My 10 months in Brisbane will be shortly coming to an end, and I thought now would be a good time to share with you guys what my favourite activities and ways to spend time in the city have been. Granted, Brisbane hasn't got a lot of things to do and see, but there is no shortage of good places to eat in Brisbane, nightclubs and bars, and alternative things to do with your time whilst you are exploring the city. So here it is, 10 alternative things to do whilst you are in Brisbane.

This is such a great experience and you don't really need any experience to do it. I used to row and somehow I kayaked all the way up the river with my oar upside down, so my arms were definitely aching for the next 3 days! Riverlife offer a range of activities along the Brisbane river and I experienced the 'paddle and dip' one. We saw the sunset over the city which was beautiful, and then after an hour and a half of kayaking the group had some drinks and dips on a marquee by the river. 100% recommend!

* I received this activity on a complimentary basis for review 

2. Have a sunday session on a YOT. 

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Sunday sesh's are a big thing in Australia - because who cares if you're hungover at work on a Monday? The YOT Club host a series of classy boat parties along the Brisbane river during the spring and summer months. I worked at a similar boat (different company) as a VIP waitress and it was so much fun just wish I could have been on the partying side of things!

3. See how much food you can stomach at EatStreet. 

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Everytime I come here I say I'm just going to pick one thing. I end up having my meal, plus a sample honey donut, bubble tea and a marshmallow and fruit stick. This place is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays but it's definitely worth a visit. There are over 50 stalls and there's also live music and shows.

4. Start your night with some crazy golf and cocktails. 

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Holey Moley is Brisbane's crazy gold and cocktail bar in Fortitude Valley. So it's a great place to start your night if you want to venture into one of the clubs nearby after! This was actually my first time put put-ing and admittedly, I sucked. Maybe because I was three cocktails in or because my hand eye coordination is just terrible. 

5. Find some second hand gems at a suitcase rummage. 

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My only regret is that I didn't sign up for this myself before it sold out, because I have accumulated a lot of stuff that I don't really want to take back home with me! The Suitcase Rummage takes place in Brisbane City the first and third Sunday of every month, and it's exactly what it sounds like. People bring their clothes, shoes, books, jewellery etc that they no longer want, in a suitcase to sell. You'll also find a lot of small businesses too selling their handmade crafts.

6. Go on a pub crawl with other backpackers. 

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If you read my other travel guides then you'll be used to this by now as 9/10 times I always add a pub crawl to the list! If you're not a drinker or like socialising with random people then go ahead and move on to number 9. If you are, Base Backpackers put on a Pub crawl every Thursday at 7pm that takes you to several bars and then their own nightclub Downunder Bar (definitely an experience in itself). I actually met one of my best friends here at one of the pub crawls!

7. Have a very instagramable picnic on Kangaroo point. 

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Kangaroo Point has one of the most picturesque views of the city - especially at sunset! There are lot of electric bbq's set up along the area so all you need to do is bring the food and drinks. If you fancy something a bit more special, then Picnic Co set up beautiful picnic spreads for all occasions, and they can be customised depending on your preferences.   

8. Have a swim at Streets Beach. 

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To get to a decent beach in Brisbane you'll have to drive for an hour or more to get to Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast. Or you could walk across the bridge from the CBD and go for a swim at Street Beach, Southbank's 'fake beach' complete with sand and a pool. It can get pretty crowded on the weekend so make sure you get there early. It's pretty interesting being on a beach but still seeing all the skyscrapers behind it!

9. Watch a free comedy show at the Powerhouse. 

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To be honest this is something I wish I would have done more of whilst I was here, because I really enjoyed myself. Every Friday the Brisbane Powerhouse put on a free stand up comedy show, and well some of the acts are pretty funny. 

10. Have a tour of Brisbane on an electronic longboard. 

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Since you are just visiting, I guess you should go and check out some of the sights hey? If walking is too boring for you, then try exploring the city on an electronic longboard with EskateAU. They offer a River City Tour and a Park Adventure, or you can customise your ride! The group size is pretty small (up to 4) so you get a personal experience too.

[Disclaimer: This post contains gifted items for review but all words and opinions are still mine and honest]

I think when it comes to shopping for clothes there are people who stick to the more traditional methods of you know, going into a shop and trying on clothes and those of us who prefer to shop comfortably from our bed and then end up buying too much and being too lazy to send half of it back. I probably lie somewhere in the middle. If I'm looking for outfits for nights out and festivals that's where I usually turn to the internet. About a month ago Femme Luxe Finery got in touch and kindly let me pick four items from their website, and it did take me a while to narrow down my basket to 4 as I debated which ones I liked best.

The website is pretty similar to your standard online retailers - I Saw It First, Pretty Little Thing etc. I'd say the pricing lies somewhere between the two, which makes their clothing pretty affordable. There's definitely a Kim K vibe going on with a lot of the clothes so I'd say their target  market is women in their 20s-30s and who have that pear or blessed hourglass figure going on. There were a lot of dresses I loved but I thought I simply don't have the boobs for that. Shipping was surprisingly quick and I had my order in just over a week. 

What I like about their collection is that they have quite a lot of mid-length dresses. I do like wearing clothes when I go out out that show off my curves but I'm not a fan of short dresses as I wouldn't say my legs are my best asset. I went with 3 dresses (which gave me an excuse to go out more this month) and a loungewear set which in hindsight, was a silly choice seeing as it's now 30 degrees in Australia but I thought it would be cute to wear to the airport when I was in chiller places.

So when I got the email from Femme Luxe funnily enough, I was searching for a nice white dress to wear for a Halloween party the following week. I was dressing up as IT but was also going to a fancy club so did want something on the sexier side, at least clothes wise! Choosing tight white clothing is always risky because there's always the chance of it being see through, or the material creasing up on the back of your thighs. The dress was fine with nude underwear but it did flatten my bum just a little bit. Nevertheless it still looked nice on and I got a fair few compliments! As you can imagine the dress didn't stay white for very long with all my red make-up. 

Buying joggers online is always tricky for me as I've got big thighs and a small waist, so I usually run into the problem of them looking too tight instead of that loose fitted look. I went for a medium and they were fine on - not too tight but not baggy either. Once I'm back home and in colder weather I'll definitely be wearing this around the house more often. 

This is probably my favourite colour when it comes to buying dresses, especially when I have a tan! I think it's so flattering. The trouble with slinky dresses is always the sleeves, since this dress is very low cut on the back all you have to support you is the little elastic that goes around your arms. Mine didn't seem to sit properly and kept falling down leaving a gap on the sides of the dress which made me look bigger from the front. It was very flattering from the back though!

This was probably my favourite clothing colour when I had wine coloured hair too. I was hesitant about ordering this because yes, the model looked smokin' in it but the material and style looked like you had to have a very particular body shape to pull it off. Luckily for me, the dress wasn't as short or stiff as I thought it would be so I could still move around in it (and breathe) and I didn't run the risk of exposing my bum to everyone on the night. I'll definitely be wearing this again! 

Yes. Their clothing is affordable and they've got great pieces for a night out. I was skeptical at first whether my items would arrive as one does when you hear about a new online clothing website, as there are so many scams out there. 

Have you ever heard of Femme Luxe Finery? Would you wear any of these pieces? 

G

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[Disclaimer: This post contains gifted items for review but all words and opinions are still mine and honest]

Last year I wrote a blog post on 10 gifts for frequent travellers and I'm back again this year with some more travel accessories and gadgets that I think are great to bring along when you're travelling (but also make great gifts too). Next month I set off on my 3 month journey and even though I've got a total of 27kg to bring with me, there are some items which I consider necessary to bring for comfort, practicability and just making things that little bit easier.

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I say modern, because long gone are the days where you could get by with your regular U shaped neck pillow. I never carried one of those with me because to be honest, I didn't find them comfortable and sleeping against the airplane window worked just as well. That being said, there are now so many innovative products to help with comfort when travelling, and Face Cradle* are one of them. Their sleeping pillow can be adjusted into 5+ different modes (see how here) depending on your sleeping preference, snoozing mode has worked the best for me! It's honestly changed the game of travelling as it's so easy to get comfortable and naturally, as we sleep we often toss and turn. The great thing about this is that you can play with the product until you find what works for you and adjust it depending on how you want to position yourself when travelling.

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I used to think I would never wear those over the head headphones outside of the gym because I would look ridiculous, until I tried to watch a movie using my earphones on a plane. Between the noise of the engine and the man snoring beside me I had to result to using subtitles. If you're planning on staying in hostels or just find it hard to sleep when you're travelling if there's noise around then picking up some cheap earplugs will do wonders.  

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Just make sure you buy one that doesn't squash your nose. I'm in love with my unicorn eye mask from Nomad Life Hacks. I'm going to be staying in a lot of hostels on my trip so this is probably what I'm going to put in my backpack first, as there will be people coming in and out of the room at all hours. 

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The last thing you want on your trip is to get somewhere and realise your plug isn't compatible. If you're travelling to several destinations the best thing to do is get a universal adapter online. Another good idea (if you've got the space) is to bring an extension cable if you have a lot of things to charge as we all know sometimes hotel/hostel rooms can be stingy with their sockets. 

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These have changes the packing game for me! These are especially handy if you need quick access to things, as you won't have to be searching around your suitcase to find something. They're pretty inexpensive and you can find a lot on amazon. 

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Whenever I go to the beach I bring my little black backpack and my friends always hit me with the same question - did you bring a towel? Microfibre towels are so compact and weigh a lot less than your regular beach towel. I carry one for the beach and a smaller fast drying towel* for my face.

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Cheaper than buying a bottle of water every day and you're helping the environment (unless the tap water isn't safe in your destination). It's also a great idea to bring an empty one with you to the airport and once you're through security fill it up there. 

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If you're bringing a couple of cosmetics then it's good to store them in a waterproof bag* so on the off chance that the bottle opens you won't have your liquids running everywhere. They're also handy to keep wet swimsuits in! 

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We all laughed at these, but I'm going to be doing a bit of solo travelling and there will be times where there will be no one around to take my photos for me! Using a tripod that's compatible with your phone also means you can get great photos with landmarks without having an awkward arm on the side. 

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We all know this is one of the most important things to bring along on a trip, yet most of us forget it! Pack it first and make sure it's charged!

Do you usually pack all of these things? What are some of your favourite travel accessories to bring along? 

Mistatera CBD Oil (5%) 

My thoughts on Mistatera CBD Oil

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First of all, I'm in love with the emerald green packaging, it's very aesthetically pleasing. On the the actual product, my main interest for taking CBD oil was to help with my sleep, as I usually find myself tossing and turning a lot before eventually falling asleep. I think it's down to my brain not being able to 'shut up' and I find it very hard to just chill out. I'm enjoying it so far and have found that adding this to my night time routine and having a drop of this and then reading before bed is helping a lot. I'm not going to lie to you, the first time I tried this I pulled a face, but then again I did the same with apple cider vinegar and now I drink it every morning like I'm downing a glass of cold water. The taste just takes some getting used to! Another benefit which I noticed and then read up on to see if they were linked, is that it has helped with my migraines. I felt one coming and since I read up about how it's linked to pain relief I had a drop and soon after, the pain was gone. I remember a friend recommending the cbd oil a while back for migraines too so this has been great for me, as sometimes painkillers don't do the job. 

[Disclaimer: This post contains a gifted product for review but all words and opinions are still mine and honest]

I am very low maintenance when it comes to my hair. The only time I brush it is when I'm doing something social and have to get rid of the kinks in my hair from having my hair in a bun all the time. The same goes for styling it, whenever I'm going on a night out I say I want to make an extra effort to look nice and change up my hair, but when it comes down to actually straightening it I then decide 'eh actually it looks fine like this'. If you've been seeing my posts on Instagram, you might have seen I recently had a lot of blonde put into my hair after having a variation of 'red' dyed hair for around 10 years. As any blonde can tell you, having light hair requires a lot more maintenance and you'll usually have to invest in more products than your simple shampoo and conditioner. The O'WOW Kit was great because you only need to use the treatment once and the results will last up to 3 months. They kindly gifted me the set for me to try and share my thoughts with you guys. 

If you're planning on staying in one city for at least a month, then there are a couple of jobs that will hire you casually for the short-term. For example in Australia, Pinnacle People are a hospitality agency that are always looking for people for event staff - stewarding, kitchen hands, food and beverage assistants. AirTasker and SideKicker also operate around Australia but extend to loads of other casual jobs too - helping move furniture, gardening, ticketing, ushering etc! A quick Google search of 'temp/casual work in ___' will help you out. 

If you're leaving an apartment or house behind then why not make some extra money instead? Unless you're living in a house share, I don't think your housemates would appreciate random people walking in and out of your house on the regular. A study by Schofields noted that Instagram is now a really effective way to promote your holiday home or airbnb apartment, so adding some little 'instagramable' touches will help when it comes to getting your place booked. I'm all about the indoor plants, bookshelf's and vinyl records on the wall - so that would get me booking!

This is what I'm currently doing in Australia (I'll be doing another post about that soon) and I've loved it. Although if you 'hate kids' then move on to number 4. An au pair is someone who lives with a host family to provide childcare, and in return you get food, accommodation and weekly pocket money depending on your hours. There are tons of Facebook groups connecting families and au-pairs or the website aupair.com has opportunities all over the globe. 

This is something that requires 1% effort (to sign up) and can still give you some form of income. I can guarantee you that most websites you or your friends/family shop or book on have some sort of affiliate partnership programme. I use booking.com, skyscanner, klook, GetYourGuide to name a few. How it works is that every time you or someone else uses your link to purchase something through their website, you get a little bit of commission for it. 

Now I'm not going to tell you to take 2 hours out of your day to fill out surveys online that pay you 5p per questionnaire (can't believe 15 year old me fell for that.) I could tell you to start a blog on anything that you enjoy which you could eventually monetize, but not everyone enjoys writing. There are websites out there that you can get paid to do a variety of jobs including translating, graphic design, videography etc that pay. So it's just a case of finding what works for you!