Woke up to Spencer the cat jumping on my back. I did some computing in the morning, then walked with Malcolm to the grocery store to pick up breakfast ingredients. We made capsicum, bacon, tomato, shallot scrambled eggs on toast. I got teased for putting butter on my toast. Did you know that butter here is bright yellow? It looks unnatural, even though butter is technically supposed to be that colour!
After breckie, I packed my gear up and was driven to the Brisbane Backpackers Resort in West End. Chantelle had been there for three months and I was excited to see her and stay at the same hostel! I got a room (211), met my German, French, and French-Canadian roommates (two guys, five girls), ditched my bags, and walked to the library. After skyping for a little while, I packed up and walked to Tribal travel.
Remember when I mentioned the 14000ft skydive, 2days/2nights Fraser Is., 2days/2nights Whitsundays, + bus for $670 at Peterpans? Well, before purchasing that, I just wanted to make sure it was a good deal. So I went to Tribal travel and talked with the woman there. Not only did she not have a similar package, she said there was no way she could match it; it was a deal of a lifetime. So, I rushed to Peterpans to book my tickets!
I had inquired into this deal last Sunday and was told it was a special that did not expire. The girl was wrong. Apparently this amazing package had expired the day after and the travel agent was not able to get it back. The best deal she could now give me was $1060 (now including photos and a dvd of the skydive ($150 value)). Not at all impressed with this turn of events, I went back to Tribal and asked what she could do for me. She still said she wasn't able to give me the same deal, but what she could do was make a false statement so that Peterpans would be forced to lower their fees. Still trying to sound believable, my wonderful agent quoted $990 for the skydive, dvd+photos, Fraser Is, Whitsundays, bus, and a free 2day/1night trip to 1770s. Knowing that Peterpans didn't have that free 1770s trip, the agent thought it might be a good bargaining point to lower the rates. So, back to Peterpans I went, armed with my statement. The girl took one look at it, gave a frustrated sigh, and went to work making phone calls. She said that accommodation on Rainbow Beach would have to be included (and extra $40), which brought that to $1030. She could bring it down to $1005 and add a free three-hour wild dolphin tour. I asked her to cut out the cost of the bus ($250) so I could buy it through Tribal to secure the free 1770s trip. So, for $700 (plus an extra $60 in park fees to be payed at the Whitsundays), I got my package (bus not included, free dolphin tour included). At Tribal, I booked the greyhound bus and got the 1770s trip! Feeling quite successful, very grumpy (I didn't mention that the Peterpans agent was hungover and incredibly grumpy), and famished, I walked back to the hostel. On the way, I stopped at a Lebanese street restaurant and bought a Falafel for $3.50.
When I got back, it was 4:15 and I had an hour and a half to get showered and downstairs for my "new arrival" free drink. I stopped by Chantelle's room and heard her incredible stories about 5 months in SE Asia (btw, I'm totally going!), made plans to go dancing, and agreed to meet back in the common area for drinks at 5:45. I showered, changed, and was back down in time for drinks. I sat with Chantelle, Katie from Seattle, Emma and Pernella (P-Dawg) from Sweden, and a bunch of guys who were in and out of the conversation. We had a great time drinking beer, playing cards, and learning about each other. At this hostel, people are friends by default. Everyone was rowdy, friendly, open, and fun. We played the nightly games at 8:00, hung out for a while longer, then caught the 11:00 bus into the Valley for clubbing.
This is where my night wasn't exactly incredible. The cover was $15, the club was half-empty, the music wasn't great, and Chantelle and I were so busy going in and out to meet friends (Malcolm, Kate from Victoria, and some Brazillian guys) that we didn't exactly get to party. Oh, and there was no coat-check so I had to carry my jacket until Chantelle offered to stuff it in her purse. We did have a good time dancing for about an hour, but then Chantelle and I got quite tired (around 1:30) and decided to peace out. We walked most of the way home, got lost, caught a taxi back to familiar territory, then walked from there (taxis are expensive, we are broke... especially me after paying for my trip to Cairns!).
Got in at 2:00am, scrambled around in my dark room, then collapsed in bed after a thoroughly long, emotionally schizophrenic, truly awesome day. I'm going to like hostel life!
Missing my girls back home! Clubbing wasn't the same without you!
xoxo - Katrina
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