I like traveling on my own, because I can decide where I want to go, and for how long I will stay. It's actually pretty easy to get off the beaten track; all I have to do is get off the bus at a place called Murwillumbah, from which I can climb Mount Warning, rather than going all the way to Byron Bay, like everyone else. So I checked out of my hostel/retirement home, then I had an afternoon to kill in Brisbane, so I did what I like to do best in cities: drink coffee in coffee shops (non-Starbucks), eat fresh goodies from bakeries, watch people, and read. For this Brisbane is a good place, since you can do all that on Queen Street.

The bus ride was a quick three hours. We passed right through the middle of Surfers Paradise. The place is insane; it's a jungle of high-rise apartment buildings and traffic. I don't know whose idea of paradise it is, but I'm glad I skipped it. At my stop only me, a mom, and her kid got off, and they were taking a train onwards. The town is pretty small, with only two streets. The only hostel in town, the YHA, is the smallest I've been in, with only four rooms. I have an eight-bed dorm to myself. The manager served us ice cream that night, so all nine of us sat around the table reading. Not a very lively crowd. Once again, I'm the youngest one here.