Gold Coast

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So our journey to the Gold Coast began. We hired a car for two days and made the scenic drive up to Surfers Paradise. On the morning of the first day we spent a couple of hours in the Hunters Valley tasting wine, cheese, bread and olive oil (oh and champagne!). We loved this trip - all the freebies we could manage - a budget travellers dream!. It would have been nice to spend longer there and perhaps stayed overnight but we had a 10 hour drive to the Gold Coast to complete and only two days to do it in.

We saw kangaroos playing in the field!! Such a highlight of the morning. Our first kanga-sighting since we arrived in oz.

Coffs harbour was our overnight stop. We arrived late so didn't see much of the town. We had hoped for some 'proper' fish and chips that evening (being a seaside town) but were disappointed when they served us frozen chips - cooked of course, but nonetheless.....this wouldn't be allowed in Blighty!! The next morning we went to the Big Banana - an educational banana plantation, for kids mainly but adults too. We learn't how bananas are grown and cultivated.

Further up the east coast we stopped off at the Lonely Planet accredited Byron Bay. Just a flying visit really, but we were so glad we got to see what all the fuss is about. Byron is chilled out, trendy and has a unique atmosphere of quaint little single storey timber shops, friends sipping coffee in little cafes and surfers hanging out at the unspoilt beach. The lighthouse towers over the town from the distance, and creates a lovely backdrop.

So once we arrived on the Gold Coast, our time was pretty much taken up with job hunting - although we managed to get a little bit of sightseeing under our belts. We were lucky enough to both get a couple of shifts working for a hospitality agency at the new Titans Stadium (Skilled Park) - which was so much fun....followed by a full day at the Prime Minister Cup horse racing (Australia's equivilent to Ascot), serving champagne in the exclusive functions marquee. At around $400 a ticket, the food looked outstanding and the champagne was certainly flowing. The atmosphere was great.

Our base on the Gold Coast was Surfers Paradise, lovingly described by the Lonely Planet as the Paris Hilton of resorts - flashy and trashy! Skyscrapers, surfing competitions, indie car 500 races and holiday makers galore...Surfers is definitely not for everyone. We managed a few trips out from the Gold Coast - including bushwalking in the scenic Tambourine Mountains (where we spotted the largest spider we have ever seen!), a day at Wet & Wild Theme Park (which although was expensive was also great fun) and a day out at Australia Zoo - owned and run by the Steve Irwin Trust and his family. Not being a great fan of zoos myself, I was sceptical about going - however I was pleased to see that the way this zoo is run is more like a conservation park than an animal enclosure. The animals have acres of land to roam around in. We saw crocadiles, kangaroos, wallabees, tasmanian devils (although impossible to get a picture of - too fast, some might say possessed)...and of course koalas, which basically just sleep all day (but are very cute).

After 4 weeks on the Gold Coast we had to say goodbye and catch a flight back to England for a family wedding. Madness, for just one week, but so good to catch up with family after being away for so long. So the last leg of our Australia tour, once we arrived back from England, was to work and live in Sydney - and to have some fun. So Sydney here we come!!

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