Hey everyone, me again! Tonight is our last night in Brisbane, it's pouring with rain and we have a very early wake up in the morning...a perfect evening to update my blog I thought! Yet again I have lots to report so here it goes...

The morning after my last blog we were up ridiculously early to borad the Oz Experience bus up the East Coast...first stop Surf Camp! On the journey up the driver played us a surfing video to get us in the mood for our first surfing experience...made me a little nervous when the film turned to injuries and shark attacks but he ensured us that the waves we would be surfing in would be no higher than our knee (what a liar haha!). We stopped off at a Surf Museum on the way, which was quite random but pretty cool all the same, with an 80 year old owner who had countless stories about his life as a surfer. We arrived at Surf Camp early evening and were greeted by the most stereotypical surfer dudes you can imagine! The place itself was really cool, right on the beach and really chilled out. In the evening there was a beach party which was a lot of fun :) In the morning we were woken up ridiculously early (again!), had a hearty breakfast, got our wetsuits on, picked up our boards and headed to the beach for our first surf lesson. We started on the sand learning the technique and then were basically 'thrown in at the deep end' and let loose in the water. It was so much fun!!! I'm not a great fan of the sea/big waves but I think it's safe to say I have officially conquered that fear after my surfing experience...in fact I didn't really have a choice haha. The waves were A LOT higher than my knee lol! I absolutely loved it and by the end of the lesson, with a little help from the instructors to start, I was up on my feet all by myself riding the waves yay. I can see now how people get hooked on surfing, it was amazing...but very exhausting! After the lesson we were back on the bus and on our way to Byron Bay.

We arrived at the hostel in torrential rain...but our spirits lifted when we checked in and for an extra $3 were put into an apartment with our own bathroom, kitchen and lounge area (we had the intentions of moving into a dorm after the first night but never got round to it in the end hehe!). The next day we had our very first official day at the beach, it was so nice to relax. Well, I say day...it was kind of just the morning because it clouded over early afteroon and absolutely tipped it down but the sun was lovely while it lasted. We made the most of a rainy afternoon and booked all our Fraser Island and Whitsunday Tours which got us all very excited...despite the big dent it left in our bank balances haha. In the evening we headed over to the Cheeky Monkey Backpackers bar for a few drinks and to try out the 'table' dance floor.

For the next couple of days the sun was shining and so we treated ourselves to some more beach time during the day...and table dancing in the evening haha. The next day we had a free morning before the bus left so we headed over to the lighthouse and Australia's Most Eastern point which was cool. That afternoon we boarded the bus to Surfer's Paradise. On our way we crossed the boarder into Queensland and gained an hour which was an added bonus! The next morning we headed into the centre of Surfer's to explore. The beach is lovely and the sun was shining so it was absolutely packed. The place itself is quite touristy with lots of high rise apartments...not one of my fave places so far but was still cool to see it. Apparently it's known as a mini Ibiza for it's nightlife but unfortunately we didn't get to experience that side of it. In the afternoon we boarded the bus to Brisbane, arriving early evening...bringing us to my current location.

Our time in 'BrisVegas' has been pretty cultural which has made a change to our lazy days spent in Byron Bay lol. On our first day (yesterday) we walked along to the City Hall to check out the Musuem of Brisbane and to go up to the top of the Clock tower for views of the city. We then walked over to Southbank and visited the Museum of Queensland and the Art Gallery (making the most of all the free admissions hehe). In the afternoon, feeling very cultured, we walked up to the Roma Street Parklands which is the world's largest subtropical garden located in a city centre...and yes I just copied that right out of the leaflet haha. The gardens were really pretty and it was a lovely finish to the day. This morning we headed to Fortitude Valley to have a look at the weekend market and then caught the Sea Cat Ferry along the river where, to our delight, we managed to come accross three more markets yay. We had lunch at Southbank which is another really pretty area of the city with a man-made beach...not city like in the slightest! One thing I've definately found in Brissie is that there are lots of places where it's easy to forget that you're actually in the middle of Australia's third largest city! After this we had a mooch around the shops and then headed over to the Botanical Gardens. Woo finished!!!

Tomorrow we board the bus at 6.30am to Noosa where wes top overnight so that we can visit the Steve Irwin Zoo which I'm really looking forward to :)

Hope everyone is ok back home :) More updates soon but until then... xxxxxxxx