So having met an Australian in New Zealand that recommended Mooloolaba I was giving it a visit for one night as most other backpackers hadnt heard of it. Heading north of Brisbane I was leaving the Gold Coast behind and entering the Sunshine Coast. Oh My God, they are right. I stepped off the bus and it was like a heat wave, so hot! The bus stop was opposite the backpackers so all I had to do was cross over the road and wait to be checked in. The couple infront of me took ages to check in as they were asking lots of questions so when eventually it was my turn she gave me an hours free internet to make up for the wait. Bonus!

It was a nice hostel with rooms overlooking the swimming pool. I was on the 2nd floor in a room with 4beds and a balcony. I put my things down and set off to find the beach as it was so hot. It was a really nice beach. Along the seafront were metal BBQ kitchens that anyone could use, lots of childrens playing areas and places where you could work out at the beach. I sat on the beach and people watched for quite a while intil it started to get chilly as the sun went down. On the way back to the hostel I treated myself to a dominoes pizza as I didnt feel like cooking.

Back at the hostel there wasnt anyone in my room so I used my free internet time. Whilst I was on the internet the Rugby World Cup Final had started and the room had filled with people. I perched myself on a table at the back of the room as all the other seats were taken and watched the game. It was a good game and closer than people expected it to be. During the game a guy came over to talk to me, he was from England as well and said there wernt many others from England around. He was called Adam. He offered to share some of his drink with me. He had been to the bottle shop and got 6 bottles of wine for $12. Thats the equivalent of a pound a bottle! CHEAP!! He invited me out with a few of his friends so I went.

It was Sunday so not a lot of places were open but we went to an Irish bar called O'Marleys. We had one drink there and carried on chatting. I told him how I was doing a 3day kayaking trip in the bush over the next few days. He seemed very interested as he said he did lots of kayaking back home and also explained how he had got stuck in Mooloolaba for about a week just booking another nights stay every morning. I suggested he should come along too if there was space on the trip. Its always nice to know someone and I also thought it would be good to go with someone who knows what they are doing. He said he would like to. When we finished our drinks we went back to the hostel.

In the morning I met him for breakfast and we got him booked on the trip. He was getting a different bus to me to Noosa, but I had got a new travel buddy!