Tuesday 19th April

We left Byron Bay and headed for the Gold Coast. It was a beautiful day and we stopped off at Burleigh Head Bay to have breakfast and a swim in the Pacific Ocean. We also stopped at Surfers Paradise and took some photos on the beach.

Our next stop before Brisbane was the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. What an experience!! We had the chance to cuddle a Koala and have our photograph with one - fantastic!! There were lots of koalas to look at and they were fascinating to watch - even though most of them were sleeping We then went into the Kangaroo field. There were lots and lots of Kangaroos, some small ones and some very large ones!!! Some were laying out in the sun while others were jumping around the park. We bought some Kangaroo feed and they soon came over to eat the food out of the palm of our hand. I managed to feed two Kangaroos at the same time - brilliant!

We left the park and drove through very busy traffic at 5pm into the centre of Brisbane to find our hotel - nightmare. When we eventually found our The Royal in the Park, the room was massive and really really nice. We changed and went out for food and to look around the centre of Brisbane.

Wednesday 20th April

We got up early and strolled around Brisbane in the sunshine. We found a lovely outdoor food market at the top of Oxford Street Mall. I bought a large fruit smoothie and it was the nicest one I have ever had. We took the car back to Avis and then strolled through the Botanic Gardens which were right in front of our hotel. The trees were massive and very impressive. We walked over the bridge to Southbank. On this side of the river there is a lovely walkway with lots of bars, restaurants, a man made beach area and huge outdoor pool. We had a nice cooling glass of cider before heading back to the hotel to change for a night out in Brisbane. We met up with Sue and Glenda and went for a nice meal followed by a drink in the Irish Bar.

Thursday 21st April.

I decided to have a nice lazy day by the pool. We went across the road for breakfast with Aussie coffee and then Jan headed out to do some last minute sight seeing. I stayed by the pool all day and wrote up my blog for Sam to read about our travels. Later that evening we met up with Sue and Glenda for the final night before flying up to Cairns.