Written 19th September 2011

Hello,

So like I said at the end of my last blog I am currently in Shelia and Bob's garden in Brisbane. I am now nearly bald after getting my hair cut this morning! 2 Months since I last had it done!

My bus from Byron arrived at Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, after a very entertaining journey. An actual tramp this time had somehow managed to get onto the bus drunk and he was apparently allergic to aerosols. As he sneezed his way from Byron to Surfers, a 2 hour journey, he walked up and down the bus slurring his words trying to get people to stop spraying, which nobody was doing! Very funny!

When I got off the bus I was met by Michelle, my 3rd cousin twice removed, who is the daughter of Shelia. Shelia is Pauline's sister, Pauline is my Grandma's cousin, My Grandma is my Dad's mum, my Dad is my Dad and that's how we are family and that's why I am here. Complicated hey, oh and also Uncle Len from a few blog's ago is also Michelle's Dad….

Anyway, I arrived quite late in Surfers and once we got back to Michelle we watched a bit of TV and chatted before hitting the sack. The next day I was greeted at my bedroom door by Michelle's two cats. Now I haven't had much interaction with cats in my lifetime and usually start iching my eyes, sneezing and everything else. However, I was fine! After breakfast we drove about 30 mins from where Michelle lives and were in the mountains. That is one weird thing about this county. One minute your at the beach, the next your in the Alps! We went to a place called the Natural Bridge. In the middle of the rainforest and in the next town to where they film I'm a celebrity, which is only 30 mins from the city and not really deep rainforest as we all believe they are in, there is a fantastic waterfall. It's a waterfall with a difference. Over the years it has slowly eroded away and the water now falls through a whole created by the water into the caves below about 10m before the original fall. Its hard to explain so just look at the pics on Facebook! Anyway, it was pretty cool and I took lots of pictures with my teacher head on! We then walked around small loop through the rainforest and jumped every time a leaf or branch moved! Especially after my previous few days encounters!

In the evening we picked Steve, Michelles partner, up from his house on the way into Brisbane City. We walked over the bridge to Southbank and from the bridge it looked just like London, a big city, river flowing through the middle, big wheel on the river bank. Southbank is where it is all at in Brisbane, and a beautiful walkway is topped off with a man made beach, right in the heart of the city! I slightly crazy sight I suppose it is a pretty good idea when for the majority of the year temperature are over 30 degrees! We found a bar and enjoyed a few pints of cider before heading back to the city for tea. Michelle and Steve then went off to a gig they had ticket for and I headed out on my actual mission to get something free! Even I was impressed with this one though! I decided that I would head into the Performing arts centre on Southbank so I went back over the river and tried to get some last minute tickets to see a circus show. "Unfortunately we don't sell last minute tickets and it has just started anyway, but I can offer you a ticket for the Orchestra starting in half an hour" Said the ticket woman. I enquired as to how much it was and she replied, "Free!" Bingo! I had done it, mission accomplished and I hadn't even tried! A free ticket to see the Queensland Symphony Orchestra play Rachmaninov Symphony No.2, 20 rows back in the stalls, smack bang in the middle! You couldn't wish for a better seat! So there I was wearing, shorts, t-shirt, flip flops, sunglasses and rucksack surrounded by suits, bow ties, shiny shoes, high heels and long dresses! The first half of the programme was actually Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.2 played by Nikolai Demidenko who I believe is a world famous pianist from Russia. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra was being conducted by Edvard Tchivzhel, another Russian with endless worldwide performances to his name. From what I can gather I was watching two very prestigious musicians for free! I was blown away, astonished, amazed by the whole thing! The way that guy played the piano was incredible; I hadn't seen anything like it before. Once finished he went off, on, off, on, off, on and somewhat milked his applause. Then a girl rushed out with some flowers just as he started to play again. A little piece later he went, off, on, off, on, off and on again and started like a rocket just as the girl with the flowers appeared again. Finally he went off, on, off and on before the girl managed to give him his flowers to stop him playing. It was fantastic though and I must admit, I am slowly becoming a Classical Music Geek!

After I had seen this I actually preferred the idea of meeting Michelle and Steve in a café by the river for a hot chocolate rather than watching the second half. I know that's crazy but it cost me nothing, I had really enjoyed the first half so left while I was happy. We then had a drink by the river before heading back home and decided a stay in bed in the morning was well deserved.

A stay I bed I had! At 12pm I woke up just as Michelle was about to get me up! I had just enough time to get sorted before we set of to Shelia and Bob's house for a family BBQ. It was great, at last some meat on the BBQ, something we have every night at home! We had a really good afternoon chatting about all sorts from my trip, plans for the week, family, etc… I was well impressed when I walked into the kitchen to find a photo album open with a picture of me as blonde 3 year old in it! We then took the dog for a walk, don't worry she's tiny so I'm not terrified, before a night in skyping family in England.

So today we have had a chill day. This morning we went to the local shopping centre so I could finally get my hair cut. Lets just say I got my moneys worth! I have then spent the rest of the day planning things for New Zealand and writing this. Tomorrow we are off to Australia Zoo! Otherwise known as the Zoo opened by that crazy Australian guy who used to jump of crocodiles! But that's it for now soo…

Ttfn,

Tom x