Surfers Paradise, Australia
Hello all,
Well here as I stand (or sit!) I declare myself no longer a backpacker. This tenure ceased around 41 hours ago when I stepped back onto Ozzie soil.
New Zealand was a great place to see, and out of the North and South islands, I preferred the South island by a long way simply due to the terrific scenery of mountains, sheep, more sheep and lakes.
And why I declare myself to no longer be a backpacker you ask? Well, simply after 16 solid weeks of travelling and moving pretty much everyday, I sit here now in the hands of the Wheeler family, my place of rest for the next 3 to 4 weeks.
Before I came my auntie Joanne (my Mum's sister) asked if I was missing any food in particular and with that came a resounding yes... Well, I do miss a good roast, but there is nothing better than a decent barbie as well as a few tinnies, especially in Oz.
So during my flight from Kiwi-land to Skippy-land I found myself reminiscing about my family's trip to Australia 8 years ago. I remembered my first sight of Australia was of controlled bushfires visible from the aeroplane at dawn when we had finally reached the Northwest coast of Australia going onto Brisbane, and the great excitement I felt at that point to be in Oz and spending some time with our family here.
I have many great memories too, including visiting the colourful, fish-laden coral reefs of the Whitsundays and Cairns. Seeing technicolour parrots, the kookaburra bird, turtles, dolphins, kangaroos, koalas, enormous spiders and massive grasshoppers. As well as travelling down from Cairns via Townsville to Airlie Beach, the visit up to Noosa and down to Surfers Paradise from Brisbane where the soft, white sandy beaches of the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast can be found.
During this time we were able to spend some time with our family, catch up, share stories and really just spend some time with them. At that time they used to live in The Gap in Brisbane and since, they have moved down the coast to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.
My uncle Colin showed me some pictures of their new house when he and my auntie came over to England a couple of years ago. It looked good then but now I am here, I am able to put it into perspective the house is really nice and a great place to stay.
It is a very spacious and open-plan house, which in contrast to before at The Gap, there is another floor above as opposed to a standard Oz bungalow. And upstairs I even have my own room and a double bed. This is quite strange for a seasoned traveller like myself, so I have taken to getting my sleeping bag out each night and sleeping on the floor. It will take a while to adjust so I am taking it slowly.
So after being picked up at the airport by Lizzie my cousin and Joanne my auntie we went straight to Surfers Paradise. The house backs onto a saltwater river which comes in from the nearby sea. There are no crocs luckily (thank god!), but when I asked if I could go for a swim in the river, well, put it this way, swimming with Bull Sharks isn't on my list of "things to do" no matter how good the Manta Rays were.
We had a great first evening tucking into some great food, starting with my first starter since time began!!!! This was large prawns, oh yeah!!! Then we had the ultimate Aussie BBQ, my cousin Alex caught a Snapper from their river and that was whacked on the barbie. It was good!!! We even had desserts, I almost forgot what that was too!!!!
The following day I got up early with my cousin Alex (5.30am!) before he went to work and we went for a surf and bodyboard. It was nice and quiet and the waves were good too. Later on I went down to the beach again with my other cousin Lizzie!!
There is a pool table as well as a table football table here so we have been having a few epic games. Today I went with Joanne and Colin (my auntie and uncle) to get their new boat and me and Colin took it back to the house. This weekend we are all going on a little trip (Lizzie might join us on Sunday) and sleep overnight on the boat!!!!
Me and Alex will probably do a little bit of fishing like we have just done, I saw a stingray as well as large squid in the water. We caught a small bream, but hopefully we will be getting something bigger soon, maybe a Bull Shark!!!
I am pretty tired, it is 1am here now and went for a walk and a jog on the beach this morning at 5.30am with Joanne and Colin. Need sleep!!! Heading to Brisbane tomorrow for a bit of shopping and so will hope to check out the city again then.
Okay, 27 - 30 degrees here today (will be 36 degrees on Saturday!) will be in touch again soon. Take care.
Well here as I stand (or sit!) I declare myself no longer a backpacker. This tenure ceased around 41 hours ago when I stepped back onto Ozzie soil.
New Zealand was a great place to see, and out of the North and South islands, I preferred the South island by a long way simply due to the terrific scenery of mountains, sheep, more sheep and lakes.
And why I declare myself to no longer be a backpacker you ask? Well, simply after 16 solid weeks of travelling and moving pretty much everyday, I sit here now in the hands of the Wheeler family, my place of rest for the next 3 to 4 weeks.
Before I came my auntie Joanne (my Mum's sister) asked if I was missing any food in particular and with that came a resounding yes... Well, I do miss a good roast, but there is nothing better than a decent barbie as well as a few tinnies, especially in Oz.
So during my flight from Kiwi-land to Skippy-land I found myself reminiscing about my family's trip to Australia 8 years ago. I remembered my first sight of Australia was of controlled bushfires visible from the aeroplane at dawn when we had finally reached the Northwest coast of Australia going onto Brisbane, and the great excitement I felt at that point to be in Oz and spending some time with our family here.
I have many great memories too, including visiting the colourful, fish-laden coral reefs of the Whitsundays and Cairns. Seeing technicolour parrots, the kookaburra bird, turtles, dolphins, kangaroos, koalas, enormous spiders and massive grasshoppers. As well as travelling down from Cairns via Townsville to Airlie Beach, the visit up to Noosa and down to Surfers Paradise from Brisbane where the soft, white sandy beaches of the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast can be found.
During this time we were able to spend some time with our family, catch up, share stories and really just spend some time with them. At that time they used to live in The Gap in Brisbane and since, they have moved down the coast to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.
My uncle Colin showed me some pictures of their new house when he and my auntie came over to England a couple of years ago. It looked good then but now I am here, I am able to put it into perspective the house is really nice and a great place to stay.
It is a very spacious and open-plan house, which in contrast to before at The Gap, there is another floor above as opposed to a standard Oz bungalow. And upstairs I even have my own room and a double bed. This is quite strange for a seasoned traveller like myself, so I have taken to getting my sleeping bag out each night and sleeping on the floor. It will take a while to adjust so I am taking it slowly.
So after being picked up at the airport by Lizzie my cousin and Joanne my auntie we went straight to Surfers Paradise. The house backs onto a saltwater river which comes in from the nearby sea. There are no crocs luckily (thank god!), but when I asked if I could go for a swim in the river, well, put it this way, swimming with Bull Sharks isn't on my list of "things to do" no matter how good the Manta Rays were.
We had a great first evening tucking into some great food, starting with my first starter since time began!!!! This was large prawns, oh yeah!!! Then we had the ultimate Aussie BBQ, my cousin Alex caught a Snapper from their river and that was whacked on the barbie. It was good!!! We even had desserts, I almost forgot what that was too!!!!
The following day I got up early with my cousin Alex (5.30am!) before he went to work and we went for a surf and bodyboard. It was nice and quiet and the waves were good too. Later on I went down to the beach again with my other cousin Lizzie!!
There is a pool table as well as a table football table here so we have been having a few epic games. Today I went with Joanne and Colin (my auntie and uncle) to get their new boat and me and Colin took it back to the house. This weekend we are all going on a little trip (Lizzie might join us on Sunday) and sleep overnight on the boat!!!!
Me and Alex will probably do a little bit of fishing like we have just done, I saw a stingray as well as large squid in the water. We caught a small bream, but hopefully we will be getting something bigger soon, maybe a Bull Shark!!!
I am pretty tired, it is 1am here now and went for a walk and a jog on the beach this morning at 5.30am with Joanne and Colin. Need sleep!!! Heading to Brisbane tomorrow for a bit of shopping and so will hope to check out the city again then.
Okay, 27 - 30 degrees here today (will be 36 degrees on Saturday!) will be in touch again soon. Take care.
posted by Adrian at 4:08 pm
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