1st Weekend Down Under

Met another "St. Louisian", Ross, at 7am for b-fast and a walk through the Botanic Gardens in Brisbane.  Very lush and beautiful!  

Walked over the Goodwill Bridge and took this shot of the Brisbane River.

Over on the South Bank we encountered this cute little guy.  Yes...I wanted to pick him up and pet him (please picture me making my petting sound and motion).  Of course I didn't get too close cuz I didn't want him to attack and possibly take a hunk out of me (wouldn't that be awful)?!

It was very warm and humid on Saturday (typical summer day in MO), so we were sweating our ass's off.  Rode a free ferry around the river to cool down (sat on the top deck to catch a breeze).  Then finished the afternoon off by eating at a seafood restaurant with our VP who joined us for lunch.  As I was reading over the menu one of the items was bbq'd bugs, of course we thought--talk about different foods in different parts of the world.  When I got to work on Monday I was telling my co-workers about this and they laughed and said a bug is a small version of a lobster - boy did we have a good laugh over that one.  

By the time I got back to my hotel I had to peel my wet clothes off of me - gross!  I laid down to take a small nap at 3:30 and don't you worry I didn't wake up until Sunday at 6:00am.  DANG!!!

On Sunday the weather was MUCH better!!!  It was cloudy with a constant breeze.  What to do, what to do....decided to rent a car and go to the beach:). I told my new buddy, I'd get the car but he'd have to drive.  Why was this such a big deal to me - well they drive on the other side of the road, and I did not want to stress about thinking about where to turn, am I on the correct side, etc.  I definitely had a bit of anxiety because a couple of times my stomach dropped and I thought HOLY CRAP we are on the wrong side and are going head on into traffic.  Oh no....just Tiffany freaking out, my friend lived in the UK so was used to driving on the opposite side.  We drove south to the Gold Coast and went to Surfer's Paradise (about an hour drive).  Walked along the water and soaked up the rays.  On Sunday's they have a bunch of vendors set up along the boardwalk so got to see what all they had for sale.  After spending the afternoon at the beach we headed back and boy was that an adventure.  The GPS on his Blackberry took us to two dead end roads and drove us in circles a few times.  I said, not sure who this Australain chick is, but she she should be fired.  Thought we would would never make it back to Brisbane, but finally after a few re-routes we made it!

Had a fun first weekend in Australia and I'll use this week to recooperate before our Holiday this weekend.  We get off Friday and Monday for Easter (we don't get those days off in the States, btw).