So. It has been a while since I have posted. Since Heron Island, I believe. Wow.
Anyways, I have been in and around Brisbane since the golden day of Heron Island.
Brisbane is much more of a livable city than Sydney, which means there is less to do in means of touristy stuff. Some of my favorite parts of Brisbane include: Tea, etc., which I am known to frequent for its bubble tea; the river, which is pretty and has nice walking tracks along it; Queen St. Mall, which is full of restaurants, sometimes street performers, and good people-watching; and Hotel Ibis, where I get delicious breakfast and work a lot.
My weekend expeditions have included:
1) Moreton Island with Matt and Hannah. It was a nice island and the first I saw a "desert." We played in the desert for a while, vainly attempting to board down the dunes, explored the water around the shipwrecks, and battled a plague of mosquitoes before going to a nearby resort, playing pool and doing karaoke. The next day, we went on a hike, and it rained. A lot.
2) Outback with Matt, Sheri, and Jourdan. Oh my goodness. I could write a book about this weekend. We were attempting to backpack for the entire weekend, but we were forced to turn around on Day 1 because of: 1) Heat 2) Trail destroyed by rain 3) Venomous snakes 4) No one else on the trail 5) Biblical plague of flies and mosquitoes (notice a pattern?) 6) Insufficient pace. At least Standley Chasm was nice! We got a ride back to Alice Springs from the nice bloke working at the Chasm. Later that night, I ate emu, croc, camel, and buffalo. Later still, we got stoned by Aboriginals (meaning, they threw rocks at us). Rough racial tensions in that town. Hostel was good. Explored around some museums and stuff the next day, John Butler Trio free concert that night. Solid. Still racial problems. Not solid.
To be continued...
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Just found your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteAh, hiking in the outback. Not the same as hiking anywhere else.
The flies are actually fairly normal - even a little lower in number - for this time of year. The trails are generally very quiet, with few other hikers; this can be seen as a good thing, if you're looking for solitude. The snakes... well, they're there pretty much year-round. They have short fangs, so if you wear jeans and decent hiking shoes and don't try to pick them up, you're ok.
Nothing to do about the heat if you're not acclimated to it. Good thing you turned back, heatstroke is a nasty thing. Although really, for this time of year, it was about 5-10 degrees cooler than normal. (if you think I'm kidding, have a poke around the Australia bureau of meteorology's website. They have seasonal averages for most locations stretching back decades.)
I know people who hike at night with flashlights year-round, and people who hike all day in winter time around July, but nobody who hikes mid-day in summer here.