When I arrived in Brisbane, I got off the plane and proceeded with the normal customs routine. I always get pulled aside at customs because I have to check the criminal conviction box thanks to my OUI. This time was no different and I thought nothing of it until the questions started.

After a few basic questions, the customs agent asked if I had any luggage that I had checked and when I said I had 1 bag, he asked if I would go get it and come back. When I came back, he was gone and I waited 10 minutes for him to come back. I was getting a little nervous that they may refuse me entry.

When he eventually returned, he had paper, pen and 20 minutes worth of questions about my travels. He asked me everything from where I had been so far to, “It says here you’re a landscaper, but how does a landscaper afford to travel for so long without working?” He also wanted to see proof of my departing flight home. Thankfully, he never asked to see the contents of my bag because I had lied on the customs form and was smuggling my Vanuatu, river soiled boots into Australia. Finally the Australian Inquisition ended and I was allowed back into the country.

This whole process became more entertaining to me when 10 days later I boarded a flight from Brisbane to Perth and my id didn’t get checked a single time at the airport. Not even when I used a kiosk to get my boarding pass.

Anyway…….Brisbane.

As I said at the end of my last post, Vanuatu sent me back to Australia with a special gift. For 5 days I never ventured too far from my room for very long. I even went to the doctor, which people back home know is not something I do. Even crazier is that I went because I was tired of pooping. It wasn’t fun anymore. Pooping should always be enjoyable.

I need to take a minute here to talk about how fucking awful America’s healthcare system is compared to Australia. I haven’t had health insurance while I’ve been travelling, just travel insurance covering really bad stuff.

Here’s a summary of my medical care:

Initial doctor exam- $50 AU ($36.5 US)-Without an appointment, I waited 15 minutes and in total was in and out in 35 minutes.

Prescription- $12.50 AU ($9.12 US)- I handed the pharmacist the prescription and in under a minute she handed me the medicine. No, “it’ll be ready in an hour” nonsense.

The meds didn’t help, so the next step was bringing in a sample for lab work. Results back in under 48 hours. I was never charged for the lab test.

Follow up visit & diagnosis- $25 AU ($18.25 US)- In and out in 30 minutes.

Total time out if my life- 1 hour 6 minutes

Total cost- $63.87 US

Feel free to figure out yourself how much time and money I would have wasted in Massachusetts for the same services.

Ok, now I’ll actually talk about Brisbane……

By day 6, I felt well enough to head out for a few hours. I headed down to the river to a park area called South Bank and strolled around there for a while.

It was nice to get out for a bit, but soon the Gregarian forces had to retreat to base camp for the night.

The next morning I felt much better (or so I thought) and I walked across the Story Bridge to the Cliffs Boardwalk. I followed the boardwalk along the river to Kangaroo Point before making my way back across the bridge.

I went back to the hostel with plans to rest before heading out again that night, but the parasite had other plans. So instead, I dropped a present off at the doctor’s office and then relaxed until just before sunset. I wanted to see South Bank at night, because what city isn’t prettier when it’s lit up at night?

The next day was my last day in Brisbane and I took a day trip to North Stradbroke Island. “Straddie” is the 2nd largest sand island in the world only behind Fraser Island from one of my earlier posts.

We took a 45 minute ferry ride over to the island from Cleveland and then our first stop was Brown Lake.

Those are mangroves growing in the middle of Moreton Bay. On the return ride, that was a giant sand bar. Mangroves are pretty talented at desalination.

After the lake, we headed to the beach at Amity Point. On the walk down to the beach we saw a koala. When we got to the beach, there were 2 dolphins swimming right down by the edge of the water. By the time we got down to the water though, they had swam too far out to get any good pictures.

Next we got lunch and then walked from the restaurant to Cylinder Beach where we had about 45 minutes of free time.

From there we headed to Point Lookout for a coastal walk. It’s the beginning of the whale migration season (they gotta swim North to go make babies), so we were hoping to spot some humpbacks as well as sea turtles and maybe a shark. Well, the only thing I saw was a kangaroo. At this point kangaroos have to do something cool for me to be all that interested (i.e., kangaroo boxing or the way they act around dogs are both hilarious to watch). This little lady had something new for me though…..

She had a little joey in her pouch. The only joey that small that I had seen was, Ralph, at the kangaroo orphanage in Coober Pedy.

We made one last stop to see kangaroos and then headed back to the ferry. I headed up top to the observation deck and as soon as we left the dock, I saw a sea turtle. By the time I got my phone out to take a picture the turtle had dove out of site. I saw Crush though. It counts!! I still want to swim with one though. I also saw a pod of dolphins and managed to once again get a pretty bad fin picture out of it. These damn marine animals are hard to photograph if you aren’t in the water with them.

So that was my super exciting, illness ridden time in Brisbane. I did enjoy the excuse to relax and not do much. It also gave me time to plan out the rest of my trip. The next day I was off to Perth on the West Coast!!