~The Gold Coast~

Finally, away from the rush, the jobs and all the skyscrapers..toooo...oh wait what's this? More skyscrapers and city life, but there's a beach...so I guess that makes it all better.

Welcome to Surfers Paradise, and the Australian Gold Coast.

This is the sparkly of sparkles, there is everything you could ever want to buy...over 100 dollars and enough platinum blonde hair running around that there's an overall "glow" to this place.



Still aside from all the plastic of the place, its actually very cool. The beaches are stunning. The enormous stretch of blanketed goldness, shimmering water that's clearer than a looking glass and enough sun to bake a roast. Yes, I'm getting my burn on...oh wait, I mean tan.

I select a hostel that was recommended by a friend, and at first I was dissapointed. This place was a dump...luckily it made up for it with the enormous friendly atmosphere. Yay, I made some more friends.



At first it was a little strange not having to do really anything all day except lay on the beach, walk around the small city like district and just take in the views. But, I quickly got used to it and remembered why I loved to travel.

Aside from the beach I also ventured up the tallest building in all of the gold coast. It was called the Q1. And from its website it says it has 77 floors and 1331 steps. Plus it offers the greatest view of the coast. You can see from Brisbane, all the way to Byron Bay. Pretty unreal. Still just so you don't think I'm too hard core...no I didn't walk all the steps. I took the fastest elevator in the world. :D



Then arrived St. Paddy's day. One...I always think the green beer will taste awesome. Two...it never does. Still I fooled myself into thinking I could pull through it. Eventually I just gave it to the friends I met at the hostel...and I got a free Irish hat out of it. Yipeee. Unfortunately I had to leave the hat at the hostel because...well...no space for stupid stuff to travel with.

Still, St. Paddy's day was pretty cool, even though its one of the messiest day's I've ever witnessed, mostly I had a cool time doing "Irish" things down at the beach. Hmmm I didn't know the limbo was Irish.



Lastly I just want to mention a quick bit about my last day in Brisbane. I was kind of sad to say by to all the friends I made there. It was like leaving family. However, we all had an awesomely rad last night where we all got together, had a BBQ, played games and talk about the good times.



And yes, I told them all they could come visit me in Canada. One of them may actually do it.

Now, I've got to trudge through the rain and enjoy a BBQ tonight at the hostel here in Byron Bay. Man I love this place.

Brisbane in a Nutshell Part 5

As I sit here in my hostel I look outside and see all the rain pouring down on this city that's been my home for the last month and a bit. I look forward to leave, but at the same time, I'm not looking forward of watching my money slowly dissolve.

Yes aren't they the joys of traveling. But I guess everyone is watching their money disappear...what with the great and grand recession. It's funny, but whilst traveling, you don't really notice the effects of the recession. That is until you realize you can't get as much for your dollar.

Last night a bunch of us got together and had a great little barbeque. It was planned very last minute, but turned out pretty sweet for the preparation. Everyone brought sausages, so we had lots left over...actually, this guy didn't bring any. I'm pretty smart...don't know if you've notice, but I brought a cake.



Still, I'm glad we were able to get the bbq in before this gail of a storm swooped in and started crying over the landscape. Turns out a cyclone is not too far off the coast. A Brisbane friend was a little worried as it was category five and forty minutes away from his hometown. Luckily, nothing but enormous winds and rain fell upon his small town.

One thing I'm going to miss about Australia are their bbq's. After last nights turn out and previous ones before that, I think the Government of Australia has a great plan. They place free bbq's all over the parks for anyone to use. A great idea and a lot of fun. Not only are you able to cook out in the park, but you can throw the frisbee around in a clean open area, and it's close to everything.



Again, I'm at a cross roads, planning my trip route down to Sydney. Do I go for the cheaper bet and miss a few places or pay the little extra and see all that I may wish to see.

I've been talking to people who've already gone this way and most have said Greyhound is a good bet, but a little more expensive. I'm probably going to go with Greyhound, just because its more of a trust worthy company and has more buses running at frequent times.

It's strange how, when you're planning on leaving someplace, especially one that you've been at for some time. You don't want to leave. Your body tells you, but you've got all these friends, all these things you're used to doing. Why the human body or mind doesn't like change is a mystery to me. Maybe its just you don't want to take that extra step. All I know is that, I've enjoyed my time in Brisbane and know I'll be having just another great adventure no matter where I go.



My next plan of journey's include, Surfers Paradise(Gold Coast) which is mostly a huge stretch of beach with numerous high rise buildings. I may even go to a theme park or two. After Surfers, I'll head to the wonderfully quaint town of Byron Bay, do some surfing and chill out by the ocean. After some time there I'll be jetting further down and stopping in a few harbours and other small towns until I eventually reach Sydney.

Brisbane in a nutshell Part 4

Another day, another week. Another minute, another hour. Another keystroke, another
blog entry.

This blog I've included pictures of my work, so enjoy and just imagine a smiling me behind the counter :D



I decided this week to hit the gym. 5 months of "actual" physical inactivity(walking everyday doesn't really count) was starting to show. Therefore, I took the steps to sign up, buy some workout gear and hit the gym. No toe stepping around this. I'm going to do this and go hard.

First couple of days were great. I felt like someone gave me an extra shot of energy...I had a new skip in my step. Awesome I thought. Next couple of days, same thing, going in, timing my sets, one minute on, thirty seconds off. Theeeeeeeen, I get to Thursday.

I wake up completely and utterly stiff. I couldn't straighten my right arm for the life of me, and my left...well...I couldn't touch my ear. So here I am...walking around with one straight arm and one strangely bent one. People gave me some interesting looks as I was walking down the street.

Finally, I was able to gradually loosen up my muscles, but sheesh, I don't think my muscles have ever been so tense in their life. Guess, five months of nothing will do that to you...don't worry...mental note.



With re shuffling my schedule, I've now given my two weeks notice at the sandwich booth and am planning on where to go next. It's funny how you get back to somewhat of a normal life after traveling, and I'm already tired of staying in one place. Don't get me wrong I've been having a blast thus far, but it's not the same as exploring something new each and everyday...gosh...what's it going to be like when I finally get back to the "REAL" SAME OLD SAME OLD?

Basically, there wasn't much happening for me this week. I'm trying not to spend too much money so I worked, hung out with my friends, played basketball, worked out, oh and went and saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire.



At first when I looked at what the movie was about, I saw it as a guy who's poor wins a million dollars and then gets the girl of his dreams and falls in love. I read that and thought....BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARFFFFFFFF. Just another lame love story.

Then the movie won a handful of Oscars...I still wasn't convinced. Movies have been boring as precipitation in the past and won loads of awards. Then I talked to a few people who had seen it, read some reviews and then got asked to go. Soooo, I made an educated decision to go on a whim...ad check it out.

Boy...was I ever blown away. The cinematography, landscaping, sequencing...stunning all of it blew my mind. I also like the character developments and story line. I won't go into too much nerdy detail, but I will say I'm glad I took the chance to see a movie I wasn't entirely interested in and I recommend to others.



And that everyone, is my week in review...not thrilling or chilling by any means, but enough to start getting stuff rolling.

Geeez, I want to see the beach...