This journal was written as a physical diary by me during my gap year. I am typing this up to share my gap year experience. At the beginning of travels I was 22. I travelled with a friend (Kieren) and anybody else involved will be introduced during the journal. For more details, check here.

To spend a year in Australia, we got working holiday visas. These allow up to 1 year of travel and work in Australia. Find more information here.

Check out the previous instalment here.

The Brisbane portion of the journal doesn’t always go day-by-day because I got a job to save up for future travels so I neglected the journal a bit. There will likely be less photos (sorry!).

1st June – 30th June 2018

Again June has been a busy month. Lots of working at the restaurant and lots of housekeeping. I’m going to do what I did last month and mention the highlights of the month.

I became a paid artist

During musical bingo, Macauley decided whoever could do the best picture of him would win a drink. I won for a pretty awful drink…

My artistic talent

I also won another drink 2 weeks later for drawing the exact same thing again.

Beccy and Eve left Base

Beccy and Eve left to do their farm work at Stanthrope for 5 weeks. It was very sad for them both to leave Room 10 at the same time. I did get Beccy’s bottom bunk though!

Marianne’s birthday

This was actually 31st May, my bad..

Me, Kieren, Marianna and Harley played some fun drinking games in the room. Marianna had to go to work at Zi Bar where she turned 19 at midnight. We bought a Krispy Kreme doughnut from 7/11 and took it to Zi Bar, put a candle in it and sang happy birthday. It was so sweet and Marianne cried.

Hannah’s Hen Party

So Hannah and James were getting married this month so a couple of people decided to throw her a hen party in The Guilty Rogue. It was so fun! We had mimosas and played Kiss the Dick, a classic hen do game..

I had to leave after an hour to go to work (after having had 1 too many) but everyone else carried on. I got back at 12.30am and Hannah and Kelz were just getting back from Down Under. They were every drunk, especially Kelz who’d lost her wallet.

Marianne left

A few days after Beccy and Eve left, Marianne also left. She left at 4am so she woke me up to goodbye before Adrian and Marcus drove her to the airport.

Making a wedding cake in the microwave

On the day Hannah and James got married, they came back to the bar to see everyone. We bought a cake mix and me and Kieren were supposed to make it in the kitchen of the bar. Apparently we couldn’t change the temperature of the oven because it was still the lunch shift so we ended up having to make it in the microwave.

A beautiful culinary journey

It was so fun to make and Tray (the chef) thought it was absolutely hilarious. Just as we were almost done icing it, it started to melt/collapse so we had to put it in the freezer. Bit of a disaster but they really appreciated it. Note: It was mainly just for a photo, not to actually eat.

Improving Room 10

Originally Room 10 was a 6 bed but turns out it was an illegal room because it was too small and the beds were too close together. The maintenance guy moved a bed out of the room so we had so much more space. We even have a bean bag corner now.

Bowling and Laser Tag

A few of us decided to go the Strike on student night – unlimited activities for $15. We did bowling and laser tag.

(a) Laser Tag. (b) Brisbane river.

Acoustic Karaoke

I had a couple of Thursdays off so went to acoustic karaoke. Brooksey (who runs the night) was ill for 3 weeks so Kieren covered it, which was great. I got up to sing a few times. When Brooksey finally came back, he brought his saxophone and it was great!

Open Mic Nights

Kieren also covered one of Dan’s open mic nights. I’ve started to get up to sing every Monday and by the end, me and Kieren had a pretty good set list –

  • Mama Do – Pixie Lott
  • Feeling Good – Nina Simone
  • Valerie – Amy Winehouse
  • Last Request – Paulo Nutini
  • Everytime We Touch – Cascada
  • Wherever We Will Go – The Calling
  • Price Tag – Jessie J
  • Yellow – Coldplay
  • Somebody that I used to know – Gotye

BBQ at Dan’s

We went round to Dan’s house for a BBQ and some drinks and sat around the fire. It was such a lovely evening.

Happy Travels Bar Crawl

Me, Kieren and Harley finally did the bar crawl. We went to The Flaming Galah, Guilty Rogue and Down Under. Harley got very drunk.

Overall, June was a great month! It is starting to get a bit cold in Brisbane though as it’s coming up to winter.

The Story Bridge

1st July – 6th July 2018

My last day of both jobs was 6th July. It felt so good to leave and know I don’t have to work again for months! Most of my time this week was working but it was also a great last week in Brisbane. Beccy and Eve came back on the 3rd, so it was great to see them again before we left.

7th July 2018

Today is our last day in Brisbane! Kieren was working until 3pm so I did some packing. When he finished, a group of us went to Stretch’s (manager of Guilty Rogue) house for a BBQ. It took about 2 hours to get there for a number of reasons –

  • We waited for everybody for ages
  • Walked to Woolworths
  • Got an Uber to Myrtle Street
  • Turns out someone got the address was wrong and it was actually Mylne Street, which was far away from where we were
  • Kieren ordered an Uber but accidentally sent it to Mylne Street (e.g. opposite direction)
  • Cancels Uber
  • Orders another one – 7 minute wait but turns up 20 minutes later
  • Arrive at BBQ 2 hours late

Bit of a disaster getting there but it was great once we were there. We sat in the garden, had food and drinks then went inside to play Gutterhead (basically adult pictionary). We left at 9.30pm to head back to The Guilty Rogue where Taz had put on a Coors keg for our leaving party (e.g. free Coors for all staff). Taz made a speech about us leaving, which was really nice.

(a) Southbank beach. (b) Walking through Southbank.

We then all painted England flags on our faces and headed to Irish Murphy’s to watch England v Sweden (quarter final, World Cup 2018). I’m not a fan of football but it was a good atmosphere and a great last night. When the match ended we walked home and had an emotional goodbye with Taz. Very cute last night.

Check out the next instalment here (available next week).