At a glance Your trip in 10 seconds

1 Your flights

Jetstar booking reference SKV68F.

How to check in — do this a day or two before each flight

1. About 48 hours before departure, check in online at jetstar.com.au → Manage booking (or the Jetstar app) using reference SKV68F. If the check-in button appears even earlier, just do it then.
2. Save the mobile boarding pass to your phone — that's your ticket through security.
3. At the airport: you have a checked bag, so stop at a Jetstar bag-tag kiosk, scan your boarding pass, print the tag and stick it on your bag.
4. Drop your bag at Jetstar bag drop — it closes 40 minutes before departure, and the gate closes 20 minutes before.
5. Aim to arrive ~90 minutes early — then relax, you're on holiday. Both flights are domestic, so no passport needed, but bring photo ID.

2 Your hotel — Rydges South Bank

Breakfast — included with your room

Full buffet at Bacchus (Podium level): eggs, bacon, hash browns, pastries, fruit, bircher muesli and barista coffee — just quote your room number.

Hotel goodies

• 🏊 Outdoor heated pool — Podium level · 6am–6pm
• 💪 Gym — Level 1 · 6am–10pm
• 🧖 Sauna — Level 1 · 6am–8pm
• 🍹 Soleil Pool Bar — poolside drinks by the pool
• ☕ CBD Café Bar — casual bites & coffee, right in the hotel
• 📶 Free fast Wi-Fi throughout

3 Airport → hotel, and getting around

Landing at Brisbane Airport — Saturday 14 Nov

1. Easiest: the Airtrain.
   • Find it: follow the signs from the Domestic terminal across the Skywalk to the Airtrain station, and board from platform 1 — every train from there heads toward the city.
   • Tap on: tap your credit card at the platform gate as you enter — that's your ticket. Fare is about $20–24 (the airport line is the one trip that is not 50c).
   • Ride: 9 stops to South Brisbane station, about 33 minutes — trains run every 15–30 min.
   • Tap off: tap the same card at the gate when you exit at South Brisbane — that's how it knows your trip is done.
   • Then a 4-minute walk: exit toward the big QPAC building, turn right onto Grey Street, walk ~300m — look for the tall glass hotel tower with the "Rydges" sign on the corner of Grey & Glenelg Sts (the lobby entrance is just around the corner on Glenelg St).
2. Or taxi / Uber: about 20–25 minutes, roughly $50–80. Ranks and pickup zones are right outside the terminal.

Fun bonus: the CityCat river ferries are the prettiest 50c cruise in Australia. To catch one, walk ~8 minutes through the Parklands to the South Bank ferry terminals on the riverfront boardwalk (near the big Wheel of Brisbane) — any CityCat toward Hamilton will do.

Your common routes (all from the hotel)

4 South Bank — your new backyard

Your hotel sits on the edge of South Bank Parklands: 17 hectares of rainforest walks, river views, a beach, markets and a cultural precinct — all walkable in thongs.

The essentials — all free or 50c

On during your week — prices included, book ahead if keen

Queen St Mall day (5-min walk over Victoria Bridge)

• 🏛 Museum of Brisbane — City Hall, Level 3 (free exhibitions about Brissy people & stories) — FREE
• 🕰 City Hall Clock Tower tour — ride the 1930s cage lift up for city views — FREE, book at the MoB desk (goes hourly)
• 🛍 500+ stores along the open-air mall — plus the gorgeous 1923 Brisbane Arcade (heritage shopping, free to wander) and Wintergarden's food court upstairs
• 🎶 City Sounds — free live music drifting through the mall and Post Office Square most days — FREE
• 🍫 Noosa Chocolate Factory (Adelaide St) — coffee or hot chocolate comes with a free sample treat — ~$5
• 🚌 Purple City Loop buses (routes 40/50) — free hop-on hop-off loop around the CBD every 10 minutes, Mon–Fri 7am–6pm — FREE
• ☕ Free coffee tasting at the Nespresso Boutique (209 Queen St) — the tasting bar at the back will make you a free cup. FREE
• 🍵 Free tea tastings at T2 (Lower Ground, Queens Plaza, 226 Queen St) — FREE
• 💆 Happy Feet Steam Massage (Myer Centre, 91 Queen St) — walk-in foot massage with herbal foot spa, $65 for 40 min, or a quick 10-min neck & head massage for $25

Where to eat

You can't swing a cat without hitting a restaurant around here — honestly, just wander. A few pointers:

• Walk left out the hotel (up Grey St) — cafés and casual eats all the way along
• Walk right (down Grey St toward the water) — Little Stanley St and Stanley St are lined with restaurants, from cheap and cheerful to fancy
• Head closer to the water — River Quay at the parklands' edge has the nicest riverside restaurants with skyline views (and a $19 weekday lunch special at River Quay Fish)
• Across the bridge — the city is 5 minutes away over Victoria Bridge, with everything from food courts to fine dining

5 What to pack — 6 nights, Brisbane spring-summer

Brissy in November is warm and sunny (high 20s°C) with the odd afternoon storm. Pack light:

• 🕶 Sunnies, a hat & sunscreen — the Queensland sun is no joke
• 👕 Clothes for 6 days — it's high-20s every day, so pack light: t-shirts & shorts or dresses, undies & socks, and one nicer outfit if you feel like a fancy night out
• 💊 Any medications you take
• 🩱 Swimmers — for the hotel's heated pool & sauna, and Streets Beach (the free inner-city beach!)
• 🩳 Gym clothes + a yoga mat — for the hotel gym (Level 1, 6am–10pm) and the free outdoor fitness classes at Flowstate (mat, towel & water needed)
• 👟 Comfy walking shoes — everything in South Bank is walkable and you'll be on your feet
• ☂️ A small umbrella — November afternoons can throw a quick storm
• 🧊 One warm layer — Queensland aircon is serious business
• 📚 Hospital-day kit — a book, downloaded podcasts or shows, snacks money, and a phone charger or power bank (visits can stretch on)
• 🪪 Photo ID — needed at the airport and at hotel check-in (the booking is under Sasha Avalon)
• 💳 Your tap-and-go credit/debit card — it doubles as your bus/train/ferry ticket at 50c a trip

6 What's on this week

Every day, any time: Streets Beach & hotel pool/sauna · Queensland Museum, MoB + Clock Tower (free) · South Bank walk 10am & gardens walks 11am · CityCat ferries (50c)

7 The map

The main map shows your hotel, the hospital and Sasha's place in Windsor — hotel and hospital are 15 min apart on foot. Below: a closeup of your South Bank neighbourhood.

1 — Your hotel 2 — Hospital 3 — Sasha's placeMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors

1 — Your hotel 2 — Streets Beach 3 — Ferry terminal 4 — South Brisbane station 5 — Cultural Centre busway 6 — Hospital 7 — Queen St Mall / CBDMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Part 2

SUPPORT & HOUSE INFO

The practical handbook — hospital, house, cats, kids and how you can help

A Hospital

Item	Details
Hospital	Mater Mothers' Private, Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane — a 15-minute walk from the hotel (or a 1-stop bus from Cultural Centre to Mater Hill — see the routes page)
What's happening	Sasha is having the baby! Due date Wednesday 18 November, expecting a 4–5 day stay
Visiting hours	10am–1pm & 3pm–8pm, seven days a week — quiet rest period 1–3pm

🧳 Hospital suitcase: the packed bag is at Zack's place (175A Algester Rd, Algester QLD 4115). If it's needed and Sasha can't get it, that's a job for you — pick it up from Zack and bring it to the Mater. Zack: 0475 636 757.

Official Mater campus map — Mater Mothers' Private is building 8, main entrance off Raymond Terrace (reception on Level 5)

On foot from the hotel (about 15 min)

1. Exit the hotel lobby onto Glenelg St and turn right — walk ~400m down Glenelg St until you hit the big intersection with Stanley St.
2. Turn left onto Stanley St and follow it east, up the gentle rise of Mater Hill (~700m). You'll walk right past the Mater Hill busway station — that's your halfway marker.
3. Where Stanley St meets Raymond Terrace, turn right and follow the sidewalk up the rise — you'll walk past the big Queensland Children's Hospital on your right, then the Mater Private Hospital entrance (look for the "Private Emergency" signs). Keep going to the top of the hill.
4. Front door found: Mater Mothers' Private (building 8) appears on your right — look for the big walk bridge leading from the road into the hospital; that's the main entrance (off Raymond Terrace). Reception is on Level 5.

B Sasha's place

Item	Details
Address	Unit 2, 31 Harris St, Windsor QLD 4030 — bus 196/199 or train, 50c (see the routes page)
Spare key	In a rock under the back stairs, behind the unit
Neighbour	Lara (with daughter Charlotte) — Unit 1, next door · 0422 360 515 — a good friend, happy to help with anything if needed

C Cat feeding

Two cats. If Sasha's in hospital, they'll need feeding once a day — here's the routine:

1. Dry food & water: top up the bowls by the back door any time.
2. Wet food at dinnertime (~6pm): one sachet each — kept in the bottom drawer in the kitchen, by the fridge.
3. Cass (big orange cat) gets medicine every second day: mix half a teaspoon of Movicol (small packets on the table) into his wet food only.
4. Supervise dinner: hang around while they eat, so the other cat doesn't get Cass's medicated portion (and Cass doesn't double-dip). They each get exactly one.

💬 Note: a few people can feed the cats, including Lara, Laura, Selena and Jess. Check whether one of them can do it before you rush over — it might be easier for someone with a car, or who already lives nearby.

D Steph's routine

If you're helping with Steph while Sasha's in hospital, here's the shape of a normal day:

🌙 Evening routine

🍽 6:00pm — dinner
🚿 7:00pm — shower & brush teeth
📖 8:00pm — bedtime & reading
💤 9:00pm — lights out

☀️ Morning routine

⏰ 6:30am — wake up
🥣 7:00am — breakfast
🎒 7:30am — before-school care or extracurricular
🏫 8:30am — drop-off (school starts ~9am)

E Ways you can help — the honest list

✔ The definite stuff

• Feed the cats (routine above) whenever Sasha's at the hospital, or help coordinate someone who can
• Company & moral support — being around, distraction, cups of tea, trashy TV
• Bring extra treats — coffee & snacks to the hospital or house (the hospital provides Sasha & Zack's meals, so this is just nice-to-haves)
• Hospital visits — a friendly face in the room means more than you'd think

⚡ The contingency stuff (only if needed)

• Pick up the hospital suitcase from wherever it is, and bring it to the Mater
• Help with Steph — drop-off, dinner, bedtime routine, or just hanging out
• Pickups & errands — groceries, pharmacy, anything Sasha or Zack can't get to
• Coordinate logistics if Sasha's not up for it — texts, timing, taxi bookings
• Extra cat cuddles and an eye on the house

F Key contacts

Who	Contact
Sasha	0437 966 211 · Unit 2, 31 Harris St, Windsor
Zack	0475 636 757 · 175A Algester Rd, Algester QLD 4115
Jess	0411 422 534 · Griffin
Pierina	0494 301 443 · Woolloowin
Julian (good friend)	0439 685 446 · Tingalpa
Lara (neighbour)	0422 360 515 · Unit 1, 31 Harris St, Windsor
Laura (other neighbour)	0405 442 388 · Windsor
Selena (good friend in Windsor)	0419 464 791 · Windsor
Hospital	Mater Mothers' Private, Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane
Hotel	Rydges South Bank · (07) 3364 0800 · conf #79813419

Made with love for Amanda · Brisbane, November 2026 · "The best safety net is a good friend with a map."