A Waitress Called Sarah

So! Yesterday was Wednesday, and it was a public holiday, although I'm not exactly sure how far the holiday reached--whether it was all of Australia or just Queensland, or even just Brisbane. I'm not sure because the reason for the holiday was rather silly: the fair came to town.

The fair that came to town is called "Ekka" and I guess it's a big deal, and lots of kids got super dressed up in fancy outfits and silly hairpieces and went to the horse races. I did not, as this activity was rather ridiculously expensive and I didn't know anybody who was going anyway. My only encounter with the horse races was when I almost tripped over the legs of a very drunk dude sitting forlornly on a park bench with a giant hole in the crotch of his trousers. I think it's safe to assume that he lost a bet or two.

Anyway, no, I did not go to the fair. Although it is still in town, I'm also not planning on going--it sounds like it's exactly the same as the Puyallup, only slightly more expensive and without delicious scones. Instead, I met up with Emil and Aran and went to Mt. Coot-tha.

First off, just let me say this: I take back what I said about Mt. Ngungun not being a mountain. I do this not because Ngungun actually is a mountain, but because it comes much closer to it than Mt. Coot-tha, and I have to draw the line somewhere. Mt. Coot-tha is basically just a large hill that provides a lovely vantage point for looking at the city. While it's true that you can see the ocean from the top of it, considering how flat the land is, that's not much of a feat. It's also not a mountain because you can ride a bus all the way to the top. A metro bus. One with a normal city route.

We did not take the metro bus to the top, however. We opted to walk up an incredibly steep path to the top, which about destroyed my cardio. I really need to get into shape, because this is sad. Seriously considering shelling out $35 for a UQ gym membership. But nevermind.

We made it to the top in decent time, with Emil fantasizing the whole time about how when we got to the top we were going to sit in the lovely cafe and eat chocolate cake and drink coffee and look at the beautiful view of the city. Aran and I found this precise description of expectations rather amusing, and went on to add Steely Dan music and a blonde waitress named Sarah to the list of Things At The Top Of The Mountain. Much of the rest of the day was spent elaborating on this rather silly fantasy.

Once we'd tired of the summit, we caught the metro back down to the base of the mountain, where there's a botanical gardens. There's also a planetarium, but it was closed due to the public holiday, so we grabbed the children's tour brochure and traipsed through the gardens, reading little factoids and chasing birds and generally behaving like kindergartners.



Part way through, we got distracted by a gorgeous parrot perching in this big open tree, and immediately all the cameras came out and we starting climbing to get a better vantage point. After about ten minutes of unsuccessful photography, Aran opted to spent the remainder of the time in the tree leaping from branch to branch like a lemur. I warned him not to, because I'd already noticed that the smaller limbs of the tree were rather viciously spiked, but he paid no attention and paid the price as well.

There is a parrot in this picture.

Once we'd tired of the gardens (re: the tree), we headed back to the city, greeted by the usual insanely gorgeous Brisbane sunset, and parted ways for a few hours before meeting up again at the RE hotel, where I saw the aforementioned gentleman on the park bench. A couple of my other friends were suppose to be there, but we never ran into them. Apparently they'd called it a night early, which I eventually did as well, although not nearly early enough. I had to get up at about 6.30 so that I could get cash to pay for the upcoming QUEST trip to Byron Bay and still be there when tickets first went on sale (because these things can sell out fast). Needless to say, I am rather exhausted today, and I think I'm going to turn in early. As soon as I've finished this. And made tacos. Because it's my turn to cook dinner.


No major plans this weekend, apart from going to the cultural center with Aran tomorrow (and possibly meeting Lauren there; she has yet to confirm her presence). Oh, and my friends Anna and Pishum (I probably mangled that spelling; she generally tells people to call her Wendy, but no one does) are having a joint 20-year-old birthday party on Saturday. Yay for people who are younger than me! I also have to do some homework for my cinema class that involves a brief analysis of Crocodile Dundee, and since I haven't seen that movie recently enough to remember any of it, it appears I'm also going to spending some time "studying." ;)

Love,
Morgan