From City to Surf: Brisbane and Noosa

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Brisbane was my first stop in Australia. Arriving in Oz definitely took a bit of adjustment from being in Asia, my first shock being a $12 muffin in the airport! Walking around Brisbane felt the most like being in the Uk since i'd left home. But dont get me wrong, it is different to the uk, just in more subtle ways. The houses look different, the roads are wider, and I think the people might be friendlier. I stayed with a family friend, Shane and his fiance Nina. It was lovely to curl up on a sofa and have home made pizzas (with nice cheese on!). They also introduced me to the Tim Tam Bomb...a special way of eating this famous aussie chocolate biscuit where you bite the ends off and suck tea through it.

Brisbane is a really cool city, it has that busy city feel with buildings towering over you, but it also has the river (which i got the citycat boat along) and some great green spaces like the botanic gardens, it even has a man made beach! I visited their modern art gallery too which was really good...although i was somehow befriended by a homeless man, so had an odd commentary of the exhibition as I walked around. There are some great little cafes and bars too, one of which Nina took me to ('Hideaway' I think) and i had my first pint of cider in over 2 months...it tasted good!

After Brisbane i began my journey up the sunshine coast to Noosa. I'm staying in the Dolphins Beach House, where my sister and Paul stayed about 7 years ago! Its just as chilled as they remembered it to be. The good thing about food being so pricey here is that everyone cooks in the hostels, which makes them sociable. Although I do think the backpacking culture seems different to Asia, there are more people with pully suitcases and heads in laptops, although I guess there are a lot of people coming here to work too.

The beaches in Noosa are beautiful and there's also a national park, which i did the coastal path walk through. The views were brilliant...the photos don't do it justice. My main reason to visit Noosa was to get a surf lesson, as it wasnt on my original plan, but a few people told me it was the best place to surf between brisbane and cairns. So...surf i did. A few of us had a 2 hour lesson and despite battering my knees, it was so much fun! I managed to stand up so i was pleased with my efforts and would definitely do it again.

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