Queensland!!!Well we have now crossed the boarder and we are in the sunshine state however yet again the clouds have re-appeared! We are heading for Brisbane, the 2nd largest city in Australia, so unlike the last week we were going to encounter people, lots of people! It started with a morning's drive through surfers paradise, Lonely Planet suggested avoiding this place when the kids are off school as this is where they have their spring break. We thought rather than de-tour it we would just drive through to see the coast views. Well, we should have listened to the book and gone past on the motorway as it was nose to tail traffic. It didn't help that this road was also going to Sea World and all the other big parks. Even though we are huge fans of the big rides we decided against jostling with the crowds and thought we would rather spend the time on the reef. (sea world and wet and wild is for another holiday in the US, besides there was no Shamu!! Sorry Australia!) So we ended up finally getting passed all the traffic and decided to stop off and get some food. Well now we are in a city, all we can see are people (we are just not used to it!) and big corporate food sites so we decided to stop off under a bridge where there was a picnic table and make a bacon sandwich which was much better than any slimy burger|!So after lunch we approached Brisbane and started to look for our caravan park for the evening. Again a lovely place to stay, clean and great amenities. We took the public transport into the city to look for our second bridge climb, Storey Bridge. However we didn't have much luck finding the booking office and were getting frustrated with walking and getting nowhere! So we ended up in China Town where we had a fantastic meal. We ate at a restaurant called the Dragon Inn which was reasonably priced and it had the best chicken satay I have ever tasted! We then headed home as both very tired!The next day we woke up early to a great sight, bright sun and clear blue skies, so we decided to relax and soak up some rays. All the caravan parks have pools with sun loungers, so at 7.30 am we hit the pool area for some sunbathing! (sounds early but that time of the morning it was approx 70 Degrees!)After a bit of swimming we showered and headed off again into the city in search of the bridge climb (this time with a map!) When we arrived however the offices were closed, even though the brochures say open 7 days a week! So we settled in a nice fish bar next door and grabbed some lunch (fresh coley and chips) to wait for it to open. The only thing is, it didn't open! Upon ringing the telephone number on the brochure we discover the offices are closed at weekends and only open Mon- Fri! Unlike Sydney you can't just turn up and see if they have a climb. No where does it say this on the brochure and with us not knowing when we were going to be in Brisbane we couldn't book. So advice to anyone wanting to climb, book beforehand.! They are open Saturday mornings but just for enquires but if they don't have any climbs booked, the office isn't open!So after a bit of a disappointing trip we ended up mooching around, sitting in a couple of bars and people watching. Brisbane has lots of shops so it's certainly a great place for clothes shopping! With the bridge not climbed we get the bus back to camp. (Brisbane's public transport is superb, £2.50 gets you on all the trains, buses and public ferries for 4 zones, you'd never get that in London!). We are cooking a simple meal of pasta, bacon and pesto tonight, sitting here getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Anyone travelling here at this time of the year make sure you have as much mossy repellent and remedies for when you get bitten. Some of the campers we've seen have got anti-mossy candles which are probably sending them our way. We must invest in one tomorrow!So another couple of days gone, tomorrow we are heading to Australia Zoo which we are really excited about so need our kip as it's going to be a long day… will up-date again soon. Lou and Pete