The Gold Coast

Our week with Amy's relatives - Graham, Caroline, Ross, Callum & Pablo (the dog!) - was just what we needed! We had a room to ourselves and as if that wasn't enough, we also had an en suite bathroom! The simple things have really started to excite me out here! :)

Our first day was so lazy! We lay on the sofa watching films and playing with the dog, followed by a walk around the park. The following day we dragged ourselves out of our comfy, comfy beds and Amy's uncle dropped us off at Pacific Fair Shopping Mall - clothes are so cheap! Amy got herself a new hair doo while I amused myself in the huge numbers of shops!

Wednesday was spent with a friend of Amy's - Tom - and a couple of his mate, He picked us up and we all drove up to Springbrooke Mountain for a BBQ. We stopped of at different lookout points to admire the view. It's amazing how blaze I'm become about being in the rainforest! We finally - after stopping at about 4 or 5 different picnic spots before the boys decided on a "good spot" for the barbie - found a decent spot and cooked up a feast and drank a few beers. The State of Origin was on that night (rugby prem - i think) which everybody seemed to be going a bit mad about, we instead hid out and watched Lord of the Rings! Much better night! :)

On Thursday we headed to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, actually thought we were going to die in the taxi ride there - the driver went through red lights and at one point actually drove on the wrong side of the road! At the sanctuary we tried to make up for all the photos we lost - Amy left here memory card in a computer in one of the hostels and by the time we realised somebody had nicked it! We got lots of photos of kangaroo's again, some had joey's in their pouches! we also got photos of us holding a huge python, unfortunately I made a really silly face and the photographer snapped me at that exact moment - I was so embarrassed that I bought the photo just so they wouldn't put it on their wall of shame! :)

Friday was Amy's 20th birthday - we spent the day in Brisbane. It only took about an hour on the train from where we were staying, a guy sitting opposite us started drawing us which was, kind creepy but very funny at the same time! There wasn't really that much to do in Brisbane surprisingly, it's not very touristy - a day seemed like enough. We got the River Cats (a ferry bus thing that runs up and down the river) from south bank up to riverside and walked back down through the botanics. It had started raining a little which was a shame. We the decided to to ride the river cat to the end of the river so as to get a good view of the city. I took Amy for a bday lunch and by that time market stalls had setting up. I have a new love for the markets out here, they are so varied you can get anything from fruit and veg to gourmet food to clothes to jewelry etc etc etc! We need more in Edinburgh! Caroline had bought a cake for Amy that night and much to here embarrassment we all stood round and sang happy birthday to her very badly - even the dog joined in!

Saturday was another lazy day, just spent on the computer, couch and reading! We all went for dinner that night, and i had my very first proper glass of wine (not goon!)...I've missed it so much, beer just doesn't hit the same spot!

Sunday was also semi quiet. Graham & Caroline took us down to Burliegh Heads beach where we took the dog for a walk and then I caught the Greyhound down to Byron Bay. Amy decided that she fancied spending a couple of extra days with her relatives so we said goodbye and I did my first bit of travelling completely on my own! Exciting!