Transcending Borders With Seeds in Our Hands

I was walking out of my hostel accommodations early this morning and as I was walking up the street, I heard this bird making interesting noises somewhere up in the distance. I thought to myself, “Oh…maybe it’s a Kookaburra!!!”. I walked closer and I kept hearing it and then all of a sudden, two HUGE bats swooped down out of the trees within a few feet of me. They are brown and furry with about a 3 or 4 foot wingspan. They hang onto the tree branches with their large claws that somehow protrude out of the top of their wings. In any case, it was quite the wake-up call.

Brisbane is a fantastic city. I know I’ll probably keep saying and thinking this over and over, but oh well–it reminds me of Southern California. It is laidback, the people are friendly (I think it’s because it is always so sunny and balmy) and they eat lots of seafood : P. It is very busy, apparently earning the knickname of BrisVegas and Brisneyland over here. I went to the Riverfire the other night, which is a festival celebrating the coming of spring/summer. It was an awe-inspiring show, with 4 or 5 barges sitting out in the middle of the river, all the way along its length, shooting of syncronized fireworks. They blasted music that matched the fireworks display and there was a really loud jet that flew by and did a “dump and burn” which basically means he dumps a mixture of gas and glycerine (?) as he flies low to the ground. The South bank, from which I watched the display was PACKED with people. The shot fireworks off of the skyscrapers, off of the bridges that crossed the river, and they had this awesome firework I had never seen that created a continuously-firing rainbow. It was awesome!

Right now, I’m heading to North Stradbroke Island to do some swimming, hiking, and maybe snorkeling. They have 4WDing too, but I might wait to do that on Fraser Island (which is the largest sand island in the world). I have to catch a train, then a ferry, then a bus, then a taxi, so I better get going. I’ll update later tonight if I can. And tomorrow–if all things work out, I should be able to post pictures!!!

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