Up early, I asked for a second night at the Bunk hostel, and then went in search of breakfast. Found some yoghurt, so I picked that up, and ate it in one of the Chinatown plazas while reading my book.
Not a heck of a lot on the agenda for the morning, so I checked out a few shops near the hostel for a shoulder bag then headed back to the hostel to shower and get ready for my day. Headed down to the Brisbane river to get onboard the ferry. It runs all along the river, and is pretty economical. I planned on taking it a few times during the day, but actually only ended up taking it the once. Took a few pictures from the ferry, then headed to the Queen Street Mall to find a post office. Mailed a dvd of photos home, went online, walked around aimlessly (stopping occasionally to sit and read), then headed over to Nicole’s work. I was about half an hour early, so I read (and finished) my book, while I waited for her.
Nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar town. I hadn’t really expected to get to spend too much time with her, and figured I’d be lucky to be able to go out for a drink, or to grab some lunch, but lucked out because she had the day off. We headed over to a jewellery store to meet one of her very good friends. He’s going to be visiting Canada (and Lisa Dachuk) in a couple of weeks, and was a tad concerned about what footwear he’d need.
From there we headed to the GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) to check out the Andy Warhol exhibit. Was a pretty nice exhibit, with a boatload of stuff – most of which I’d seen before, but some pieces that were obviously done during a dark period of his life, as they were a tad depressing.
We were both hit with an onset of intense hunger, and were going to head to the South Bank to get some food but decided to go to the Riverside Centre instead, to a place called Friday’s. Nice patio, with a great view of the Story Bridge (they’re very big on their bridges here), we had lunch and a drink. Nicole’s dad worked not too far away (but entirely up hill – Brisbane is also pretty hilly), so we headed over there to say hello. Had another drink with Nicole’s dad and the people he works with. He’s started a new company, so they had not been in the new office for a long time. We sat and talked for an hour or so, although I think I blacked out when they started discussing cricket.
Said my goodbyes to Nicole and her dad then headed back to the hostel where I traded my book in for a John Le Carre book. Headed up to the room, and essentially lay about or slept for the next 10 hours or so. I obviously needed the rest – but tomorrow is Australia Day so chances are it’ll be another crazy day. I’m headed to Surfers Paradise at some point in the morning, and hope I can find somewhere to stay for the night.