It's Always Sunny in Brisbane - Our Last Six Months in Australia

We found ourselves settling in Brisbane, the city where we started our Australian journey two years ago. We are incredibly happy that this is where we spent the rest of our time despite it not being the easiest ride to get here. Our last post mentioned a stop in Darwin where we thought we'd settle, but as with the theme of things this year it didn't quite go to plan. We were too broke and scared to invest any more money into getting a car so felt very isolated in Darwin where the best sights are outside of the city. To add to this stress our hostel was vile and there just weren't any jobs available despite being the start of the dry season. We did have the lovely occasion of Josh's birthday where we visited the Mindil Beach Markets to eat until we burst and watch the sun dip into the horizon.

After much deliberation we decided it was best to head back over to the east coast where there were more job opportunities. One thing we weren't ready to sacrifice was sunshine. It was winter in Australia which meant half the country wasn't an option, so we chose Cairns as our next stop. Unfortunately as soon as we arrived I caught a bad case of the flu and spent five days in a hostel feeling worse than ever before. We quickly found a nice share flat to stay in with amazing housemates that we now miss, but sadly the job opportunities were again so limited. It felt like there were hundreds of people applying every day and even when we found jobs they weren't right. Everything seemed to point to us having to leave again so after many panicked, upset and stressed out conversations we made the decision to go back to a city we trusted, Brisbane.

Now I know this sounds like we're moaning, but those few months were incredibly tough with lots of lows and very few of the highs we've been lucky to experience whilst travelling. The stress, sadness and financial difficulties hit us very hard. It would have been impossible to get through this with such determination if it wasn't for having each other, although I will say Josh should take most of the credit because he is a star of a human being. Sometimes a cliché is just what you need and it seemed like we had to get through the bad times, to end up with the good, and we really had it good in Brisbane. It was all significantly more stable with our jobs in South Bank which is where we got to meet all the wonderful people we spent our time with. It is definitely true that it is not where you are, but who you are with and we got to hang out with some of the best weirdos we've ever met!

Let's talk about some of the fun things we got to do during our time in Brisbane. We got to enjoy eating in some amazing restaurants in the city, particularly in the West End and Milton which are full of good veggie spots. If we're honest, a significant amount of our time was spent drinking in various bars across the city and being weird like the mischief makers that we all are! From feeding possums in Kangaroo Point with Bec, Byron and Pete, crowd surfing Kyle in a bar, doing very badly in pub quizzes with Beth and Garry to watching some hungry boys go to town on a Korean BBQ for Jaydyn's birthday, we always had a laugh. We also did a bit of exploring outside of the city visiting National Parks and beaches. One visit took us to Gold Coast with Rachael where we played mini golf and ate the best sorbet of our lives. We had a lovely visit to Springbrook National Park where we hiked through the forest and ate a picnic just in time before we all got too hangry. On another day we hiked through Cedar Creek with the handsome boys and beautiful girls that ended in drinks in our favourite margarita bar, Cobbler. It was one of those nights where we just sat in the piano park until 4am all trying to do headstands as good as Bec and drinking slurpees from 7-Eleven.

One other light in our lives whilst in Brisbane was Pepper the Collie/Cattle Dog who lived with our landlord upstairs. She is a one year old ball of energy that wanted to bite our hands and play at every moment of the day. We of course adored this and spent all our time at home playing with her. Occasionally we were blessed with a snoozy Pepper where we would have a precious few minutes of cuddle time on the bed before she regained her energy and the play began again. In the last few weeks we even managed to get her swimming with us in the pool, which I'm sure our landlord loved. She would launch herself into the deep end and paddle away looking for her toy, or chase us around as we swam underwater. This was another game she never wanted to end so sometimes she would take herself for a swim when we weren't there and jump on our bed furious that she was all wet. Her talents were never ending as she was an expert lizard hunter letting us know on many occasions that there was a Blue Tongue in the garden that needed to leave. She is the best dog on the East Coast that's for sure and we feel so honoured to have spent six months with such a perfect pup.

It was a surprise how quickly we settled into Brisbane and felt at home in this medium sized city. There were always interesing things to do and we even got to attend two protests, one for Extinction Rebellion and the other for the School Climate Strike both of which were full of optimistic people raring for change. Good Things Festival gave us a chance to enjoy some of the music we love with Byron, who was a handy tall beacon for keeping us together in the pit. I got to see Parkway Drive for the first time, we all had a laugh at A Day To Remember, enjoyed Violent Soho in their home city and sang along to Skeggs. It was a hot, sweaty and crazy experience but probably one of the happiest days of our lives. I also had the pleasure of showing one of my lovely friends from home GG the great parts of Brisbane as well as my home from home, Noosa. We had a lovely time hanging around on beaches, spotting wildlife and talking for hours in the dark during a power cut. There were some exciting moments whilst at work too as we got to experience the River Fire and New Year's Eve fireworks with uninterrupted views over South Bank.

We occasionally decided to take our weird, drunken antics out of Brisbane and this extended to a few visits to NSW. We had a little couples holiday down to Byron Bay with Beth, Garry, Pete, Jackson, Bec and Byron which was one we'll all remember. I reckon we unnerved the locals with our shenanigans, but we had a laugh cycling eight people on four rusty bikes and lighting candles in the sand at 2am with a sea wizard. Before we knew it Christmas was here and despite being very busy at work over the last month, we had a few days off. We had the honour of spending Christmas with Byron's family, who are absolute legends, at their beautiful home in the forest. It was a wild Christmas Eve that started with petting horses and nearly treading on a Brown Snake, and ended with us singing country hits in the pub where we all won a tray of food. Christmas day gave us the most delicious feast, a hilarious secret santa reveal and time to learn about some locally grown herbs with Pete and Jackson. We got back to Brisbane content but suddenly well aware that we only had a few more weeks doing fun things like this. The Glasshouse Mountains had always been somewhere we wanted to hike and we were lucky enough to be guided up Mount Tibrogargan by Byron and Bec. It was a true clambering climb with some hilarious antics and we thoroughly enjoyed it, but will definitely bring more water next time. Before we knew it our last week in Brisbane was here. It was a time for working, drinking and having lots of cuddles with everyone we love, not forgetting to have a margarita and soak Byron's shoes with water one more time.

Listing all the wonderful things we got to do in Brisbane and describing all the beautiful people we got to meet doesn't express even half of how life changing the last six months were. It is a time of our lives that we would love to just repeat again and again, possibly with a little less alcohol next time. It isn't often you get to meet a group of humans that become your family and we'll always treasure the time we had together. To the people that saved us, thank you and we'll love you forever.