The Bay Apartments Coolangatta

... coal, mined from other areas of the state and this fires the biggest power station in QLD. That in turn powers a giant smelter converting bauxite ore (also mined in QLD) into Aluminium. The town is prosperous and it was interesting to walk around our hilltop rest stop and admire the opulent homes clustered nearby, surrounded in all directions by heavy industrial works. <br>The next stop, later that day was the village of seventeen seventy. Named after the year of ...

I didn't sleep all night, didn't have enough RM left to get a Media player and that random $50AUD note that had been floating about went missing. Oher than that we had a smooth landing at OOL and were back on Australian soil in no time. I was expecting a horrendous run through the airport as it's quite small but after 45 mins we were out of the airport and on our way back home feeling a little deflated about having to get back into work soon

... some pics tomorrow when I get a chance. For now I hope you have enough of a description to fill your imagination. We are skipping Sydney and staying here. So you can see that other than sharing English it is a whole different world down under. It's absolute paradise. And to our friend at the Hertz counter who thinks this is just like the OC...Your wonderful little corner of the earth is nothing like the OC, and please keep it that way.

... incredible surfing. People also come to the Gold Coast to surf, and you can tell from the size of the waves and the skill level of some of these people. And we were amazed at how close they would surf to these enormous rocks! Unfortunately, the surf and rocks have claimed many lives and along this walkway by the beach, there were plaques in memory of so many young surfers who didn't make it. Pretty sad. 4-Wheel Drive Tour A highlight ...

... and played football for a while. We got sick of the blowing sand and headed back to the hostel (which we weren't actually staying at, but we were still using their facilities). We cooked up some spagetti and meatballs and feasted. I played poker with some French dudes and got destoyed, my beginners luck was over. Other than that I don't remember much about that night. Slept in the car again.

... was serious! Anyway, I headed into town for a walk around and Ewan and Shaun went to bed as they were feeling ill. 19th - 21st December Didn't do to much these days although me and Shaun travelled up to Surfers Paradise to book an apartment for Christmas as we'd decided Coolangatta wasn't much fun. Ewan was still pretty ill.

... join the hostel night out mainly because it was $10 for a meal, 2 free drinks and entry to a club (well we are economising). Jo and Ashley decided to join us we sat together on a seperate table before room was found for us at the main table. We made the most of our free drink voucher and went straight for the wine. The meal was a decent size considering we only paid ten dollers it was a pity the table was full of weirdos and the guy from the hostel ...

... room and get privacy. Devon retorted heatedly, 'I've paid for this bed!' and I said, 'Oh like the rest of us? It is a shared dorm.' The Israeli girl laughed and offered me a cinnamon sweet. We got on well, her and I. And Devon became a lot more human when he was on his own, too. Another time, I was walking to the bathroom with my toothbrush and got chatting to a German guy on the way. He had just graduated from Film Directing school ...

... walk (most easterly point in Oz) which is about 2 hours there and back. The day we did it the weather wasn't great, with a bit of sun here and there and plenty of showers. Never the less, the views were just amazing. No dolphins and whales that day, but you can't have that luck everyday. The next day instead of going on a tour to Nimbin (which was a tough decision as we had one day left), we opted to go to learn to surf as the waves were ...

Hello, We arrived in Byron Bay yesterday and are staying in a hostel right on the beach. It's a huge hostel, but our room smelt like a tramp had been living in there, and it's freezing at night so didn't sleep very well last night.... but apart from that Byron Bay is really nice. There is a big long beach where everyone goes down to surf on, and a big light house that you can go to and whale watch as they are ...