Hello there... hope this finds everyone well. So we are now on our final night in Brisbane so I'll update you of what has been going on since Byron Bay. We headed to Surfers Paradise on the greyhound on the 11th January. When we got there the weather was very cloudy and so we checked into the hostel called Backpackers in Paradise - which really wasn't paradise. The amount of rules were ridiculous (we felt like we were back at school) The rooms weren't bad. We were in an 8 bedroom dorm and when we arrived two guys were asleep so we dumped our bags and headed into town for a mooch around (sp there sorry). We walked up and down what we thought was the main street for what seems like forever where we were very disappointed... if this was going to be the highlight of Surfers Paradise then we were not going to have the best 2 days especially i fthe rain didn't hold off! We then spotted a few stray shoppers with shopping bags in there hands and were determined that this was not it!! After roaming around for abit we finally spotted a shopping centre, and much to our delight a massive shopping square outside. So after shopping around for a bit, Loz spotted Hard Rock Cafe and we thought we would treat ourselves that night. So we went "home" for a relax and chillout where we met 2 Danis girls who were also sleeping in our room. They warned us about a New Zealand guy who was also in our room who had previously been sleeping, saying how he often mumbled to himself. We got the pleasure of witnessing this first hand and it was kinda creepy - he sounded like he was praying in a different language. he introduced himself to us and generally talked then we headed out hoping he wasn't planning how to kill us :) Hard Rck Cafe was ace - such good food but diet starts tomorrow for us (Yeah Right) We then headed back to the hostel to sleep as we were exhausted!! Sat 12th got off to a great start with the sun shining we took advantage and slipped on our bikinis and headed to the beach. After a few hours of sunbathing we hit the Arcades (well Steph and I did) Dodgems, Car Racing, Shooting, Football etc etc we were having so much fun. I also won a torch, pen and a bracelet haha!! We then headed to Coles for our evening food (mine was to be jacket potato cheese and beans yummy) and settled for another earlyish night in the hostel! Thankfully the strange New Zealand guy had left and was replaced by another Danish girl (who did not return home that evening after her night out tut tut). We had booked onto the greyhound to go to Brisbane.

We arrived in Brisbane and checked into our really nice hostel called TinBillys. We are in a 7 bed dorm, all girls this time. 2 foreign ones and 2 Canadians. After dumping our bags and finding out where town centre was we headed in. Many many shops later, we headed to have a beverage in a pub called the Pig and Whistle (very English) to watch the football highlights of the day. We then ate in an Irish pub and met Chuckie and Jo (our friends from Uni) in our hostel bar downstairs. Although they were up for a big session we weren't. We met 2 boys in our hostel but headed for an earlyish night.

On monday (14th jan) we woke to more rain :( So seeing as though Steph and I have been itching to play tennis since Bangkok, we thought today would be perfect. Our hostel booked us in at the university of Queensland courts for the afternoon. So as Loz slept (as she wasn't feeling 100%) Steph and I went to get some breakfast. in the afternoon all three of us headed to the university on the bus to play. However by this tie the sun was shining. Steph and I (very competitive as usual) managed about 35 minutes of play before nearly dying from heat exhaustion as it was 29degrees out and unshaded courts!!! Laura and us then had a knockabout before returning after an hour to the bus stop! It was good fun though - just rubbish timing on the weathers behalf! We then headed to Coles for some cereal and milk and headed back to the hostel. We met 2 lads in the tv room and a girl called Laura and decided to watch a film (Good Luck Chuck) that evening.

Today (Tuesday 15th jan) we got up at the crack of dawn, well nto quite but hey 7am is pretty early (especially after one of the muppet foreign girls decided to leave her phone on loud and accept a call at 5am about acccomodation and speak at the top of her voice, then hang up and talk in a different language to the other girl in another bunkbed grrrrrrrrrrrrr) but we got revenge by turning the lights on early and talking!! haha! So we got up and headed to the Transit Centre as we were going to Australia Zoo Yay (Steve Irwins zoo)!! We got there and headed straight for a show in the crocoseum! A few birds and snakes came out and then it was the crocs show and we were really suprised when Terri Irwin ran out and hosted this part of the show. So we took the opportunity to take some photos and then looked around the rest of the zoo with Laura (the girl from the hostel) who had got in touch with us to say she was there too. This zoo is cool, but it was raining quite heavily (hence the gorgeous ponchos we bought) and I also got to wrestle a croc (Ok Ok, not a real one but hey the little details don't matter)! There was a tribute section to Steve which was quite upsetting really....We then headed back after a day at the zoo and are literally planning to pack and rest tonight. Got a 7 hour bus ride at 10.30 am tomorrow to Hervey Bay so no heavy one tonight. Hpe you are all ok. Will update you in a few days time...

Claire xxxxx