bonjourno me again just had a great last few days, real good laugh, went to stay at nathans house nearby in Surfers. went for a japenese meal all you can eat (a lot) friday night, very good stuff. then woke up sat morning and went round to his girls house to take the boat out for the day! we motored down to Runaway Bay marina (where im staying with alex and val) and pumped a load of petrol into the boat, ready for a day of speeding around Broadwater and the millionaire canals! nath drove us through lots of canals along the surfers paradise Gold Coast area, tens of houses over the 10million mark, really stunning architecture and gardens all backing onto the countless canals, all with one or two jettys out the back. these guys live the good life! although htey told me most of them arent lived in half the time, most are HOLIDAY homes, unreal. one day...! we reached the nice big area of open water just off the sea, nice fairly flay waters perfect for water skiing! nathan showed me the way first of all, with his girlfriend samii driving, me spotting. then i suited up and jumped in, took bout 3 times then i finally stood up for a fee moments, before leaning back too much and slammin back down...few more goes like this, then finally got it right and did some big long runs, gaining confidence, then having a go at criss crossing the wake from the boat, and doing a few unsuccessful jumps! was so much fun and we will be definately doing it again soon! hopefully sorting out a wakeboard too. i tried with one ski, buts its real difficult to get up and going, but will try again next time for sure. really tiring on the arms and thighs! after this we went for a cruise around some more houses then back to her house and in for a beer. then back to nathans for some dinner and at 9ish we drove down in his toyota soarer to the local cruise, fwe hundred cars in the car park by the sea. ncie friendly atmosphere, load of pimped out cars, Evos, Scoobys, beemers, imports and some mad vans and utes. naths car is well up with best of them, with his neons, sounds and fat twin turbo 2.5 engine. not really into the pimp my ride thing but was cool to see some nice cars, but damn i wish i watching the arsenal spurs match!!! ah well. sorry nath lol! sunday we woke up pretty late and had a big breaky then hit surfers paradise beach all arvo (afternoon!) and hit the surf, the waves were huuuuuuuuuuuge so not much luck there and only yesterday a father was killed in the rip whilst saving his son, not good at all, feel for his family. the rips are basically very strong currents formed by underwater sandbanks that cause the water to run out and run in in different places, so some water runs sideways a while, then sucks you outwards a long way until it ends. lots of people get caught in them, and you are supposed to let it take you or swim at 90degrees to the force, if you swim into it trying to get back to your original position you become vvvery tired and you wont get anywhere..most get caught in sideway shallow rips, where the water about up to your neck pushes you right down the beach without you knowing it, but the real dangerous ones are 10/20+ or so meters out deeper which can just take u out, worse still get sucked under by a wave then have an underwater rip keep u down under, not cool. the waves today were about 13/14foot, which looks so cool as it comes right up to you before you duck under and avoid it! still plan on getting an underwater disposable out there one day to get some great barreling and wave break photo shots! we larked around in the waves, bodysurfing etc for a few hours then relaxed, and then played some inevitable football, very enjoyable day! just back at alex and vals now, hopefully getting a job tomorrow, supposed to get a call either monday or wednesday to start a telemarketing job, not gona be good but need a job and wana live by the beach! see how it goes! they said its cool if i just do 4 weeks there anyway so sounds ok, no selling either but still cold calling... not cool lol. then as soon as i got the money, i plan on flying to sydney then getting a train all the way across the outback to Perth for a few weeks, then its Bali time. another option is jsut flying for only a bit more money, but i wana do the experience of a 3 day train journey, non-sleeper style! get to see a lot of nothing, which is what i want to see!