Kangaroo hunting, randomness and idiocy!

So I showed up at the airport and had to repack everything outside because nothing was organized from the boat trip. As I was packing I ended up chatting with the security gurad and the other guy he was talking to. We got on the subject of how I hadn't seen a kangaroo yet. My plan was to go to the zoo the next day because my flight to bali didn't leave until 8pm. It turned out that there were tons of kangaroos right around the airport. I finished packong my stuff, checked my bag and decided to go kangaroo hunting in the forest next to the airport. The other guy,chris, decided to come with me. We walked around for a bit but only saw some from far away. Chris ended up being on my flight and was headed to sydney the next day for a poker tournament. we actually ended up with seats next to each other too. Lol. When we got to brisbane he asked me if I wanted to get a taxi with him to the airport hotel. The airport was way closer to the zoo than the city. He said the rooms were like 60 a night (more than I've paid for the whole trip) so I asked if he wanted to just share a room. His flight was at like 7am anyway. We agreed on that and took a cab to the hotel. It ended up being 90 but I wasn't to upset because it was the first real hotel I'd stayed in for a while! We walked around to try to find some food but didn't have any success. Instead we ordered a pizza and hung out watching tv and chatting. I asked the woman at the front desk how I could get to the zoo. She said I could take the bus and then I asked if it went to the zoo. She said no, but it goes to the city. (The opposite direction of the zooy). How helpful!! There was a bed and a bunk so I grabbed the bunk. He said goodbye ridiculously early in the morning so I just rolled over and went back to bed. At like 7:40 I woke up to check my phone and email. I had an em-l from my mom saying that she thought my flight was at 8am not 8pm. I ripped apart my baag, grabbed my flight info and found out she was right. I was soo pissed at myself for being such an idiot!!! I had either read it wrong or was thinking about my flight out of bali. CRAP!! I freaked out for a few minutes before deciding to call customer service. I got disconnected like 4 times but eventuallt found out that they would wave the 24hr before policy for changing flights and let me change it. Unfortunately they only have one flight per day so I would have to wait until the next day. Damn I'm a moron!! Also I had to pay the airfare difference $250. Peace budget!! I was really pissed for a couple hours and then realized it could be worse. I wasn't hurt and I still had my passport. Also I would get to go to the zoo to check out the kangaroos. Most expensive zoo trip ever but honestly there was nothing I could do about it. I took my bags to the front desk to see if they could hold them for the day so I didn't have to lug them to the zoo. Of couse not!! Apparently the hotel is part of the airport and bags couldn't be left unattended. Perfect. Well I headed out to find the train station (turns ou there is a train to the zoo) with about 65lbs of bags. it was ridiculously hot and of course I got lost because the hotel gave such great directions!! Along the way I ended up meeting this flamboyant guy named hallie. It turns out he was looking for the train station too. Eventually he got fed up with walking, got a cab, and offered to pay. Thank god!! We got to the train station and said goodbye because he was headed to the city. Took the train to dakabin and met two girls and an australian who were headed to the zoo as well. They said it was about a mile walk. I wasn't ecstatic about carrying my bag but it didn't sound that far. We ended up taking a wrong turn and accidentally trespassing at a school. when we got back on track a guy in a truck stopped and offered us a ride!! How amazing. The zoo let me keep my bags in front and I went off to explore. I petted cute fuzzy little koalas, hung out with the kangaroos and checked out some monkeys. I'm not sure if it was worth missing my flight to bali, but I did get to see some cute animals. headed back to the train station (this time without a ride :( ). I ended up figuring out how to rest my bookbag on my butt so it wasnt that bad. After that I grabbed a train to the airport, I was definately not missing this flight again!! Got to the airport around 7, found a comfy leather couch and passed out. Woke up on and off and got up at 6 for my new flight to bali. I had a lot of time to think in australia. The first thing I realized was that all travel agents are evil and 100% trying to rip you off. More importantly I realized that the things you experience in life are largely shaped by the people that you share them with. Also I had a lot of help from complete strangers so maybe I should start doing a bit of the same.