Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane has been a breath of fresh air! We enjoyed our experiences in SE Asia, but we could never get out of the back of our mind that we were…in SE Asia. It’s the little things that are constantly in our heads that made it a challenge for us to FULLY relax and enjoy every moment. Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful time and have so many memories we’ll cherish for a lifetime, but we are excited to move on to the next chapter in this adventure. There is just something about being able to drink straight out of your faucet, brush your teeth without bottled water, being 100% confident your food won’t put you in bed/toilet for the next 5 days, knowing you can get literally anything you need/want within minutes, and many many more things…trust me. 

No, we didn’t do the all-out full immersion in the local culture, eat street food every day, while hopping from hostel/couch type of experience that others have sought in their travels, but we do feel like our two months from Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, to Bali taught us a great deal about ourselves and gave us a better perspective on others. Talk about having an opportunity to understand what #FirstWorldProblems really are and recognize what is truly valuable in our lives. We hope we never stop appreciating the littlest things that we’ve too often overlooked in the past without a second thought.

I promise you, if you are reading this, you are extremely lucky and in a better position than most people in the world to be and do whatever you want. Figure out what you want and what you don’t want/need then go out and make change happen. You can (and should) do it. Now! Think of the worst thing that could happen, accept that as a possibility, and do it anyway. Regardless of what happens, you will have learned valuable lessons and most importantly chosen to find your own path. Know we love you and we are here for you if you ever need someone to talk to while you blaze a new trail. 

OK, time to get off the high horse now, but we just wanted to share a few of the major lessons we’ve learned and hopefully see change for the better because of them.

So, Brisbane, Australia is freakin’ sweet! It reminds us so much of Seattle that we’ve felt at home from the moment we landed here. Good thing too, because we had our most uncomfortable flight yet. It was only a five hour red eye flight, but it felt like forever because they didn’t have an extra seat for Tyson unfortunately. They wouldn't let us make him a bed on the ground and he didn't fit in the bassinet so that meant we were going to need to hold him the entire time. He did fall asleep, but none of us were comfortable. Fortunately the flight attendant showed Marshall an open seat in the back of the plane so Tyson and I got to spread out into his seat (aka- Tyson nudged me off the seats and fell asleep laying across and taking them both up completely). Marshall and I spent the rest of the flight taking turns standing next to him or sitting on the edge of the seat and moving to the extra seat in the back. Tyson ended up getting almost a full night’s sleep including the sleep at the airports, but we didn't sleep a wink. 
 
We arrived at our hotel around 7am (+2 hr time difference from Bali). Unfortunately our room wasn’t ready and the receptionist said the earliest it would be ready was 11am. What. The. Heck. Oh well, at least it’s still 3 hours before their normal check in time. But we had no idea what to do with no car in a new city/country for the next four hours?? We asked the receptionist where the nearest Starbucks was (surprised?) and the guy said there happened to be one right across the street. Score! We left our bags at the hotel and wandered across the street. Tyson had fallen asleep in his stroller since we got out of the taxi so we parked him in a little corner spot and Marshall and I sat in comfy chairs next to him. This Starbucks was tiny with only a few tables and on a busy downtown intersection, but that didn't stop us from falling straight to sleep after finishing our coffees. We'd occasionally be woken up by business people in suits coming in and out on their way to work or nudging their way past to grab a table giving us strange looks. There wasn’t a time we woke up without someone staring at us. Maybe we were snoring? Honestly we didn't care at that point as we were completely exhausted and just felt totally comfortable there. A welcome feeling (and nap) to say the least.  

After Tyson woke up we decided to walk the streets of Brisbane and see what was in the area. We ended up walking through the main shopping area called Queen Street Mall. It’s always fun for me to window shop although we can’t really buy anything because we don’t have room in our backpacks. After killing four hours napping/walking we went back to our hotel to check in. It took all of two minutes to change Tyson into his Jammies and fall into bed for a long, well needed nap.

Once we were well rested we started walking toward the river in search of a place to eat lunch. We saw a sign outside of a seafood restaurant that overlooked the river saying half priced lunch. We thought we scored big time. It turns out the prices in Brisbane are so expensive that half off is about the same as full priced in the US. Hey, at least the food was great and had an awesome view. Marshall ordered a full platter of Oysters that he said were the best he'd had at a restaurant (will never be better than cooking them yourself over a fire). Tyson enjoyed his ravioli and I had chicken parmesan. After lunch we continued walking along the river and came to a big playground. Tyson got so excited he squealed and started flailing his arms around to get out of the stroller. He climbed up and down the slide about 20 times and then we saw another section of the playground that had various music making objects that Tyson loved playing with. I think Marshall had equal amounts of fun too. 

On the way back from the park we stopped at a big grocery store called Woolworths (or Woolly's in Australian). It brought back so many memories of shopping there when I lived in Sydney for three years as a kid (we moved there for my step-dads job at Boeing). I went straight to the candy isle to look for my favorite Australian candy called Turkish Delight. It’s basically a chocolate bar with raspberry jelly filling. I bit into that heavenly thing and it tasted just as delicious as I remembered. I gave Tyson a little bite and all he could say was “more, more!” (I’m glad he shares that love with me because Marshall thinks it’s nasty). After having like half of my huge chocolate bar as my appetizer I wasn’t that hungry for dinner (plus we broke the bank at the lunch restaurant) so we decided to just grab Subway for dinner. We planned to order what we generally get back at home. I like oil and vinegar on my Subway sandwiches but for some reason they don’t have it in Australia and laughed when I tried to order it. They looked at us like we were crazy when we asked for it (they said, 'you mean like olives?'). Also, their selection of chips were all things we had never heard of (not even Lays or Doritos) so we just randomly picked the ones that looked the best (they weren't). All in all, the meal satisfied our hunger....I'll say that.

The next morning we all slept in since we hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. I hadn’t been able to straighten my hair in the past week because the last hotel in Bali didn’t have a blow dryer. So I was excited to finally look like myself again. It also felt amazing to have a hot, high water pressure shower. Most of the time we were in Bali we had lukewarm showers, at best. The last hotel we stayed at in Bali had two options, a cold high water pressure shower or a hot trickle. I chose a hot trickle but you can imagine how long it took to get the conditioner out of my hair. By far for me, the best part about being in Australia is that we can finally brush our teeth with tap water. This is such a luxury after brushing our teeth with bottled water the past two months. I had no idea how much I enjoy fresh, clean running water until now. 

Once we were all ready for the day we walked over to the river to catch the ferry to another area of Brisbane to explore. Brisbane has a free ferry along the main area of the city. How cool is that? After the ten minute ride we hopped off and started exploring the area. We passed a huge ferris wheel, a man made beach, and then came to an area with a few cute little shops and restaurants. We walked into the chocolate store that also sold drinks. I saw an espresso and praline shake on the menu that I had to try. It was nice and thick just the way I like and oh so amazing. Marshall drank most of it though when I wasn’t looking. 

We continued walking and eventually made our way back toward our hotel. We grabbed Subway again for lunch and brought it out to a nearby park that had live music. Tyson was dancing around in the grass as he was mesmerized by the guy singing and playing his guitar. When he wasn’t dancing he was hand feeding birds his uneaten lunch. There are birds here with foot long beaks that have no fear of humans and will come straight up to you and eat whatever you’re offering. It was a sight to see for sure. I think more people were looking at Tyson than the musician, lol.

Later that afternoon we went for another walk along the river, but the opposite direction this time. We were all getting pretty hungry so we stopped at a place along the river that looked pretty hoppin’. It was mostly business people that had just gotten off work and Tyson was the youngest person there by about 30 years but no big deal. The restaurant was outside so we tried to corner Tyson in but he kept escaping to walk up and down the stairs nearby. Marshall and I chased after him and definitely worked up a big appetite by the time our food came. Their menus in Australia are similar to what you’d see in the US (except the price of course) so we had yummy sandwiches and flat bread.

The next morning we woke up to rain so we decided to spend the day strolling through the mall. Of course we stopped at Starbucks first so I could sip on my frap while we window shopped. We were on a mission to find some indoor fun for Tyson and generally the kid area (if there is one) is on the top story of a mall. So we took the elevator up to the top floor and it opened up to a movie theatre. Then we turned the corner and saw a big arcade area. Tyson’s eyes lit up and he ran straight for the helicopter to sit in and pretend he’s flying. Marshall on the other hand immediately starting scoping out the area looking for unclaimed tickets and tokens. He walked over to the game that you put a token into and it’s supposed to push all the other tokens over the edge. He found a jackpot of $5 worth of coins just sitting in the tray. Cha Ching!! We went straight over to the Who Wants to be a Millionaire game (which cost the whole $5) and scored 150 tickets. That got us some bubbles and a little toy tambourine for Tyson. Yay for free entertainment!

Later that evening we ate a fancy KFC dinner in our room and then Marshall wanted to have a guy’s night on the town (by himself). He stopped at a little bar for a drink and then headed over to the cinema that we found earlier that day. He got there 30 minutes early so he just sat in the theater by himself dilly dallying on his phone. By the time the movie (Trainwreck) started there was all of six people that had joined him in the theatre. Man, that sounds like a wild night out. Haha! He seemed to have fun though. Crazy what being together 24/7 turns ' a night out' into, lol. 

Tomorrow we’re renting a car for the next week and driving an hour and a half North along the coast to our next destination.

Next stop: Sunshine Coast, Australia