My roommates and I woke up a tad bit late this morning at 5:30 P.M. We all rushed to get our luggage to the loading zone by 6 A.M. We made it with not a minute to spare and headed off to breakfast. Afterwards it was time to say goodbye to our island home and board the ferry. From the second that we sat down, my eyes were focused and my hands were clenched as I continued to write in my journal. It seemed as if I had just grasped my first thought when we disembarked the ferry. I wasn’t disappointed though, I still had another 4 hours before we got the gold coast of Brisbane.

     Time seemed me to lull me to sleep but my will to maintain my free time and Sara explaining the history behind land marks in Australia seemed to wake me up. Slowly but surely I started to catch up. Around 1 P.M., we stopped in Brisbane. It reminded me of downtown San Jose with its tall buildings, bright signs, big stores and street performers swarming the streets.

     After lunch at the mall we had an hour and a half to shop and have a look around. After buying souvenirs for our family back home we went to an opal jewelry store. We learned about the Australian gemstone called opal. It represents the month of October and comes in two forms White and Black. 95% of the world’s opal is found in Australia, and 85% of all opal is white opal. Black opal is rare and sometimes costs more than diamond per gram depending on purity.  We had the chance to “mine” for opal by breaking up rocks and looking for it. After we were done we drove to our hotel and that was just a milestone in the day. We all received glow in the dark bracelets and put them on. The bus driver turned off the lights and we waved our arms in the air and sung songs such as “We Will Rock You” by Queen and “Don’t Trust Me” by 3oh 3. The Hard Rock Café was amazing with memorabilia of the world’s greatest musicians such as Paul Stanley’s guitar, Elvis’s Kenpo necklace, and Keith Moon’s Drums. After eating we went to the gift shop 10 at a time. There were many over price items with the logo on it. Drumsticks, guitar picks, T-shirts, and necklaces galore. I chose not to buy anything though. On the ride home we all got up and danced to Queen songs. It was a good night.