Gooday Everyone! We arrived in the aptly named 'Surfers Paradise' after leaving Byron Bay, it was only a couple of hours journey which was a relief after some of our marathon adventures in Asia! We checked into a nice hostel which had quite small dorms which is always a bonus when in Oz! We then chilled out for a couple of hours as we were meeting our friend from home who has recently moved to Sydney. It was really strange meeting someone from home when you are over the other side of the world! He was staying at the Marriot hotel which was absolutley gorgeous as it was 5 star and he booked out the penthouse suite! The views from his room over the harbour where astounding! We had a few beers and a bit of a catch up in his 'suite' before heading down into the bar for a cocktail, i chose the 'Chocolate Bunny' which was so yummy, it was more like a chocolate milkshake! We then went for dinner at the Hardrock cafe which again, was very delicious! It was such a treat to eat in a nice restaurant after 'slumming' it for a few weeks! It was the night of the now 'terrible' England game so we went to watch it in the casino as everywhere was packed. We all ended up losing each other and making our own way home but we all managed to find our way after 'quite' a few beers, he he! The next day we were all a little hungover so went for lunch at the harbour which was lovely as some of the boats were amazing, it was like being in Puerto Banus, a rich mans playground! We then went and sat on the beach which was like something from a postcard. After deciding that we were all too hungover to 'sun bathe' we went to the cinema and saw the new Superman movie which was very 'cheesy'! Riley (our friend from home) then had to leave to catch a flight back to Sydney so Jen and I had quite an early night for once! The next day we ventured to one of the local theme parks as the Gold Coast is renowned for them, there are about 6 theme parks within 20 minutes drive of each other! It was like being back in Florida! We decided on 'Dream Land' as it seemed to have the most to offer and i think we made the best choice as we had a really good day. We went on some crazy thrill rides and also had a walk around the Zoo part of the park where i had my photo taken cuddling a Koala! It was soooo cute! We also stroked a kanagaroo, saw a wombat and a huge (and i mean HUGE!) croc! We left the following day for a 9 hour bus journey back up North towards Cairns as we were needed to catch a ferry from Hervey Bay to go on our Fraser Island trip. I will inform you of how this trip went asap as i imagine its going to be quite 'scary'!!! Love Sara xxxxxxxx