Mad Dogs and Englishmen

The day was looking promising, the thunderstorms that had been forecast had been replaced by crystal blue sunny skies and really warm heat. I put on my shorts and vest and headed off into town, quickly remembering that I had forgotten to buy any suncream yet. I'm not sure if I count as a mad dog or an English man, but I was out in the midday sun.  But I wasn't the only one.  I was struggling in the humidity just walking and yet I passed people going for their daily jogs in this time - mad, definitely mad.

The heat had got to me and I decided I'd best get some shade, which of course is always possible when there's a food court in sight.  I treated myself to some Gyosa, a dish I had forgotten how much I'd missed since my last trip here.  Ok, so it's not strictly Australian, but it's still yummy.



After lunch I headed off to South Bank and strolled through The Parklands, along by the river and onto the fake beach.  Yes, Brisbane has a fake beach.... don't knock it, these people can't all be wrong:

I even dipped my toe in the water!  


And then I saw it.  The big looming blacky/grey cloud.  It was in the distance, but it was definitely there.  So I made my escape and wandered back through the city, making use of all airconned building cut-throughs I could find as it was still pretty hot.  I stumbled upon the library and was rudely reminded that I have an assignment due, so I thought I'd just pop in and see what facilities they had should I choose to do any work on this with my spare time.  Bad idea. By the time I came out the heavens had opened, there was no shelter, I was still 20 minutes walk (at least) from my hostel and soaked to the skin within about 5 minutes.  I had missed my opportunity to dodge that looming blacky/grey cloud as it enveloped the skies above me.  Doh!

I tried to take shelter but there was no point, I was already soaked so I just kept going.  Eventually the skies cleared and I bought some supplies for my next few days, including sunblock.  As I got back to the hostel the skies turned again and another big black cloud, this time in the form of a full-on thunderstorm set in.  I watched as the rain rebounded off the ground, heard the massive clap of thunder and saw a few sheets of lightning.  Just because I'm in Australia does not make thunderstorms anymore tolerable for me!

The weather is SUPPOSED to improve tomorrow though so I've made a last-minute decision and booked a tour to North Stradbroke Island.  Dude, I really hope that weather forecast is accurate.

Oh, and I met my first Pompey fellow traveller of this trip today.  You'll be pleased to know I resisted the urge to start any fisticuffs......