att vara här känns nästan lite på låtsas, som att man är i en film. Folk går klädda i Akuubra- och cowboy hattar. Alla känner alla, alla vet vem du är. Varje kväll, när klockan närmar sig nio-tio, spelar hotellägaren Unchained Melody med Garrets Gates på jukeboxen. Igår, när vi gick till pizzerian för en söndagspizza spelade ett liveband countrymusik mitt i pizzahaket. Det slutade med att flera restauranggäster gick och hämtade sina instrument från deras bilar och plötsligt spelades det allt från country, pop och klassisk musik med violin, bara en sån sak.
Här bor jag, ovanför baren och delar balkong med Jana, tyskan jag jobbar med. Vi brukar sitta i fåtöljerna och äta frukost på morgarna.
The Commercial, Barcaldine, Queensland.
Vilda kängurur på söndagspromenaden.Jag vet att jag varit riktigt, riktigt dålig på att uppdatera här, men när jag inte upptäcker nya platser eller jobbar håller på med ett litet sidoprojekt som tar upp mycket av min lediga tid. Jag ville bara skriva en liten update för jag får nästan dagligen meddelanden av familj & vänner som skriver ”hallå uppdatera mer, man vet ju inte ens var du är. Och VAD är the outback??”
Hahah the outback, för er om inte vet är ett samlingsnamn för avlägsna och torra områden i Australien, timtals bort från befolkning eller bebyggelse. Ni kan ju tänka er hur naturen är här när det tog 18 timmar att åka hit från Brisbane. Här finns hur mycket vilda kängurus, emus, ormar, kameler (!) och åsnor som helst. Det är riktigt häftigt!
Hörs snart igen, jag har nog snart ett hundratal oskrivna inlägg från min resa som väntar på att bli skrivna…
/Sheida
