Going Solo

Today, I will be heading off solo again. My original plan was to head North to Cairns to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef and tour some of the vast rain forests of Queensland. The unending rain however has been causing massive flooding in that area, so many of my plans would be day to day. Instead, I decided to head south where it is more dry, find some work and allow my shoulder to finish healing and the wet season to end. Only three more weeks of being a gimp!

There was a great bus pass, Brisbane to Cairns, unlimited stops for 6 months for $250. Upon further inspection though, the pass is one directional, with no backtracking, even by plane. Since I'm already 3/4 of the way up the coast, this is quite annoying. Going to Cairns is the most efficient plan of action, but the weather has killed that idea. Now, I will have to fly south to Brisbane, then fly north again to Cairns and tour my way down the coast. In the end this is costing me an additional $200 for flights all over the place, which I'm not too happy about.

My Australia budget is getting down to scrapings and I may have to tap into my savings back home. It is not a big loss, but I really didn't want to resort that at all. A job is at the top of priorities and hopefully, I can find one with my restrictions. Thankfully, Brisbane is a bustling city, which hopefully has lots of job options. Jess's brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Em have just moved there two weeks ago, so thankfully, I'll at least have two friends already in town. They don't really have a place to stay, but knowing people always helps.

Since I made this decision to go to Brisbane today, it has been quite hectic finding accommodation and flights. They have a cheap flight (hooray for last minute, "let's sell these seats discounts), but the website won't allow my credit card to go through. The flight leaves in six hours and I'm waiting now for a call from the airline to try to work this out. I'm so type-a, this day to day, and even worse, hour to hour planning is making me a little crazy. I just like to a good plan in place. This will be a learning experience for sure. Hello Brisbane!