Caley Haydu
Spring 2024
Australia
April 08, 2024
Weekend Trip to Brisbane:
About a week ago, I decided to take a weekend trip to Brisbane, Australia. I left Saturday around 5:30 pm and arrived in Brisbane around 6:40 pm (I thought it would be a very short flight but it turns out there was a time change). Not a very long flight regardless, only about 2 hours!
They even gave you a warm snack and chocolate for your refreshment which was fantastic! The airports in Australia were also super easy to navigate. They felt a lot simpler than the SeaTac or PDX airports. Lots of people just had their boarding pass on their phones and you were able to just walk in the door straight up to security. There was no line on the way to Brisbane, which was awesome! It only took about a minute to send my stuff through and get checked. A lot less stressful than home and they even let you keep water in your water bottle!
Airplane snacks
I took an uber to the hotel room I was staying at, which was only about a 10-minute drive. I asked one of the airport workers the best way to get to the hotel, and after they looked at the public transport routes they suggested an Uber (it was going to be over an hour and a half by public transport). Airport staff members are so nice here! It’s awesome! A much friendlier experience than some I have had back home. I spent Saturday evening finishing up some homework so I could explore on Sunday!
Sunday morning I enjoyed some complimentary breakfast and then headed out to the city. It was about a 30-minute ride by bus, so not too bad. I did end up learning though that in Brisbane you have to hail the bus drivers to get them to stop; in Melbourne, they just stop if they see you. That was different and I was glad I found out before I ended up missing a bus!
Since I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, I just set off exploring. There was one bakery (Brooki Bakery) that I was planning to go to, so that was my first stop. I bought a nutella cupcake and a chocolate fudge brownie (both of which were quite delicious). I then headed down to a river walk along the Brisbane River. It was super cool because the city is built all the way up to the edge of the river and it reminded me of Seattle back home!
The desserts I got
The animals in the gardens
Eventually I made my way to the Brisbane botanic gardens. They were super cool! (I think I liked them a bit more than the Melbourne gardens actually). There were so many cool plants and animals. I saw some new types of birds and even some really big lizards! It definitely seems very tropical in Brisbane. Back in Melbourne there are some green areas but the majority seem to be shades of brown.
The gardens here even have “fairy trees” (trees with fairy lights on them) that light up when it gets dark. I’m returning to Brisbane for a few days during the Easter break, so hopefully I can check them out! After walking around the gardens, I ended up going to a 7-11 closer to where I was staying to get some dinner and snacks. They’ve have some good options here! Then I enjoyed my night watching a movie before heading back to Melbourne in the morning!
– Caley