Surfers Paradise and Brisbane

Over the last 6 days we have seen the 'Miami want to be' Surfers Paradise and the awesome city of Brisbane which are on the Gold Coast. Surfers had lovely golden beaches which went right up to the edge of the city skyscrapers, which made it a bit more unique to all the other beaches we had seen, and Brisbane was just a great city and Hans family were really kind to us so we had an awesome stay! This was also the point where we joined up with the madness (aka rich my brother) as he set out for his mini break to see the east coast with us. Heres what went down...

Surfers

1. Our hostel - we splashed out a little as things were more affordable here and booked a double room. When we arrived we were amazed at how good it was! We had a private appartment with a couple of nice girls from Norway, whch included our own kitchen, bathroom and lounge with a T.V and DVD player!! The reception rented out DVDs so we got 4 over the 3 nights that we were there! Propper chilled out!
2. The beach - on the first afto was the only time we really spent time on the beach! I really liked it with the skyscrapers but Han thought it didnt look as nice (tree hugger!).
3. Rainy day - on one day it was very very wet so we took a walk to the casino. This was becoming a regular tourist attraction for us! Standardly I lost and Han won, however I would have lost an extra $5 if the machine hadnt had been faulty...pheww! After, we had a little shop at the enormous shopping centre where we sorted out our banking stuff and Han got a smoothy from Boost, and won another free one..happy days!
4. The pub crawl - In the evening we went on the Goldcoast Pubcrawl which was awesome! First of all we got a howaiin flower chain, a necklace with a glowstick on it, a free towel and something else which I cant remember so we were all going to look like idiots..perfect!! Then we got a free BBQ at the bar, where we drunk what was left of our bottle of free wine from the night before, and we had a few beers with the Norwegian girls! Later, we got on a massive bus and went to town with a load of other crawlers. We visited about 4 bars, getting a free drink in each, then finished up in a nightclub. We met up with the girls again for the walk/sprint home (Scandanavians are fast walkers!) where we had two slices of pizza each...Fatties.
5. Currumbrin Wildlife Park - This was really good fun as we got to see some of Australias native wildlife. There was an agender of talks and shows throughout the day so we went to all the ones that we could. The first were the dingos where we saw the dog like creatures who are similar to wolves, then we saw the ugly tasmanian devils that look nothing like Taz!! We went to the animal hospital where Han showed off her talent at identlifying animals from a close up pic of their skin (beginners luck I think). We also saw Kualas, owls, snakes and tree kangaroos (who are ginger and look very friendly)! The 3 best parts were feeding the kangaroos as we could stroke them, roll around with them and do whatever you wanted to them prety much! Han had a soft spot for one and made sure we went back to feed it again at the end. I was too busy trying not to have my arm severed off as I tried to feed an Emu, who was having non of it! Another highlight was watching an enormous salt water croc being fed because it fired itself really high out the water. The last thing we did at the park was do an outdoor adrenalin assault course high up in the trees. We did rope swings, tightwalk ropes and ziplines from really high up! At times we had to climb ladders to 20m so I was terrified but we both survived! (This does not mean we are available for putting up the Christmas decorations when we are how though so dont get ideas!) After Han had a good laugh at me in my gay blue and orange jump suit, I had a chuckle at her on the way out as a Larokeet pooed on her face...unlucky hehe!

Brisbane

Brisbanes introductory meet and visit went like this:
1. Day one - Llon picked us up from the bus station, then took us to Singpore noodles where we had an awesome curried pork and rice. Then he gave us a mini tour around the town centre and headed back off to work where he had to share his office with all our bags!! Cheers Llon. Me and Han decided to spend our few hours exploring in the cinema, so we headed off to the cheaper one accross the river! Unfortuntely, when we were half way accross the bridge the clouds decided to piss on us and we both got so wet that we/I (as I leant Han my hoodie) had to strip off to prevent hyperthermia. We had another walk in the town after the film where we saw a youth talent show and got a couple of freeky looking free badges. I sampled my first hungry jacks of the trip (just like Burger King) then we met up with Llon at his office to be picked up by June. June was really kind aswell and after taking us home, made us some gorgeous dinner (what a treat after 2 months of backpacking). That eve we had a chat with June and watched The Blind Side, then at midnight Llon was kind enough to give us a lift to pick up bro from the airport. It was a good to see Richs face again and he told us some stories about how he had watched about 7 movies but had to keep stopping because the old couple next to him didnt know how to use their screen! That night we all slept well!
2. Day two - we got Rich used to the climate immediately by taking him out for a run. We ran to the local park where we did 5 laps round the running track, then jogged back up all the agonisingly steep hills! It is more hilly than Mapperley! After the run we met Beth and she offered to take us around to see some sights. We went to the city centre to get some lunch which was great as we all (except Rich) had something healthy! Han queued up about an hour for a boost smoothy though which proves her addiction to the fruity indulgences! Then Beth guided us to the Greyhound stop which seemed a long way away with our tired legs after the mornings marathon run! We saw the overly keen greyhound bus driver there who had slapped mine and Hans wrists the previous day for embarking on the bus at the wrong time and he was wearing his goofy socks again which look quite funny. After we had a trip plan, Beth tried to guide Han back to her car, but Han had other ideas and got in a different elavator to the one she got in, consequently not having a clue where to go and annoying everyone in her elevator by pressing all the stops till she found the right one Hehe. We then headed to mount ..... where we saw an amazing view of the whole of Brisbane. It was a really nice day so we could see for miles. We had an ice cream, which Rich somehow managed to get everywhere, and sat at the viewpoint for a while before heading back to Junes. Awesome day and to finish it off June made us a lovely bolognaise and Llon went and got us some DVD's to watch!
Day three - We had a nice relaxing morning, then headed to catch the Sunday market in the town centre. We had a nice walk around then got a couple of pints at a bar overlooking the manmade beach. Unfortunately the beach is still being rebuilt after the flood but the pool area was still nice. We got a lift back with Llon after we had seen a few more bits and bobs, then when back at the house Beth had come over and together with June had made some awesome enchilades! For desert Llon made the nicest choc pudding ever (defo stealing that recipe) and we managed to finish it without needing the icecrem to help! Straight from dinner Llon took us all the way to a cave near Surfers Paradise, which was full of glowworms. It was really awesome to see in the pitch blackness of the cave with these little lights shining down like stars! We got told off once for shining the torch near the glowworms, but if we hadnt im pretty sure we would have slid down a load of steps and killed ourselves! Also on the path Rich spotted a huge looking Huntsman spider which Llon said was only a baby!!! On the way back from the cave we had a McDonalds to make sure Llon didnt fall asleep then hit the hay!
We had a really good time in Surfers and Brisbane and it was a pleasure meeting Hans family who were all so kind.