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Published: January 9th 2015
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Still travelling up the coast and visited a place called Forster, which actually we didn't like very much but it was just somewhere to lay our heads for the night as we had done a whole day in the car. The driving is easy and the roads good but it's quite tiring. We have visited various bays and towns on our route but the big thing we have noticed is that a lot of the accomodation is stuck in the 1970's. We have been lost and a couple of locals pulled up and asked if they could help us, they spent a long time explaining where we had to go and saw us safely on our way. I have to say that all the Aussies we have met so far have been really lovely people and very helpful and chatty. We are getting used to "G'day mates" and "no worries" and "it's ripper" to name but a few.
We are now staying at a B&B near a place called Grafton and I have to say we were a little tense on the way here, a long drive, getting lost and not seeing a town for about 40km was all a
little worrisome. Fear not, we arrived and were welcomed by Terri and Greg, what a couple. First things first we were handed a complimentary glass of wine and beer and a bowl of crisps so straight away Baz the crisp monster was bowled over and told Terri he loved her. The room is beautiful and as hosts they cannot do enough for you. There are complimentary drinks and cheese and biscuits in the afternoons, coffees and raisen toast mid mornings, I don't know how they make any money! For us it's wonderful except the little bit of weight we have lost this last week is going straight back on! They took us out on the river in their boat today which was very kind of them and really beautiful and tomorrow we have the use of the Kayaks and paddle boards. They are very much into the environment and rescue orphaned Joeys. We have been bottle feeding them, they are sooooo cute. They are all living inside sack like bags that are all hung up on pegs, this is so that they feel as though they are still in the pouch and are very safe. Another fabo experience! The house
is lovely and it overlooks the river which has an odd boat and water skier going past, it's very tranquil. The only sounds are the birds chirping and in the evening the tree frogs start making their noises, they are quite noisy and last night a baby one jumped on Baz, he very nearly had a heart attack!! My big brave husband is a bit of a wus when it comes to anything resembling an insect or amphibian or reptile or........ The list goes on!! Anyway we love it here so much we are staying an extra night or two!
Been Kayaking today, managed to stay in the Kayak despite there being some big boats and water skiers creating very big waves! Baz very bravely tried paddle boarding today which I have to say was a very funny spectacle and the photos do definitely not do the experience justice, to say I needed to go for a big wee was an understatement! OMG just been told that there are bull sharks in the river and we have been in it today, feelin totally like aaawwwgggghhhhhh!
Today been in the car for a long time, we visited Byron Bay,
very long beach and the town is full of surfer dudes. I have decided that being a hippie is just an excuse for not washing your hair or body! They are a really minging crowd! Anyway Byron Bay had a good vibe and we sat in a beach side restaurant and idled away an hour people watching. Next we drove the Gold Coast which is a very long beach with lots of resorts all the way along. This to me was very Benidorm, very large tall skyscraper hotels and lots of take away food outlets etc. nice to see it and the beaches especially at Surfers Paradise were spectacular. When you walk on the sand it squeaks and it feels like you are walking on icing sugar. It's all about the beaches but for me far too commercial and that's why we carried on and arrived in Brisbane late afternoon. Lost an hour today as the time is an hour behind now we have entered the state of Queensland, the sunshine state. We have rented an apartment in the city centre for a couple of nights:
I really like Brisbane as a city, last night we walked along the
south bank, it was very pretty, all the trees had twinkling lights in and all the boardwalks around the river were all lit up. Loads of bars and restaurants in fact I don't think I have ever been in a city with so many to choose from. It is a very new city, modern buildings and skyscrapers but it's clean and vibrant and small enough to be able to get round pretty well on foot. Amazingly there are some beautiful old buildings that were built by the convicts, they must have had a lot of criminal stone masons in those days as they are stunning. Most have been turned into trendy hotels and wine bars but they seem to just blend in with the very new somehow. I think the highest point in Brisbane is the one that we are staying in, at least we can't get lost cos we can spot it for miles! They have a big wheel like we have in London but what they have which is fantastic is a beach in the city centre. It's got sand, sea, life guards, ice cream parlours, waves and the sunshine but unlike being in England it is all
free! It's something else and bearing in mind that Brisbane is in between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast it's a mecca for all the school kids who are on their summer holidays here. Today we went on the obligatory hop on hop off bus tour which we find really good and then we discovered the hop on hop off ferry which is also free. Way to go Brisbane! We saw a lot of the sights and then we went to the modern art gallery called GOMA which was also free for a bit of culture. It was a new fantastic building and most of the exhibits on show at the moment were Japanese. Baz got quite into it and felt at one with modernity, I'm obviously not that cultured and I just wonder why something's get passed as art as to me they are just a mass of coloured splats on canvas that I think any 2year old could create, all it needs is a fancy meaningful name and hey ho you could be winning the turner prize! Have included a couple of photos of more normal things, well if you think an upside down elephant and a
sea lion with a piano on it's nose is normal!!
Just off out to sample some more of Brisbane night life, they have markets where you can get street food and listen to live music from all the wannabe artists, so that is where we are off to.
Tomorrow we head to a place called Noosa Heads which I hope will be as lovely as everyone tells me. On the way we are going to Steve Irwin's Australia zoo, so until next time g'day you poms.
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