Sheraton Mirage Resort And Spa Main Beach

... the coast. You can see the ocean as well as all the tall buildings in Surfer's Paradise (a town on the Gold Coast of Queensland.) Then she brought us to the oldest pub on the mountain called St. Bernard's (complete with their own adorable St. Bernard dog named Leo!) We had a glass of wine and then went to her house for some more wine and cheese and grapes. She and her family have travelled extensively around the world and she loves to ...

... Libby and her dad came to pick me up at the airport and we had a nice steak dinner at a cool pub in Brisbane. We stayed over night with her dad and then drove to the Gold Coast the next morning (where Lib lives). She took me around her little town and I got to meet a lot of her friends. Then at night we ate some good sushi and saw Mamma Mia, which was excellent! The following day, we met up with one of Lib's good friends Dave and went to a suburb of Surfer's Paradise ...

... keeps on going. The first time I went for a run, I had 3.5 miles in before I even looked at the pedometer to see if I should turn around. Joyce and I had vouchers to stay at a hostel in Surfer's two nights for the price of one. It was the most disgusting place I've stayed during my travels. Between the roaches and the roommate that snored all night long, we were eager to move after the second ...

... seeing as a small bottle of water was more than $3. I had heard there was a drought going on in Oz, but this is ridiculous. It was like 100B for a small bottle of water instead of the 5B it would have cost in Thailand. The public bus was over $4 and the real killer was finding out a dorm room was $31/night. I quickly did the calculations in my head and figured out that I was paying over 1000 Baht not for a beautiful bungalow on the water in high ...

Over the last few days we've made our way down the Sunshine Coast stopping off at the most beautiful beaches for a surf and a swim..... and a wakeboard. Well it would be rude not to!! We stopped off in Surfers Paradise to catch up with a few friends from Roamfree. Shilpa is leaving to go back to India, so we've met up for a few drinks. It ...

... the whole team (consisting of Colin's mum & brother plus the two itinerant travelers) must stop at 'Yatala Pies' to savour the delectable flavour of a good old Aussie Pie ("yeah mate, good on you, ya little ripper!"). This first wish was granted and although Colin enjoyed his hearty pie, no one else was Australian enough to appreciate the sublime delights offered by this fine establishment. The second wish belonged to Melissa and was simply ...

... by a dawn break march at 5am right past our apartment, it lasted for about an hour, banging and crashing all the way! I managed to stagger out of bed to get a few pictures but by the time I had I only got to see the end of it. Beth got herself a job here in a hostel just up the road in Southport and will be staying for a couple of months to save some $$$, we made the bus journey up to see her a few times and stayed for the BBQ and quiz evenings ...

... bar - quite cheap. Also had a few beers in the bars. For some strange reason we seemed to be quite old compared to all the others in there. While in the Gold Coast we plan on going to DreamWorld, Warners Bros Movie World, Wet n Wild and Sea World. There are also some shipwrecks nearby in Tangalooma so we might be able to go snorkeling and take some pictures using the underwater camera.

... the shore of the island were Marlene, myself and the dogs Tammy and Bonnie. After the breif stop we were back on our way to the house on the canals in Southport, with Belinda, Sarah and Nina all rugged up against the increasing cold. Back at the house we socialised before Belinda and I used the internet to check up on a few details as well as update this blog a tiny bit before dinner. Our sausage sizzle (that was at one point planned for Wavebreak) was had at ...

... walk round wearing no shoes, long dreadlocks and still believe its 1967. As soon as we stepped of the bus we were offered weed or the infamous Nimbin cookie! Posters advertised the upcoming Mardi Grass festival where everybody gets stoned (daily occurance anyway) and a get kids to school campaign, as apparantly the parents were allowing their kids to bunk school Hmm. It was a weird place and after an hour we were ready to leave. We got into Surfers ...