Five months ago (no judging), Matt and I went to Brisbane to
be there for my friend’s wedding and celebrate my 30th birthday. It
was definitely a memorable experience.
We stayed at an Air BnB place for the first time and had a
nice 1 bedroom place to ourselves. The first night we just hung out in the city
and walked around which was nice. While walking around a park we were wondering
why nobody was there and realised it makes a huge difference to have nearly
half the population that Sydney does.
The second day we went to Australia Zoo on the Sunshine
Coast. This zoo is easily my favourite now. I really liked the layout,
transportation, unique animals and shows, and of course the tigers. They had a
very large area where you can pet the kangaroos, which was pretty awesome since
I didn’t have to wait my turn to pet one.
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| Bindi Irwin singing at Australia Zoo |
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| The crocodile show with the Irwin family |
After the zoo we headed to a huge inflatable water park. It
is in a man-made beach and the water was great, except getting out of the water
onto the inflatables was quite hard. I had a hard realisation that I was VERY
out of shape. I fell in the water doing a small rope swing and after finally
getting back on the course I was so winded I had to wait a while to get my
breath back. Matt and I went onto the biggest tower and jumped off. Somehow my
flip didn’t go so well and I ended up getting a bad headache. Later we headed
to the big rope swing and my grip slipped and got caught on the rope. Not only
did my jump fail, I sprained two of my fingers in the process. I was pretty
much done after that even though we still had time left over.
We didn’t have towels so we air-dried and watched the next
group. I got some ice to wrap my fingers that were pretty swollen by then.
Despite my sprained fingers all seemed well until a bit later Matt noticed he
had a rash developing all over his skin. It was the worst on his neck. We
guessed it was bacteria in the water so after showers we thought it would go
away. After it didn’t go away we did some research and decided it was actually
a parasite. Had we just towelled off afterwards we should have been fine, but
because we didn’t Matt had to deal with an itchy and painful rash that didn’t
go away for at least a week. It was odd that I didn’t have any issues – maybe
parasites are picky?
The next day was my 30th birthday. We made plans
to go to Moreton Island by ferry and spend the day there. I figured when we
would get there we would see what we could do, but that was difficult when we
got off the boat and didn’t know where to go. We had to walk about 20 minutes
down the beach to get to the Tangalooma Resort. There we found a place to hire
snorkelling gear and kayaks which sounded the best for the time we had.
Unfortunately, Matt discovered when we went to the ATM to get cash out that he
didn’t have his card. When he used his card to pay for the ferry parking he
never got it back. We called the ferry, but it had just left. Had we discovered
it while on the ferry all would have been well.
I was not going to let my birthday go downhill. I have had
too many birthday failures and this was not going to be one of them. So I
didn’t what anyone would do, I asked random people for money. We worked out a
deal with a nearby couple where they took out $400 in cash for us and I
transferred money through my phone to their bank account. It’s a little risky
as it can take a couple of days to show up for them, but we exchanged contacts.
Not only were they amazing at taking the risk, but I was so grateful for the
easy method of transferring money to people! They messaged me later in the day
to say they got the money. Meanwhile we enjoyed a nice kayak to some sunken
ships where thousands of fish and some small sharks hang out and snorkelled. By
sharks I mean wobegongs so no fear of getting eaten. Although the water wasn’t
perfectly clear, it was still one of the best snorkelling experiences I have
ever had. The beach was nice, the water was great, and the weather was
beautiful so I would say my birthday was a complete success. It got even better
as I met with all the girls going to the wedding include the bride to be for an
Italian dinner. Best birthday I’ve had in a long time.
The following day we went to Cate’s wedding at the BrisbaneLDS Temple. She looked absolutely beautiful and I was so happy to share that experience with her. After the temple a bunch of us went to lunch at Sizzlers(for my American friends, yes that is the same chain as in the US). It was a great choice after a long morning and hot day. Afterwards we went to the ring ceremony and wedding reception at a lovely venue with some great views. The ceremony was great, the food was fantastic, and the company was amazing. There were some unusual speeches, but we easily felt that Kikki had the most amazing funny and heartfelt speech. I am so grateful to be part of Cate’s village! Right as the newlyweds headed off it started to pour rain so it was a good time for everyone to head out.
Sunday we got to enjoy the early morning sunrise one more time before saying goodbye to Brisbane. We toured the botanical gardens before heading out. There was so much to miss as we left: the early morning sunrise, the weather, the friends, the beautiful parks, the many friendly people we met, and other perks of a less populated city. I was sad to go back home even though other beauties and friends awaited me there.
The days following were public holidays so it was really nice to also have that time to just relax and catch up on laundry and things. It was a great holiday!
