All right, folks! I know you've been waiting for it, and here it is: the posts on Adam's visit! I've broken the trip down into 3 sections. Here is the scoop on Adam's arrival, Byron Bay and our first stay in Brisbane.
First of all, I can't tell you how excited I was for Adam to get to Brisbane. It had been 4 months since I'd seen anyone from my close circles of family and friends, let alone not getting to see my boy-friend on a regular basis. I can't recall anticipating anything more than his arrival. We started our countdown for his visit the moment he booked his flights. Oh, I couldn't wait to see him!
Adam was a sweetheart and brought an extra suitcase full of American goodies (I would have done just about anything for a Double Stuf Oreo or Cheez-Its). Of course that suitcase was the one that made it to Brisbane while the one with all of his clothes sat in LA for an extra day. We managed, though, and had the suitcase sent to our weekend destination, and that was the end of his bumpy trip over here (poor guy).
Rushing up to him when he walked into the arrivals area of the airport was such a wonderful feeling. He hugged so passionately I almost melted. Neither of us could stop smiling the rest of the day.
We gathered what luggage made it and caught the next train to West End. Adam particularly enjoyed the graffiti. Once at my apartment we unloaded some of his gear, prepped our things for our weekend in Byron Bay, grabbed lunch (the best kebabs in Brisbane) and headed to the Greyhound station. I felt bad for tacking on a 3 hour bus ride to his day of transit, but he took it well. We talked the whole drive down and got checked into our bed and breakfast.
The room was so perfect: fluffy bed, huge spa tub and a 5 minute walk away from the beach. The lady who ran the B&B was extremely friendly. Our first night there we took it easy. By the next day Adam had recovered from what little jet lag he had.
The only objectives for our day was beach and relax. Byron Bay was beautiful. It was one of the most gorgeous beaches I've ever seen. There were mountains to one side, fine, soft, white sand, dogs playing around every where, people were so happy, the weather couldn't have been more perfect, and we had a great time.
We found several great places to eat: a Mexican taco stand (that was the first Mexican meal I'd had since the US, and boy was it amazing!), Earth & Sea (recommended by Inga) for specialty pizzas (I was sure Adam was going to order the banana one, haha), and The Balcony for some dessert.
We strolled around the town, browsed some shops, but most of our time was spent at the beach where we relaxed or played Frisbee which was so much fun! Adam taught me some cool ways to toss the disc; I have lots of room for improvement, haha. We were planning to see the Byron Bay light house up close but little did we know that it was a 2.5 hour walk away, so we did fine with photos of the landmark.
One evening I had to find an Internet cafe (it did rain at night, and when I say rain I mean absolute down pour) to submit a homework assignment. It was the introduction to my Creative Writing short story. Adam was kind enough to help me with that project. His feedback was really valuable.
This weekend was all about relaxing and catching up with one another, and that's just what we did. We had a wonderful time in Byron Bay.
Monday morning we caught our bus back to Brisbane. We grabbed some lunch and Boost (mmm - Boost smoothies!) at the Parklands and I showed him around South Bank. It was great to stroll around with him in such a lovely park area. We took some photos and crossed the pedestrian's bridge to QUT. For a couple of hours Adam played some pool at the Guild Bar while I went to my German lecture. It was quite a surprise when Adam learned there is bit of a difference in the size of American and Australian pool balls.
After German we went to my favorite coffee house in Australia: The Three Monkeys. Adam just about died when he saw the place - instant love for the eclectic little coffee house. I had my normal chai tea latte with honey and he had one served cold, I believe. We enjoyed one another's company and conversation. I had to keep up with my short story, so I worked on that a bit while he read more of his Bourne book.
Tuesday was splendid! For starters I took Adam to one of the best pancake houses I've ever come by, originally named The Pancake House. We strolled around the Queen Street Mall where I bought him a silhouetted-crow shirt. I can't wait to see him wearing it! We gorged ourselves to the fat and happy status and made our way to QUT. I showed him around a bit, we took some photos, and then we went to the neighboring Botanical Gardens. I pointed out my favorite tree in Australia, and, oddly enough, he recognized the type form a book he read as a child: it was a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan tree - they are truly fascinating plants - the tree can grow to be several hectares large! I also showed him my favorite flower: the Frangipani. We strolled around the gardens, saw the lilly pad pond, tossed around the frisbee and enjoyed the afternoon.
Afterwards we had a wonderful dinner at Ouzeri - my favorite Mediterranean diner in the area (any where, actually). The service was unbeatable, and Adam and I shared a bottle of the wine my grandparents homemade (which is illegal to do in Australia - ha!) over an excellent dinner of lamb, chicken, Greek salads, Tzatsiki and bread and oils and vinegars - oh it was amazing!
Wednesday I had class all day, but Adam joined me for some of it. First up was my Australia class. I think Adam enjoyed learning about the culture from a classroom perspective, plus he liked the teacher a lot. We cut out of the 2-hour long class 45 minutes early to grab lunch at a cafe on George Street. We got sandwiches that were enormous and we topped it all off with some cake. Next I had tutorial for the previous class. We watched a couple of presentations then watched part of Crocodile Dundee. My 3-5p class was canceled, so we got online for a bit, then played pool before my German class. After the day was over we went back to my place and just took it easy.
Thursday I skipped some minor classes, and we missed our flight to the Whitsunday Islands! I wish I was kidding. A hefty payment later and we had a same-day flight with another airline - yay! While waiting at the airport I fixed Adam up with a Whopper, complete with beet root (haha, "you're gonna have to show me"). He loved it! A little while later we were on our way to Daydream Island!
-Amanda
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