A whole lot o nothin' enroute to Brisbane

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I had thought, in my ignorance, that due to the fact that ourselves and Madge were sticking strictly to the coast from here on in, there would actually be things to see along the way. Apparently not. After leaving Airlie Beach we passed through ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for two whole days. And I mean N-AH-THING. No towns or even petrol stations for hours, and when we did stop for fuel, you'd swear we were the first outsiders the locals had seen since the dawn of the new millenium. Strange, very strange. We stopped in Rockhampton for a night along the way, which is a generic crappy Australian town, in a motel called Paul's or Dave's or something similiar. We love Motels. Motels mean comfy beds, ensuite bathrooms and tvs with lots o channels. Lovely jubly. After that it was another long day on the road, until we hit Noosa. Upon hitting Noosa, we were hit with a sharp shock of reality. And yet more examples that the Rough Guide lies like a lying liar with his pants on fire. Noosa was described as a former surfer's town that has gone a little upmarket. A little?? The place is a millionaire's haven! It's kind of two town's spread over a few kilomtres of headland, along side a gorgeous beach speckled with tanned surfer dudes with pink stripes of suncream on their cheeks. Yumsies. Unfortunately it was all a little too expensive and depressing for us to spend more than a night. There are end to end designer stores and fancy schmansy restuarants on the two main streets....along with a strip of beachy mansions overlooking the coast. We stayed in the YHA, which is at the top of a steep hill at one end of town. As painful as it was to stay in a hostel with the knowlege that lots of posh people were tucked up in penthouse suites only metres away, it was actually a pretty cool place; it's a giant queenslander house with a bar (and a very drunk barman who admits guest who, like us, arrive after hours), lots of lounge areas, a massive kitchen, and not bad rooms.
So after a night in Noosa (I'll be back at a more lucrative stage of my life!) we finally made it to Brisbane. Driving into a city that you've never been to before, while not entirely knowing where you're going, can be a bit of a pain in the ass....we ended up doing a giant loop of the city, and stopping somewhere for directions. We're staying in Fortitude Valley, aka "The Valley", which is supposed to be the gay/funky/studenty area, all of which really means it's full of strip clubs and weirdos. Our hostel is above a pub called The Elephant and Wheelbarrow, which is the sort of establishment in which carpet on the walls is considered to be at the cutting edge of interior design. Not surprisingly, we haven't popped in for a pint o bitter. Our hostel is alright though. Brisbane is.......well it's nice. I wasn't expecting much, and I haven't been disappointed. The city centre itself is pretty nice; the main shopping thoroughfare has a fair bit to offer (I'm surprised we weren't escorted from the building after perving over the make up and asking the Benefit girl a little too many questions, without spending a penny, in one of the department stores) and the bridge and area down by the river is lovely. It all seems very quiet though; we arrived on a Tuesday night, and were told there wasn't really anywhere to go out. Shockin!
Now it seems we have less than a week left to finish our road trip, and we still have a lot of land to cover. Just as well then that we're gonna get in some serious beach time along the way....

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Comments

[Maco]

Its all about the brown belt!!
Miss LMFM I gotta say that belt has been a monument of your travels, its so verstaile and FAB. It really was an excellent purchase, you could star in shipwrecked your looking so H.O.T.T hot in all your photos. Loving the blog, im so happy i got to see Madge, she is bootiful and frickin HUUUGE. Anyhoo keep up the good work, il soon be joining you in the snaps:-) (11wks!!!!)

[Angie]

jealous!
hey girl, I'm just a canadian girl wallowing away at work dying to get on with my big adventure... I've pretty much spent my day today reading all your journals, keep it up, they're so informative and fun! have a great rest of your trip! Angie