Brisbane

What a night.
With my flight to Brisbane scheduled to leave at 6 am, I’d set my alarm for 3 am to give myself ample time to get ready and get to the airport.

Thanks to people coming in at all hours after partying, I don’t think I really slept at all until around 1 am. Then, just as I’d finally dozed off, a guy came in at 2:30 am — drunk — turned on all the lights in the room, and just sat on his bed for minutes. The lights were blindingly bright and woke everyone up. Slightly annoyed, I reached down from my bed and turned them off again — only for him to turn them back on. By that point, I was properly angry. So, I got up way too early.

Turned out that was a good thing.

I wanted to book an Uber to get to the airport — usually a pretty reliable option. But for whatever reason, four drivers in a row failed to show up. One kept telling me to call him. First, he sent me the wrong number, and then, with the right one, he simply wouldn’t answer. In the end, I had to take a taxi — much more expensive — just to make it on time.

⸻

I arrived in Brisbane and, after getting lost on the way to baggage claim (who puts the luggage collection for some flights — but not all — in a completely different building?), I was picked up by Celeste. She and her husband Ben had invited me to stay with them for a bit while I’m here — we met a few months ago and stayed in touch.

Celeste drove me around and showed me the area — a place called Maleny — including the view from the aptly named Mountain View Road, which you can see in the photos.

Somehow, I actually made it through the entire day without feeling too tired, despite not having slept properly at all. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed going to bed — a really nice, properly sized bed with no one else in the room! Well, except for the kitty cat, who’s crafty enough to bend the door handle to her will and barge in unannounced. 😁Read more