With the time difference of one hour it was 5am when I reached the station and I was more than ready to go right to the hostel and crash for a few more hours sleep, but sadly this was not on the agenda. DEspite advertising itself as a great place for International travelleers to stay, they didnt have a free shuttle to the hostel until 8am and so I had to kill a couple more hours just in the terminal or risk the cost of a taxi and then hoping that I can check in early.
Waiting for the shuttle to arrive I got chatting to a fellow Brit, one of only four backpackers who were due to check into my hostel, and it infurtiated both of us that not only was Australia much more expensive than we first thought, but also that the shuttle did not arrive until 8:55, despite it being only a fifteen minute ride to the hostel from the station and it lef there at 8am, apparently.
But what totally killed it for me was being informed that I could not check in until after 1pm and that the wifi access was a wapping AUD $10 per hour because they did not run it themselves! Well I had just one thing to say about that, and I dont think that it went down too well, but then after the week that I am having I really couldnt care less.
Loafing around the hostel reception for a few hours was not my idea of fun, but then I couldnt check in, and as they already had my money so I was stuffed five ways from Sunday so all I could do was head on over to the tv room and kick back til they would finally allow me to check in. All I can say is that if any Australian hostel is expecting a good review from me then they are going the wrong way about it, cos right now I am regretting every coming to Australia and I see nothing on the horizon that can change that impression.
One thing that I hadn't given proper consideration to my mood was the many tiny insect bites that I had received over the last few days and it was only when I could finally get into my room and have a little privacy that I realised that my clothes and jacket must be infested as just about every part of me was covered and bitten, but especially my arms and legs. Realising that I had already spent money cleaning my jacket in Central America I must have picked them up somewhere between Mexico and Australia but as it had been too hot for long jackets and jeans I had not really worn either in the last few weeks, rain or not, and thus couldn't put my finger on where it was.
My left arm is worst and it looks as if fleas or whatever were having an eating race up the outside of my upper arm, which makes me think that my tshirt offered some protection, but then as my legs got savaged as well they are into my jeans and trousers too and I will most likely have to rewash everything in order to get them out, which is a pain and an added expense I could do without.
At 1pm I was told my room still was not ready, which only added to my black mood and when I finally could check in I found that the rooms had no lockers to mention, which was arghhhhhhh. I actually went back down to the receptoin to ask what wa I meant to do with my laptop and valuables and they told me I could use a lockper in the laundry room, at AUD $6 each time I wanted to open it, as the money inserted was not returned and all I could think of is that this place is just one huge money trap and the sooner I was out of here the better.
It is a shame really, as I have always imagined myself in Australia, with the Koalas and Kangaroos, finding a quiet little backwater place like out of Crocodile Dundee and being able to be the only stranger in a tavern full of locals with thei thick Aussie accents, but the harsh reality was that so far as I can see Sydney and Brisbane are about as far removed from that as the moon is, and the only way to experience even a semi-authentic Australia is to grab a sleeping bag, map, compass, hire a battered but long running jeep and just head on into the bush and away from the coast for a couple of hundred miles or so.
After checking out my bites I decided that the last thing I wanted to do was hang around the hostel any more, so the first thing I did was swipe a map from the information desk at the reception and then just went for a walk to see what I could find. Despite being an International hostel the location was smack bang in the middle or China Town, which meant that there was plenty of places to grab a cheap bite to eat and even try and relax with a massage before continuing on.
The massage girl was not quite what I expected as the oil she used evaporated almost instantly but never the less it was nice to forget all the stress, expense and bites and just allow practised hands to kneed away the knots that tied up my back.
After an hours pampering I found a restaurant that served some great boiled dumplings and Udon noodles, except they were extra slippery, long and all messed up and so it took me an eternity to eat them with chopsticks as my technique is far from perfect and certainly not up to taking the weight of half a plate of noodles in one go.
With the day still being fairly hot and sunny I decided that it would be good to go for a walk down by the dockside and see what view and restaurants were down by the Quay.
It was around here that I started to almost forgive Brisbane, as there was some truly wonderful old buildings and the views of the river, bridge and reconditioned steam paddlers moored up and used as floating restaurants and such was great to see.
After a couple of hours of wandering around I started to come back along a different route and spotted a shopping cinema complex and as I had not been to the Cinema for a few weeks I thought this would be a great chance to grab a movie and if it could be a good comedy then all the better. What was on show was not the best showing, but then just after New Year is never a good time, but it was cool to see the new Jim Carey flick 'Yes Man' was up there so that is what I chose to watch, for AUD $15.
I had to wait for about an hour before it started and for a new movie I was surprised that there was only about 5 people in the audience, but there you go. What did puzzle me more was that I asked for a seat that was middle of the middle yet what I got was a seat two rows from the back of the auditorium!
The film was a bit clique at times, had some truly unbelievable characters, ( or at least I hope they are! ) but then it was one of those feel good movies that leaves you feeling in high spirits and I was almost skipping out again it had buoyed me up so much.
The walk back to my hostel was made more fun by the fact that I started taking some nighttime photos, not all of which came out, but a few were worth the effort and when I finally got back to my room I was able to get an early nights sleep and try to catch up on the lost sleep of the last few nights.
No comments:
Post a Comment