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Published: July 13th 2007
Under the Bridge
Ryan and I posing in Brisbane. So the excitment of living in a van down by the river has begun to deteriorate as quickly as our van itself. What we failed to mention previously was that our van had nearly 250,000 miles on it and we were driving a distance similiar to that of Seattle to San Diego. Honestly, we wouldn't be surprised if when we pulled into Sydney, the wheels instantly fell off and the engine died in a final plume of black smoke. It has already decided to be stubborn and either stumble or just shut off intermittantly while we are driving. We are kind of hoping that the last couple of hundred K's to Sydney are down hill so if worst comes to worst we can just soap box derby it into town.
After leaving the Sunshine Coast we headed into Brisbane to check out some of the museums and art galleries. While most of you barbequed and drank beer in the sun, we sought out the classiest box of wine we could find and then tried to improve diplomacy with "The Mother Country," courtesy of our new friends Jay and Charlotte. Aside from that we spent the majority of our time
South Bank
The view from the south bank of the Brisbane River. talking about actually going into the city, since we were camping in a suburb. When we finally made it in, we found that Brisbane was set beautifully on the banks of a river. We couldn't help, but think that it would be kinda cool to travel to work in your business suit on a boat.
Next stop on the agenda was Coolangatta, the south end of The Gold Coast. We opted for a night in a youth hostel to escape the cramped quarters of our van and meet some new people. Here we discovered one of two superpowers that we've been given on the trip...attracting senior citizens. From Hervey Bay to Coolangatta, they have been right on our tail. Who the HELL has ever stayed with seniors in a YOUTH hostel...well besides us. Fiending for a good night out we drove back to Surfer's Paradise where, after sampling some kangaroo steak, we met a few "Crazy Kiwi Girls" that coerced us into doing a pub crawl with them. Thanks to Jodie, Toni and Geena we had a great time dancing and chilling out. We are however still a little partial to the crawls in PB and downtown SD.
Morning Brew
Ryan and Jason having a some coffee after a night of drinking. After a big night out we wanted nothing more than to chill out in the picturesque hippie town of Byron Bay...and a little bit of water of course. Byron was so mellow that it seemed like everyone was on something. Here is where our second superpower took effect...destroying the surf conditions. We have become quite accustomed to hearing things like, "It's usually never like this during this time of year," or "This is usually the best time of year for waves." Yeah, yeah...NO! The first night in Byron we started our malaria meds and had some pretty crazy dreams. Something about a small Aborigine man taunting Russ all night by saying, "Moo Goo!!" and all other kinds of jibberish. Ryan felt like he was being chased by someone and for some reason felt like a low-voltage current was pulsating through his body throughout the chase. When we woke up we were sick. We have decided that we are blaming 65% of our sickness on the granny with the hot water bottle in Coolangatta and 35% on the pills, but who knows. All we know is the last few days we have spent in recovery with the wind howling. We are
Point Break
The easternmost tip of Australia, off the lighthouse in Byron Bay. now in Port Macquarie to hopefully catch some surf, yes we have our fingers crossed, before heading into Sydney.
One final note, we have discovered something that is pretty funny. Apparently, Canadians are annoyed when Aussies confuse them for Americans...haha, who knew. As an Aussie so eloquently put it, "Your accents are so hard for us to tell apart, kinda like the Chinese and the Japanese." Ironically, we understood what she was saying because we still can't tell the difference between an Aussie and a Kiwi. So needless to say, we have become used to being asked if we are Canadian and are currently researching some Canadien cities to develop our alter-egos. Well, it looks like that is about it for now until next time...later.
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Nicole
non-member comment
Grays Hairs Beware!
I didn't know that you'd be cougar hunting on your trip....Polident is your kryptonite... Be careful in the Flinstone mobile!