Brisbane and Surfers Paradise

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We moved onto Queensland's biggest city Brisbane. It rained a lot of the time we were here so we limited our time outside! We stayed in an area called the 'west end' which was slightly hippy in nature with lots of outdoor cafes / bars etc. Brisbane itself was a nice place, but a typical city and most travellers seems to just stay a couple of days before moving on. We walked along the river a bit, checked out the shops and otherwise just relaxed in the hostel.

After two nights in Brisbane it was still raining when we got to Surfers Paradise. And yes it is called that, bizarrely! The coastline seemed slightly American, with big high-rise buildings alongside the sandy beach, which was like nothing else we'd seen in Australia - usually the beaches have a few rocks and trees behind them! We spent the day mostly in coffeeshops avoiding the rain again, which got really heavy at times. We decided just to stay one night and move on to Byron Bay, a few hours down the coast.

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