Final preparations

We need to start by saying a BIG thankyou to Kristen, Siona and Courtney for having us in their home in Brisbane. We really appreciate it girls and since leaving this morning we miss you (and the Grey's DVDs) already. 

We spent our time in Brisbane getting ready to leave Australia. We applied for (and received) our Chinese visas, got lost on the Brisbane bus system, bought bike lubricant and degreaser and gave our bikes a service, and Sam spent an afternoon in phone shops researching GPS phones and learnt that not many phones can use maps without the internet. We bought a GPS phone, bought foreign $, got the tent fixed after searching lots and lots of different shops, spent hours trying to work out the video editing program on our laptop and organized for our battery to be sent from Bayswater post office in Melbourne to Stones Corner Post Office. We picked out some things from our gear that we didn’t need and sent them home, and reorganized our gear.

But it wasn't all work and no play. We watched Invictus at the movies, swam at South Bank and played in the water fountains, ate Beastie Burgers (almost twice in the same day), went to Rebekah and Marshall's engagement dinner (Mexican delight and Baskin Robbins ice cream),  used Macca’s wifi, went to the corner pub with Kristen for dinner, Sam discovered a drink called 'orange cream' and consumed some root beer, Shanna watched the latest BBC version of Sense and Sensibility (and discussed serious Jane Austen topics with Kristen) and she read 'The Lost Symbol'. And to make sure we didn't get soft, Sam went to the gym a couple of times and Shanna ran to Southbank... once... Guess we'll toughen up again in Indonesia!