The Valley in Brisbane

So this past weekend I went to Brisbane with Tara. I got to met her best friend Jess and Jess's boyfriend Liam. We stayed with Jess at her place for the weekend, which is at Griffith University just outside of the main city of Brisbane. Tara had a few things planned for me including going to the museum and the art gallery, and of course to experience the night life of Brisbane in a place known as "the valley." We left early on Saturday morning to drive to Calboolture (which I thought was actually Caboolcha until I saw the road sign because of the Australian accent :P). From there, we caught a train to Brisbane where Jess met us at the airport. Basically we went back to her place, I got introduced to her bf, and we spent a majority of the afternoon at a shopping center called DFO. It is basically a plaza/mall with more discounted items because it is a factory outlet that sells things that aren't in perfect condition....but nothing noticeable enough to not buy them. It was pretty cool. Being the picky shopper that I am I didn't really buy anything in light of saving money. After shopping we went back to Jess's place to get ready to go out to the valley.

The valley doesn't have the best reputation for safety, but it is known for its exciting clubs and it is basically the place to go when you want to go out and have fun! I would never have gone if I didn't have a group to go with though, since it tends to have higher crime than most parts of the city and lets just say you can find some very interesting people there. The four of us (Tara, me, Jess and Liam) stuck together as much as we could to avoid any 'danger.' It was all very exciting, people were walking everywhere and there were so many lights. Everything was very fast paced, and there were all kinds of people there.  We went to a few different clubs and pubs that we heard had cheaper drinks so we could save money, but the main club we ended up at was really cool. It was basically what I imagined a club to look like, kind of similar to what is in the movies. We had to pay a $15 entry fee, which I though was a little pricey, but it ended up being worth it. When we walked in there were a bunch of separate lounge areas where people could sit and talk...or whatever. There were a few levels and the whole place was a lot bigger than what it appeared to be on the outside. The dance floor was wild and people we everywhere. There was a DJ in the front that was actually creating the music, not just choosing songs to play, there were a few big screens that showed music videos and lighting, and there were a couple cages up above that train female dancers actually danced in.  There was a ton of entertainment, including a huge mechanical dragon thing that descended from the ceiling and blew steam over the crowd, there was never a dull moment.  For the most part the people were kind of weird, so Tara and I tried to keep our distance....the people we met and danced with weren't exactly keepers! ;)

We left the club around 2am and went to find Jess and Liam who left a little before us to get some coffee. When we found them, they told us that they had witnessed three arrests while they were sitting in the coffee place!  One was for assault, one for a drug deal, and the other for prostitution...talk about entertainment! haha it was one crazy night that I will never forget!

That night all four of us stayed up until 5am talking, so we slept in until 1pm the next day. We were a little delayed with our schedule, so we didn't end up going to the art gallery, but we all went to the museum. Liam was basically being the tour guide for me to make the museum experience more enjoyable haha. He did very well. I would have to say the best part of the whole weekend was getting to know Jess and Liam. They are both such great people and they are such a perfect couple! I had a lot of fun hanging out with them and getting to know them! I can totally see why Jess is Tara's best friend, because she is such a cool person :) Hopefully they will be coming here to Sippy Downs to visit before I head back home!