The AirTrain transportation from the airport to the city of Brisbane is very accessible once you head out of the airport and is only 30au round trip. Which I ended up taking because I'm beginning to love trains and these ones have free wifi on them, genius. I then arrived into Fortitude Valley where the hostel was and got there with unpacking and taking a quick 3 hour nap from the long night i just had. I arose, got some food, talked to the staff and then talked to this amazingly young just out of high school American from Seattle named Simon who is a super down to earth college NBA basketball sports lover with years ahead of his age.
After that it was starting to get late, like 9 haha, and I felt like sleeping again so i hoped on my creaky bunk for some rest.
Woke up ready to go, Simon told me about the city cycle bike transport, and I head off picking up a bike along the way. I rode around the city not knowing which street i was going down or where it was taking and it ended up where I wanted to go which was the queens street area near the victoria bridge to the South Bank Library and all of the really cool museums that I will come back to some other time in this life. Hung around checking stuff out and uploading data at the library because the wifi is amazing.
After that I came back and played a little ball with Simon in a game of 21. It was so hot I don't remember the score but my shirt was still drenched hours after which we ended up going to the naturally made climbing walls over on kangaroo point that at night have floodlights for great visibility.
We climbed around for a bit before heading back and grabbing some food with some of the roommates.
After dinner we sat around deciding what to do and headed off to a Casino downtown for some fun. Nothing much happened besides Simon accidentally dropping his wallet which someone turned in taking only the au currency and not the US dollars, kinda weird but hope for humanity.
Headed back, went to bed, got up and packed everything up for the adventure to continue up the coast to the Sunshine Coast.
Not much music this week or youtubes but something you should definitely check out is House of Cards.
First picture is from the day I left Hobart by the way and the one with the words was done by yours truly.
Cheers for now!
36hrs of cheap travels in Brisbane
by Julian Loyola
Accommodation, transportation, night life, food and wifiu.u.
Top 3 hostels
Valley Verandahs, 5 min walk to Fortitude Valley,- 18au a night shared room mixed 11 bed, very useful kitchen with fridges, hot showers/bathrooms cleaned daily, very mellow lounge area with a tv room, and washer 3au per spin and dryer 1au per spin or a hanging dry line. Very cool and mellow place to hang at with really nice beautiful staff who are very friendly. This is where I stayed.
Bunk Backpackers, heart of Fortitude Valley - heard amazing things about this place but if your into house music bumping till 4am then go right ahead. There lowest price is 19au in a 20 bed mixed dorm and something more private like a 4 bed mixed ensuite, including w/c, runs 31au a night.
Yellow Submarine, 5 min walk from the transit centre or 10 min walk to the heart of Brisbane, - if your into a mellow place that is friendly without too much noise at night then this another cool place to stay for around 25au a night in a shared dorm of up to 12ppl. Location wise it is a walk from the main bar scene in Fortitude Valley, but right next to all the museums and the public library in South bank.
Transportation
The biggest thing I love about this city is how small it is if you love walking around, but if you want some public transportation the system is very similar to that of Sydney or Melbourne. Similar to sydney as you can use your pass, all around bus, train, and boat, to easily navigate everywhere, but its made out of paper. Melbourne on the other hand is exactly the same as in card, plastic magnetic card that you can upload money on and navigate on trams, trains, and no boats considering there isn't much of a big harbor, but is called a Myki instead of Brisbane's Go Card which allows you to use all transit just like the Myki card but different color and the use of boats. Now how to use Myki or Go, first you have to purchase a card at a train station or most 7 eleven retailers will sell you one in both cities, melbs and Briz, and then top it up with money so you can travel around on the public transportation. I don't know the exact numbers but depending on where you go is how much its going to cost so for instance going from Fortitude Valley station to Beisbane Central station its 3.80au on Go and going from Flinders Street station to Caulfield station in Melbourne its around 3.80 as well. I didn't have enough time to use the citycat which is the super cool very nice cruising looking boat system in Brisbane that takes you along the Brisbane River.
Another alternative is taxi which is your frivolous on your spending then use it in desperate needs but if you love riding cruiser bikes then go to citycycles.com and rent a bike for 2au a day or 11au for a week. Citycycles is very similar to the system in Europe but you have to go online, pay, get a number, register a pin, and then your good to go because you walk up check a bike out, make sure it has a helmet, tires are pumped, etc., and then go to the touch screen for typing in your number to rent the bike out. But there's a trick in renting the bike out because the system is meant for going from one spot of the town, point A, to the next, point B, and docking your bike rather than taking the bike for the whole day. So when I say trick, you should only have the bike 25 minutes before docking it somewhere else near where you are, and if you don't know where a dock station is the website has a map of all the stations in the city. Save your wallet from screaming and get some exercise for your body's future by using the bike system, I did.
Top 3 happening bars if you want to have a good time all situated in Fortitude Valley
Alhambra lounge - playing tons of good house music with new DJ's every week
Cloud land - situated in what feels like a disco scene to amazon plant garden and very cool restaurant that has a retractable roof, this place is very fun and has a great ambiance for young energy.
Birdee Num Num - the perfect backpacker/student/young blood vibe with a very cool outdoor ambiance and bar that is very unique, a definite must see for a pickup.
Top 3 Restaurants that might allow you dance a little off your bill
Guzman y Gomez
Location: Fortitude Valley
Trading hours: Lunch & Dinner
If your into chipotle or Barbecoa then this is a spin off of their assembly food line concept but the Australian version. The prices range in what you want, burrito, taco, salad, burrito bowl, up to mostly 12au and is another great place to refuel with healthy options included.
Taro's Ramen & Cafe
Location: 363 Adelaide st. in the city central
Trading hours: Lunch & Dinner
If you love ramen like I do then you will love this place which is only 13.80au for a big bowl of delicious noodles, MSG not included btw.
Coles or Woolworths
Location: all over the city
Trading hours: 7am to 12pm 7 days a week
If your in the mood of making dinner and having control over what your wanting to eat then these supermarkets have great deals on packaged 4 green salad mixes that are 3au, bag of grapes for 2.90au, rotisserie chickens 8.50 to 10.50au, and all other goodies for low prices so you don't have to hurt your budget.
Wifi
There is tons of free wifi all throughout the city under the name citycouncil in parks or in city squares that you can find online googling free wifi Brisbane and it will pull up a map with all the wifi hotspots. If you want something with a little more power in uploading huge amounts of pictures and if you don't have a connection to begin with in finding the free wifi then feel free to ask someone where the state of Queensland library is.
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