The first thing to say on this post is an apology for how long its taken to write it! It’s been a busy two weeks, and we’ve really only just had time to sit down and write it. Not that it matters. At this stage we assume we are just rambling into the ether, but if anyone is still reading this then we are sorry, and as won’t make you wait so long again.
We arrived in Surfers Paradise blissfully unaware of our lobster coloured backs. It was only after lugging our backpacks to the airbnb that we realised the factor 50 hadn’t done its job that day. The next morning was therefore spent hiding from the sun and covering ourselves in Aloe Vera aftersun, as well as using the time to do trav-min (travel-admin).
When the mid-day sun had subsided, we ventured down to the beach. Feeling like bodyboarding pros after Byron Bay, we hired a couple of boards and headed into the swell. We were quick to realise how Surfers Paradise got it’s name. Frances was knocked sideways with every wave. Andrew managed to stay upright initially but soon got tired of being dumped by the surf.
That night we treated ourselves to a 5 dollar dominoes (yes, that’s the actual price. £2.50 for a large pepperoni. We can never go back to £20 now) and headed to the city’s big screen to watch Federer vs. Djokovic. Unfortunately, it turns that cricket trumps tennis in Australia even when it is the Australian Open, so we watched The Big Bash League instead.
The next day we boarded the bus to Brisbane. The first port of call was to head down to the Howard Smith wharves to meet our friend from uni who is working out here. We sipped our drinks (Aperol Spritz is big here – and comes with free orange sunglasses) whilst sat on bean bags overlooking the city skyline and caught up on her Australian adventures. This time the tennis had made the cut for the big screen and we were hooked on a tense semi final.
Having got a bit carried away with the drinks on bean bags, we had a lazy get up the next morning – so used the time to finally book the rest of our plans in Indonesia. Feeling rather proud of our successful booking session, we headed out to one of Brisbane’s many roof top bars.
We donned the only smart clothes we now own (though they were heavily crinkled) & put on our best power walk past the bouncer at the entrance to the swanky bar. Amazingly we didn’t get thrown out for smelling like backpackers and we ordered cocktails to watch the sunset over the city.
On this trip we’ve discovered we really aren’t big city people, we couldn’t even hack two days away from the beach – so we booked a day trip to Moreton Island. After a sunny boatride we were greeted by some pretty cool looking pelicans at the dock, and we then headed to our main activity – shipwreck snorkelling. The government sunk a load of ships off the coast of Moreton in the sixties to create a safe mooring site for smaller boats. What they didn’t anticipate was coral growing attracting lots of fish & marine life.
That night unfortunately we’d forgotten it was a Sunday and the shops were closed, so were “forced” into another $5 Dominoes. We took it back to the flat to watch Australian Open final, convincing ourselves that we were the real winners – a large margerita beats 5 sets in 30 degree heat anyday.
For our 3rd day, we hit some of the top tourist stops; Mount Coot Tha and Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Frances met an elderly gentleman called ‘Major’ and gave him a cuddle.
That evening we were a bit lost without the tennis, but accidentally stumbled across an Australian reality TV show; Australian Survivor. Being Love Island addicts we were missing our fix and gave it a go. 26 people are marooned are on an island and made to fight it out with each other. It’s all the great betrayal and backstabbing of love island without any of the annoying romance. Perfect.
Our final day in Brisbane was limited by looming thunderclouds, but we managed to explore a bit of the south bank parklands, and the beach within the city – as well as find Frances’ happy place at a chocolate factory.
We will post the next blog about Fraser Island and the Whitsundays, 2 of our major highlights of Australia, in the next couple of days (just as soon as we’ve written it).
There & Back Again 