Beginings

---

We made it to Oz!

The 13 hour flight from LAX to BNE was not half as bad as expected. Word of advice: drink heavily the night before an evening flight, and the hangover will make you sleep like a baby on the plane. We had a fantastic going away party the night before we left, as well as a fantastic hangover the next day. Joey barely made it on the plane because he was feeling so sick (nerves had "nothing" to do with it). After a nice long sleep and a couple of movies, we landed! Customs were such a breeze that Joey still claims that we skipped them.

Now the hard part... driving. The whole left side of the road thing was a total trip. Joey managed to drive very well, with a few moments where we were not quite sure if we were on the right side. By right I mean correct, which is actually the left. We had a pretty easy drive down to our first airbnb in Tweed Heads.

First impressions were not great. We heard that the Gold Coast is comparable to the Jersey Shore, and it seemed to be mostly run down strip malls and drugged-out people roaming the streets. We were very worried about what we would find in Tweed Heads, but were pleasantly surprised. Susan's cute little two bedroom sat atop a massive hill that overlooked the ocean and nearby town of Coolangatta. There was a tree full of parrots in the backyard that I could watch from the little balcony while I read a book, and it was just a short drive to Joey's most anticipated surf destinations.

The basis of our destination and time of arrival were centered around Joey's try-outs for the Gold Coast lifeguards (or lifesavers as they're called here). But... plans change. He got sick almost immediately after we arrived at the airbnb, and was up all night with a stomach flu. in the morning, he decided there was no way that he would make it to the 8:00 AM try-outs, and fell asleep. I am not exaggerating when I say he fell asleep for 24 hours straight. I woke him up a couple times to make sure he wasn't in a coma, but otherwise he was completely out. I had a nice walk by myself and explored the area, deciding it wasn't quite as bad as I initially thought. Joey woke up in the morning the next day and had to go surfing immediately, without acknowledging that he had just been in a coma and had not eaten in days. He came home bragging about seeing Occy, Dingo, and Mick Fanning (even I have heard of the last guy, mostly because he was attacked by a shark on live TV).

We had planned everything around the lifeguards, and now we were kind of freaked out. Did we make the right decision to come here? Was the Gold Coast as bad as its reputation? We decided to go to Byron Bay that day because we had heard such amazing things about it. It was truly a great little town, with cute shops and a nice beach. We had very yummy coffee from a breakfast place where the waitresses were stick thin and super trendy. The drive in and around Byron was so beautiful that it completely lifted our spirits. The one downfall was that it was raining, but we can't wait to go back another day.

By our final day, Joey and I were completely stoked on Australia. We had a wonderful beach day, where we got completely fried to a crisp. We saw dolphins, Joey caught great waves, we saw pro surfers, we splashed in the waves, and we hung in our hammocks overlooking Cook Island. That night we went to "the worst Mexican restaurant ever" according to Joey. I thought it was decent considering there are probably 3 Mexican people in Australia, none of whom work at that restaurant. We had our first beer of the trip that night, and nothing tasted better than that. Now we are off to Brisbane for a break from the beach and a look into city life!



Notes:


• The toilets do not swirl the wrong way. They don't swirl at all.
• There is no iced coffee. We tried to get it and ended up with sugary ice cream coffee.
• We can't sit in the sun for more than 20 minutes without a 3rd degree burn (and it's still technically Spring).
• You aren't mad, you're just hungry.
• Sleeping from 8:00 PM until 8:00 AM every day is normal (we hope?)
• Gas signs say 1250, but that doesn't mean $1,250 per gallon, or liter. We filled up for $40. Still don't understand that one.
• There are no kangaroos in the cities, unless you go to the zoo.

---