Surfer's Paradise... aka the rainiest place on earth!

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G'day all!

Tuesday was a very chilled day... whihc mainly consisted of watching T.V. in our pyjamas and eating a lot! In the late afternoon we felt that we should go running - considering we had bought running clothes in KL with the intention of starting to exercise on a regular basis once hitting Australia! We went off by ourselves so as not to distract one another... and both returned sweaty and red faced! I managed to jog for 45minutes before almost passing out and vowing never to do this again! However, I know that I have to to counteract all the food we eat!
After dinner and more T.V. Sophie decided she didn't want to come out, so Ross and I went to one of his friends houses... by car with me driving!!! Yes thats right I was let loose on the road with Ross screaming instructions at me. At Michael's they dared me to shoot a gun. I hit the target (an empty beer can), and they were extremely impressed, neglecting to tell them that actually I had done shooting before and was pretty good!

Woke on wednesday morning, much too early for my liking, to very achy muscles! Yes, I really was that unfit! Ross and his friend Michael drove us to Autralia Zoo, where we encountered kangaroo's, kwala's and of course crocodiles! After stroking a wallabe and a baby crocodile (this took a lot of courage for both of us!) and wandering around in the sun, we headed for lunch, then went to see the elephants. We did not like this section fo the zoo as we had loved the Elephant Reserve in Thailand so much and returning to see captivated elephants performing for the public was really hard... however Ross really enjoyed it as he had never seen an elephant!
On our return Rory cooked us dinner, and it lived up to our expectations and what we had heard and was very tasty! That night we went to the 'R.S.L' (which is probably the equivalent of Bromley's OAP's club or Bingo!) After the quiz - which we failed dramatically at, we headed to 'The Alex' which is a sort of hotel/club... not really the sort of place either Soph or I go to in London! Maria and Paul were horrified that this was the nightlife we were subjected too in Brisbane... however we did have a really good night enjoying much drinking and kareoke! (Soph and I singing Sandy and Ross and Josh as Danny, singing 'Summer Nights'!)
Although I hadn't really seen Ross since I was very little, I was told by one fo his friends that we still fight like brother and sister and it didn't seem as though we had been apart for that long! Obviously dancing naked together as children has given us a special bond...

The next day we woke earlier than we would have liked, because we had forgotten to close our curtains and watched 'Lord of the Rings' in our pyjamas and uploaded photo's until we were dragged from our pit by Paul who took us out for lunch at a local pub. This was really enjoyable, however after stuffing our faces he then took us on an extremely long walk, which lasted most of the afternoon and was cold and spitting with rain! Sophie got very muddy as we walked to 'King's Island' only to get there and turn around and come back before the tide came in and we were stranded! Although we were muddy and damp from the rain I enjoyed spending time with Paul and arguing why London actually was a good place to live and trying to explain why we actually did like the rainy, gray weather... as opposed to the constant sun of Australia! However, later on when the rain was heavy, flooding the walkway to our room... we weren't so keen!
That night we had dinner and lots of champagne with Maria and Paul, the boy's both returning during the night from various events that had been booked up in advance and couldnt be avoided! We managed to Skype mum which meant she got to talk to M & P and see how we all really got on!
We are very grateful to M & P for all that they did for us during our time in Brisbane (and the boys), however we were told that they expected us to return the favour by doing the same when they come over to England in August... and if we didnt we'd have to clean between Maria's toes...! I know which I'd prefer!

On Friday morning we showered, dressed and breakfasted before even thinking about the mission that was packing! Although my new bag is 5litres bigger than the last one it was still a tight squeeze!
Ross and Paul took us to the station, carrying our bags from the car onto the train for us... why can't travelling always be like that!?
We got two trains and a bus to Surfer's Paradise... or as some call it 'Rain Central'! After checking into our first dorm (an all female dorm as they had no room in the mixed ones - and it was soooooooooo quiet - some people lay in bed all day and never left the room!) with 10 people, both fo us on top bunks, we went out for lunch, which I can certainly say is a "restaurant" we wont be returning to! This mean't that we HAD to have afternoon tea to compensate aka coffee and cake!!
We went to 'Woolworths' which is their equivalent of 'Iceland' and bought 'homebrand' goods... which didnt look very appealing, including some feta cheese spelt 'fetta cheeze!', nice touch! We also bought previsions that were to last us till the end of Oz (butter, oil, vinigar, salt, pepper), and of course a cooler bag!
That night, after our dinner of bread and salad, eaten in our hostel, we went to an Irish bar called O'Malley's... whihc had hair straighteners in the toilet!!! Highlight of the night!

On saturday it was STILL raining! We were VERY depressed as this meant we could not spend the day on the beach and therefore there was literally nothing else for us to do but sit around watching crap T.V. or wander around in the rain! We cracked open the marmite and peanut butter we had sent from home for breakfast, which we thoroughly enjoyed! We admired the beach from the road in the pouring rain, then attempted to book bus tickets for the next day, but it was closed! Always. The internet was closed as the guy was on his "break", so we went to Woolworths for dinner supplies... we had decided to make Fajitas! Laden with shopping we hurried back to the hostel in the rain then tried again to use the internet, however the guy was still on his "break"!
We ate left over dinner for lunch, not quite so enjoyable, and got chatting to a guy called Lee.. who was extremely goodlooking but also very unintelligent! We realise that the only thing we have in common with alot of the people we meet during our travels is... travelling!
Needless to say this wasnt a lasting friendship.
We went out for coffee as there was nothing else to do and then finally got to use the internet! After some T.V. we went to the fridge in our hostel kitchen only to find our cooler bag and all our food had been STOLEN!!!! This seems to be a reoccuring trend!
We were so depressed that we donned our heels and went out for steak and champagne, spending far far to much money and dancing into the early hours!

Woke and dressed in silence as everyone was still asleep in our dorm before going for our complimentary breakfast in the hostel, because of our stolen bag! Then we had to face our packing... however finding my clothes was my first port of call as they were strewn around the room! Looking and feeling really rough we heaved our bags onto the local bus to the station. When we got out our money to pay the driver it was all stuck together... and suddenly we remembered doing shots of sambucca and spilling it all over our money! ooops...
After a long trainride and an unenjoyable lunch in 'Subway', we were picked up from the station by Sophie's family friends friend Lynette. The family are all very friendly especially the two puppies!
After a dogwalk we had a BBQ and were joined by two of their friends, the daughter was our age, and eager to hear about our trip! Randomly we now have aquired yet another contact in Melbourne who we have never met, seen or spoken to!!!

Today we had breakfast with Lynette after she returned from Uni, then we got a bus into the city. I had lunch with Maria then wandered around the city, viewing the sights, meeting up with Soph again in the 'Botanic Garden's', where we went for coffee.
Back at Lynette's we talked with her kids, then went out with Lynette and Mike for a drink at the local bar 'Regatta'.
After dinner, we caught up with our new addiction... Home & Away and Desperate Housewives and CSI!!! We miss T.V.!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you are all well and revelling in the fact that I am now "enjoying" similar weather to you guys! xxx

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