hey all

we are now at Surfers Paradise after spending a great week in Bris with Rach and Si. We got up to alot while we were there and was nice to relax for a bit. We headed down to South Bank where its brisbanes fake beach and did some sunbathing, we also walked around Queens street where its the main shopping street and i finally had a haircut! We also went on a tour of the Four X Castlemaine brewary which was really good and we got to see how it was made, packed and distributed - the best part of the tour was the 4 free beers we got - xxxx Stout, Gold, Bitter and the limited edition xxx Sparkling beer. We also had a couple more BBQs as well and had a pizza and movie night!

We also toured brisbane on the CityCat Ferry which was good and went to a local Thai place for tea. And so Saturday our brisbane adventure ended when simon and rach dropped us off to get our bus down to Surfers Paradise to once again become backpackers. Thanks si and rach for great time!

Our bus only took about and hour and half and we arrived late afternoon to our appropraitely title 'Surf N Sun' Backpackers hostel. We have heard lots of people say how tacky Surfers paradise is and we were not surprised when we walked the 20 mins to our hostel. Its like a seaside town full of tacky souvenir shops - but its good fun! in the evening we just watched batman film with our room and headed to bed. today we have been on the beach - and it was super hot! and also both updated our diaries and been searching for somewhere to stay in Byron Bay for 2mz as most places are full and we are again having trouble finding places. Eventually we found one and we will have to get the late bus down 2mz as all the rest are fully booked! we cant believe how busy its getting everywhere! we plan to stay in byron for few days and then down to Port Maquarie and then Newcastle before getting to Sydney on 22nd.

hope everyone back home is ok! doesnt feel like xmas here in surfers even tho they have a big xmas tree up with sea shells all over it!

Tom xx