Welcome to my Queenslander home....and a few koalas and kangas too!

I've decided, since being back "home" for the past week, that I should probably update you with some current happenings in the Brisbane area (namely my accommodation and such) since you all probably are itching to know exactly what my house looks like and how cool it is.

I live in the "city" which I know sounds weird because, yes, Brisbane is a city. But in fact, the term "city" refers to the downtown area of Brisbane. I'm in a suburb called Spring Hill, and it's about a 5 minute walk to the major Brisbane mall, all the bus stops and the CityCat (the coolest method of transport known to man!!). It's a great location - I'm a 10 minute walk from the Southbank area (which has it's own beach, cha-ching!!!) and all the amenities I need are so close. The one downside is that I'm about 30 minutes away from the University by either a bus, or the CityCat. It's not too bad, considering I have to be on campus for the entire day most days, but it would have been convenient to be able to walk to and from. Actually, the CityCat is quite relaxing - it's a catamaran that takes you down the river and drops me off right close to the main portion of campus. On sunny days (which is almost everyday, sorry to rub it in Becky!) it's gorgeous to sit out on the deck for the ride! Still, I'm going to have to resort to carrying all my load of crap with me, as I don't want to catch a bus back and forth multiple times a day. Not only does it take a while, but it's EXPENSIVE. Stuff here is almost DOUBLE the price back home. To give you an example, here was my grocery list from last week:

1. Apples (3)
2. Cereal
3. 6 yogurt cups
4. Cottage cheese
5. Chicken breast
6. Bread
7. Mustard

Guess how much that set me back? You would probably guess around 20 bucks, depending on the quality of the meat etc. Nope. It cost me over 36 dollars!!! How ridiculous eh? Serisouly, I'll be living off pasta and rice for the next few months or I will go broke! (Kidding Dad - I will spend decent money on good food.....the fresh fruit and seafood are just too good to pass up, even if they break the bank!!)

Anyways, my room and house itself are great. I have 4 other roommates, Carol from Aussie, Dave from NZ, Mohammad from Asia somewhere and Shiva from India. I get along great with all of them, and we've had a couple late nights together this week cooking amazing curries and asian cuisine! I told them all that in return, I would bake my famous chocolate chip cookies (Mohammad wants me to add macadamia nuts, so perhaps I will) and share some "Canadian"cuisine with them! Dave already has asked me if I have stashed away some maple syrup, but sadly, it didn't make the trip with me down under!

 

My room in the house - I've made it home-y with some photos of the famjam!

 

 

The view of my desk and fridge...and more photos!

 

I've included photos of my room, which is pretty small but all I need. We each have our own fridges in our rooms to store food, a common kitchen and bathroom and a patio upstairs for the hot nights. We also have FULL CABLE TV!!! Such a bonus for me, since back home in Kingston we don't have one. I've been regularly staying up late watching replays on the Olympic games, but it's sad because the Aussie news people really only focus on the Aussie's. I had to wait 2 FREAKIN hours to see 30 secs of the Canada vs. USA game. Balls. I've heard from friends though, that perhaps it was for the best that I didn't catch the game live. Yikes!!

 

The kitchen area

 
 

The large bathroom

 

On a completely different note, Derek, Andrea and I will be parting ways tonight. They go up to Noosa and continue up north for the rest of the 3 months while I stay here and pursue my studies. We had one last shindig together at the Lone Pine Koala Reserve here in Brisbane, which I will tell you about shortly. I've had a blast with them, and I hope to catch up with them sometime around my birthday before Andrea heads back home!!

So, the Koala Reserve. AMAZING. I can't really put into words how awesome it was visiting this place. They have a huge amount of land dedicated to all these Australian animals - dingoes, wombats, kookaburras, Tasmanian devils, koalas and of course, kangaroos. I have to say my 2 favourite parts were the koala holding and the kangaroo enclosure. In the kangaroo enclosure, roos are free to hop around and they are quite used to people. You can feed them by hand, and they will allow you to pet them! I've never seen a kangaroo up so close, and within minutes, I was petting them and feeding them! They were adorable and I want to go back SO bad when the family arrives.

 

My first encounter with a kangaroo!

 

 

More roos and a lone wombat - they were cute also!!

 

The other best part was holding the koala. It was expensive to do so, and Derek scoffed at me paying the price, but it wasn't just about the koala. Ever since mom passed away, and we all went through her photos together for the funeral, I remember stumbling across the photo of her holding a koala while on her own trip to Australia. I remember thinking, "I want to do this too!" When the koala was placed into my hands, I almost cried. I thought of mom, how she is always with me, and how proud she would be to know that I am here, taking on this big adventure and following her footsteps. The koala was so much more than a koala...it was almost a link to mom. Would it be sappy to say that I really felt her presence at that moment?? Mom - you are my hero and I love you always!!

 

Some koala photos

Apart from the reserve visit, my days in Brisbane have been occupied with the beginning of orientation week and getting courses organized. I think I'll save those exciting stories for another post, since I'm supposed to meet up with a friend to find our rooms for next week.

As always, thanks for reading and keep those emails coming! OH - and if you really wanted to get on my good side, I would LOVE snail mail if you got the chance to write! My address down here in Brisbane is:

Danielle Downe
R2 - 25 Twine Street
Spring Hill, Brisbane, QLD
Australia
4000

Until next entry,

xoxo Danielle