Wednesday May 13, 2009 - Movie Day

I got up early today to head out to go to the movies. I stopped by the office quick to set up my airport transport for the next day. After I got that figured out I headed down to the ferry pier. As I was walking I could see that I was going to be cutting it close, so I started to jog. I am running up to the water and I see the Ferry and as I hit the walkway I see the ferry pulling away. DAMN IT! I was literally like 30 seconds too late. If I had hit the walkway before they pulled up the bridge thing to step from the walkway to the boat I’m sure they would have waited but no, I was THIS CLOSE to making it. Damn was I pissed. Now I had to wait like half an hour for the next ferry. There was no way I was walking up to the bus stop to bus into the CBD, because then I still would have had to cross over the river to Southbank. So I am waiting at the pier, minding my own business and 2 girls come up and ask me where I’m going and if I know how to get to Queen Street Mall. I tell them I’m getting off the stop before but when I get off I’ll let them know their stop is next. They ask me to join them and we start chatting, I tell them I am visiting and they say they are staying at the New Farm Clinic. Now when they say this I’m a bit confused about what the hell it is, I just think it’s the name of a hostel or something. Well they are chatting with themselves about the rooms they are staying in and one says she’s next to the bathroom. The other says she wouldn’t want to be there because it would be too much of a temptation. I must have been really slow because they’re talking for like 10 minutes then it dawns on me, clinic, like hospital. Turns out they are in the looney bin, their words, not mine. One was bulimic and depressed and the other was bulimic and bipolar. Their parents had put them in this clinic in order for them to get help. So I was hearing all about the looney bin. The one girls parents were in town visiting so they were headed off to meet them. Not how I thought I’d start my day. Finally the ferry came and we made our way down the river. I got off at Southbank and let the girls know the next stop was theirs. The owner of the guesthouse had told me the theatre was near the museum so I get off the ferry and start heading towards the museum. I walk a couple blocks and see a map, turns out, no the theatre was the other way. So I turn around and head in the right direction. I finally get to the theatre and see that the movie I want to see isn’t playing here. Great. With missing the first ferry and then going the wrong way at the pier, I now didn’t have time to make it across the river for the 10:30 movie. So I figured since I was over here, I’d go to the museum then head over for the 12:45 showing.

I walked around the Queensland Museum which is kind of like all the branches of the Smithsonian all crammed into one, but much smaller. There was some Australian history stuff, some wildlife stuff, some aboriginal stuff, some old cars and planes, and various other diverse things. I grabbed a sandwich from the café and walked around a bit then headed over for the movie. I saw “17 Again” which was pretty cute. Even though I am a 26 year old woman and am a bit ashamed to say this, but I don’t mind staring at Zac Efron for 2 hours, he’s not too shabby. PS – the moving cost $16 AUD which is like $12 USD, for a middle of the day movie, and we think our theatres are expensive. This theatre was inside a mall, so afterwards I walked around the mall for a bit. I also was able to jump on the internet for like 20 minutes to check e-mail and what not at a public internet terminal. I think caught one of the buses the owner has told me about and rode back to the guesthouse, got off a block away from the guesthouse, mush nicer than riding the ferry and having to walk uphill. I hung out at the hostel for a bit just relaxing. I wanted to get back out, I hate visiting a place and spending the whole time inside the hotel/hostel/guesthouse, so I decided to go back out and see another movie. Yes, 2 in one day. I had been thinking about “Star Trek,” and decided I wanted to check it out again because I had really enjoyed it the first time. Plus I knew it wasn’t coming to Huski anytime soon so if I wanted to see it again, I should do it now. I headed down to the ferry one more time (PS - I love ferries, I love rivers, I loves cities on rivers) and headed to Southbank. At least now I knew where I was going. I bought a ticket for the 6:30 pm showing, which by the way at Southbank cost $8.50 AUD, HALF the cost of the theatre right across the river. This was at night too! All shows before 6 pm were only $6.50 AUD! Note to self, if I ever comeback to Brissy and want to go to the movies, go to Southbank, it really is cheaper, by half! I had an hour to kill and decided to grab some quick dinner. Stopped at a row of street food and opted for a chicken and chips basket. Of course when I ordered from this counter as opposed to the other 10 right around it, they needed to make more chips (aka fries). Again, I ended up waiting 10-15 minutes for these damn fries to be made. Why does food take so long to make here? First the crepe the other day and now fries. So when the fries came out I kind of had to scarf the chicken and fries down so I could make it back to the theatre in time. On the good side, the fries were fresh and very hot! I wasn’t able to finish my fries, which is probably good, save myself the extra carbs and calories. After seeing “Star Trek” again, just as good the second time and picked up some extra stuff I missed the first time. I’m not gonna lie either, Chris Pine, pretty fine to stare at for 2 hours, and I don’t feel as bad about saying I like to stare at him as I did when mentioning Zac Efron. I also want to point out, I thought he was hot when I saw him in “Princess Diaries 2,” and he is just getting better with age, yum-my. Zachary Quinto ain’t too shabby either. Is it sad I definitely take into account when seeing a movie if there is a hot man in it? It shouldn’t, I mean men sometimes only see movies with hot chicks in them, so why shouldn’t I see a movie simply if there is a hot guy in it? Anyway, in addition to the obviously man eye-candy in “Star Trek,” I enjoyed the actual movie as well. I mean, there are some stuff that make you go WHA…that would never happen, but since when are things that happen in movies, blockbusters especially, completely realistic? Not to darn often, that’s why they’re movies, not real life.

Anyway, after the movie, I headed back out and across the Victoria bridge to catch the bus. I was able to see the city all light up at night, as well as the ferris wheel (which reminds me of the London Eye, a ferris wheel right on the banks of the river with killer views of the city) all light up looking slick. I tried to take it all in since this was my last night here. I caught the bus back to the guesthouse, packed up my stuff and watched a bit of tv before going to sleep. It was a good day, low key, not too much walking, just what my legs needed.