Ocean Plaza Resort Coolangatta

... stay 5 days to visit Fraser Island and catch up with this blog. After payment and some frought times getting a decent plot from them we found there was no TV reception or mobile broadband. Added to that was several days of 18hr long downpours of rain which made for a very wet and somewhat miserable experience here.<br>The main exception was our day trip to Fraser Island which was warm and sunny. We didn't see any of the famous wild dingoes here but having encountered one ...

... searched because of herbal medicines and what not. I thought it was better to play safe and declare the one highly risky item we brought - a jar of Bisto gravy that Paul's sister Jo wanted from the UK !! Luckily the customs lady wasn't bothered and (flashing the blue AU passport!) we got straight through. Picked up a hire car and Paul drove from Brisbane down to Collangatta and Bilambil Heights where Jo and Mick live - arrived at 2am, completely knackered and ready for bed !

... can also claim that we suppose. We also went to Rainbow bay, which is very popular with families for the little sand islands and then down to Snapper rocks. As you can see, there is no end to the beaches in this area. We also followed the Walk of Remembrance, a memorial to all the ship that have sunk around Australia, particularly during the war. It is quite sad to see the amount of casualties, but good that a memorial is being ...

... To die for! Max and I had a wine tasting--he smelled, I tasted. We did some off roading, which we know that Jim's sister and brother in law will be proud of. Our guide took us through a rain forrest and pointed out all kinds of interesting things--strangling fig trees, funnel web holes, termite destruction, trap door spider. He was intersting, funny and very patient with the endless questions from the kids. A highlight for me was ...

... over to us and told us that the beach was closed because of the huge waves (which made sense). With no beach there wasn't much to do in Cabarita so we left for Surfers Paradise. This is where me and Max's genious idea came together. We were going to both get hostel beds($30 each), but instead we decided that only one of us would get the room and the other would maybe get a bed if no one else showed up ...

SURFERS AT LAST.... I've waited 6 weeks and finally we're on the surfing coast... They are mostly a bit young as its Schoolies week (teenage kids) in Surfers Paradise but there have been some lovely examples :-) Went for lunch at the Northcliffe surf club which is (apparantly) the best surf club in Australia... I tried to steal all the pictures off the wall but they were too well ...

... tray too high he said so he could hold it above everyone to get through, I pointed out that there was no one in the place and he mumbled that a guy by the bar was tall and moved away. As the creepy hostel man drank more (we think he was getting free drinks) he kept coming over taking a particular fancy to Jo (yuck!!). Also to our delight there was a couple of poles on the dancefloor so again later on in the evening we posed by said poles &amp; I ...

... away with it by calling it a co-incidence. The idea had been a baby asleep in a car and it being so safe that it kept all the nightmares away - it had been a cartoon style with big beasts being kept outside of the car and a little boy fast asleep in the back. My brother Simon is a designer and I remember him telling me how competitive ideas are when he was studying at university. I commemorated with him. Ben was another of my dormies ...

... up on the board. If ye did you'd hit the sandbank and go head first into the sand. Got on the board a few times but more going head first into the sand bank was my forte to be honest. Clodagh got on the board a good few times. Lower center of gravity I suppose, well just a natural. You can really see how surfing is a great way to keep fit, as after 3 hours we were just shagged. Plenty of bumps and bruises for good measure aswell. Had a few ...

... and the surf was slow and gentle. Grant was having difficulties getting into the required positions due to his lack of flexibility. But by the second day, the tides had turned. Surf was up, and I almost gave up right away, before I could even walk/paddle past the crashing waves. After the instructor came to my rescue, and towed me out, I was able to stick it out. However I was definately humbled, trying to get on ...