Surfers Paradise & Noosa

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After Byron Bay we stopped at Surfers Paradise for one day/night. I hadn't booked anything and this was a last minute decision. I was out the night before so was amazed I managed to get on the bus at 7:30 am the next day. Katie said to me whilst we were drinking in our hostel courtard 'You are the most laid back person I know, I love how you're due on a bus at half 7, you have no idea where you're going yet but you're out drinking tonight and loving it.' Ha, well those that know me at home know that that's how I roll! That's also the beauty of travelling, you don't have to have a plan, you can just go with the flow and be spontaneous. It's amazing, such a chilled life and every day is an adventure. If I could push all my friends and family to do it I would. If you're thinking about it, go for it!

Surfers Paradise is Australias equivalent to Miami.. it's a complete party town with a great beach, surrounded by theme parks. Unfortunately I didn't get to spend time on the beach because the afternoon we arrived it was raining.. yes rain, I definitely didn't sign up for this weather when I flew across the world!

Carol and I decided that as we didn't do much in the day we should definitely hit the clubs in the evening. We started at an Irish pub (she's Irish and can knock them back!) and then headed on to a club called Vanity. Vanity definitely reminded me of a club in Miami or LA.. the girls were all dressed to the nines and clearly loved a bit of fakery (boob jobs, hair extensions, false eyelashes, the whole works.) It was times like this that I thanked God that I'd brought my heels with me! Even the bar staff were dressed in corsets and little black pants! The decor was really cool, the music was amazing, and the whole place just oozed glamour. Afterwards we went to Shooters for a bit which was more of a fun laid back club.

The following morning we headed back on the greyhound down the Gold Coast towards Brisbane. Carol and the other girls got off here but I decided to head on to Noosa because I was desperate to go to the Australia Zoo! Luckily I wasn't on my own for long as I met a really nice girl, her brother & another guy. We had lunch in Brisbane before our connecting bus and from what I could see Brisbane is a little bit like London (but not as good obviously!)

That evening we went out for dinner in Noosa. Noosa is a beautiful beach town where a lot of Australians come for their holidays and to retire. It's got a lot of lovely restaurants, hotels, shops, a gorgeous beach and a national park too. That evening we had dinner at a restaurant right on the beach, but I had to have a kids meal because the main meals were extortionate. Saying that the waiter gave me a generous portion and I had spag bol which was delicious!

The following day was brilliant.. for one we had sun! We went to the Australia Zoo which was Steve Irwins zoo and is now run by his family. It has to be the best zoo I've ever been to. I was so excited to see kangaroos and I was not at all dissapointed.. they just roam around the zoo, and you can stroke/feed them! I also got to hold a koala bear and saw lots of them up in the trees. The croc show was good but the most spectacular show was the tiger one. The guys that worked at the zoo played with them as though they were domestic cats, waving toys in front of them and making them chase them. they chucked toys into the pool and the tigers would leap after them into the pool making a huge splash as you can imagine! It was incredible. After the show you could go right up to the glass and take pictures of the tigers close up. We also got to feed elephants. If any of you go to Australia.. this zoo is an absolute must see.

That's it for now.. next stop Rainbow beach!

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