From Surfers Paradise to Sydney

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Soon after the last blog the sun came out in full force so we set off walking along the beach. We walked 4km from Broadbeach to the centre of Surfers Paradise. There were signs on the beach which said there were marine stingers in the water, so we had a one person in the sea at any one time policy in case one of us was stung and the other had to run for help. We headed for My Oliver’s Kitchen, as this was rated number 1 of the 91 restaurants in Surfers on Trip Advisor. I got fish and chips for under 7 dollars (around £4 which is cheap for Australia!), and Oli got the seafood basket for $15. This was more much our kind of food and price than what we found in restaurants in the Broadbeach area. The food was really good and we contemplated hanging around until we were hungry again so we could eat dinner there too! We went for a walk around Surfers and went for a pint at The Hard Rock Cafe which had a balcony facing the sun. Then we went to an ice-cream shop underneath it called Copenhagen which was one of the best ice-creams I have ever eaten. I had strawberry and white chocolate with caramel fudge and Oli had rum and raisin and a coffee flavoured one. While eating our ice creams we were accosted by girls not wearing enough asking for cash for other peoples parking called ‘Meter Maids’. We were very confused as to who they were so we didn’t give any spare change. Then we headed back to Broadbeach along the beach again. Halfway there we had the obligatory rain shower but it soon passed. We had a night in and went to bed around 11ish. Then at midnight the fire alarm went off with a voiceover which said “emergency, please evacuate”. So we quickly got dressed and headed down the 15 flights of stairs. Then the same thing happened again at 6am! At least it meant we were up nice and early for some more tanning. We were due to check out at 10am, but this didn’t stop us getting up and lying by the pool for some tanning at 7am. We sneakily made our way to the car park (as we didn’t get charged for the last nights parking) and drove back to My Oliver’s Kitchen. As it was still early we both went for the $10 all you can eat breakfast. It was a good choice, all the usual full English breakfast – bacon, eggs, sausages, beans, tomatoes, toast, pancakes and maple syrup. We then headed for Wet and Wild to get more use from our passes and settle the breakfast with a few laps of the lazy river. However, Wet and Wild’s car park was totally full so we headed to Movie World next door. This was not ideal for our stomachs full of breakfast. We ended the day at Movie World by watching the stunt car driver show which was very impressive. The drive back up to Steve and Tess’ was easier than the drive down during the rain. At least one good thing came from the floods – the bridge toll was cancelled!
For our last night at Tess and Steve’s we got a Chinese take away, Steve explained the cricket rules while we watched England Aus 2020, then we went for a glass of wine in the spa. On Saturday we had to catch of flight to Sydney and Steve and Tess gave us a lift to the airport. The Jetstar flight was delayed an hour, and there was no food. We didn’t expect much for $99 each. By this point we have become very relaxed travellers, so we left it until we got to the airport to book the hotel in Sydney. This also allowed for us to change our plans in the event of any more natural disasters. We booked three more nights in our favourite Kent Street Meriton Apartments.
After arriving on Saturday, we went to get some basics from Coles. Our shopping list has changed somewhat from back home, it now includes a kilogram of king prawns (for $14), maple syrup and pecan slices, strawberries and white chocolate dip and Chilli flavoured crisps. Our room had a very nice bath so I had a bath for the first time in about a year. Then we got ready and went to a posh bar in Australia Square called Orbit Bar, which is on the 47th floor. It is a circular building which slowly rotates. It had brilliant views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House and we had a cocktail while we looked at the views.
Today we have had a lazy morning eating scrambled eggs on toast on the balcony. We are going to go for a wander into Sydney later as the Sydney Festival is on. Tomorrow we are going on a tour of the Blue Mountains.

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