Oops, we did it again, 13-24 april

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Ok ok, we have once again succumbed to the wonderful feeling of not doing anything... at all! We both feel the end of the trip catching up with us and we feel somewhat hardpressed about coping with the schedual.

We spent the first two days in Sydney trying to arrange a package deal for the most interesting travels up the coast. It proved to be easier said than done and we really tried to get the most out of our money. Thankfully we think we succeded. The travel agent said they didn't really understand how we got it as cheap as we did.
The only sightseeing we managed was a quick look at the Opera house in the dark.

The 14th became the big sightseeing day. Walking past Hyde park, a couple of churches and the ANZAC memorial, which is a memorial dedicated to the Australian and New Zeeland troops who fought in the First World War, we arrived in the Royal Botanic Garden just in time for a heavy downpour. Seeking shelter in their Tropical centre we spent quite some time admiring the orchids and other rare plants. Due to the rain fall we got a student discount from the lady in reception.
After the rain had subsided we took a walk around the huge gardens, seeing a lot of cool trees. There were also a lot of white parrots and other birds either of us had never seen before. The view of the Opera house from the top of a hill in the gardens was unprecedented.
After a quick tour of Sydney Opera house we headed to the Observatory where we got a new concept of the word big.

The following day we set out to see the Great Synagogue which we had missed the day before. Unfortunately it was closed. From here Erik went on to try to do some shopping. Failing that, he went to the tranquil and beautiful Chinese Garden where he sat for a while reading about Quantum Physics. Meanwhile Hannes finally had time to answer some mail and fix some practicalities.

The next day Erik bought some jeans and we went to the Sydney Harbour bridge to get some pictures with Glenn.

On the 17th of april we left Sydney for the supposedly great surfing city of Byron Bay. Sadly we were quite disappointed and we spent our three days there not doing much because of the rain. We did, however, try the body board, a smaller version of a surf board, on which you can't stand.
Sometimes in Byron Bay it just didn't feel like we were on the other side of the world but back in Sweden, since about 25 percent of our hostel population were swedes. Unfortunately they weren't the brightest gang of Swedes, or indeed gang of people, we've encountered in a hostel (and thank god for that!).

Happy to leave Byron Bay, we arrived in sunny, beautiful Surfers Paradise on the 20th of april. We noticed immediately why it's called the Gold Coast... When we got out of the bus we laid eyes on the world's highest apartment building, which definitely didn't seem higher than the Turning Torso.
The days we spent in Surfers Paradise was filled with sun, sand and nice people. We also took a surfing lesson, though not very hopeful of being able to learn anything at all. To our astonishment, we were both able to stand albeit not more than a few seconds at a time. It was really fun and left a good feeling. If only we could bring the waves back to Sweden.
That day Erik decided to discover Surfers Paradise by foot. The villas by the water were probably the most expensive Erik had ever seen, especially when you took a look at the yachts parked in front of them. He saw some beautiful parks and must admit that Surfers Paradise isn't only the surfers paradise.
We were both flabbergasted as to why we decided to leave Surfers Paradise so early, and for Brisbane none the less! But yesterday we arrived here and finally booked dates for our tours that we bought in Sydney.
So far Brisbane seems like a nice enough city, but we miss the ocean and the waves. The following three days we will have to put up with a river instead.

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[gustav]

Tjena Hannes Jag och Nicklas sitter och längtar efter dig i det soliga Sverige!