Day 22 - Central Brisbane & The ManaBar Day 1

As expected, today was a lovely day!

During the day we went to Brisbane Central, where all the shops are. It was sensational, JUST like London. A mix between Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Camden Town, Brisbane has it all.

Live shows, magicians, bands, artists etc entertaining in the street, plenty of shops, even a Nintendo 3DS display centre!

After looking around Brisbane, we went to ManaBar, the first video games bar in Australia! (Or the world? Not sure). It's the first time we've been on a 'night out' since we arrived. ManaBar is really small, but has a great vibe. Equipped with 5 TV's and consoles, they switch games constantly. On offer yesterday was Raskulls, Tekken 5 (which I pwned at), Guitar Hero 5, Super Smash Bros. and Call of Duty: Black Ops!

Everyone is really friendly and there is a great atmosphere. The drinks prices are extortionate though, but that's Australia in general. $4.50 for a small bottle of coke, essentially 3 pounds!

They also have custom made alcoholic drinks which we didn't have tonight, but will probably have tomorrow when we go back. They're only $14(!!) so we might just stick to the one...

I'll get more pictures too!



Day 21 - Arrival at Brisbane

We said bye to Jackie and Geoff today. They've been so lovely to us over the past week and have gone out of their way to ensure we had fun. We are both so grateful for their warming hospitality!
Before they dropped us at the bus station they took us to The Spit / Broadwater. It was a lovely place!

I feel so small.

Today we arrived in Brisbane. It's quite spread out so on our approach we didn't think it would be that good, but as soon as we walked into the centre of the city, we were amazed!
It's as if someone has taken Covent Garden, Camden Town and Leicester Square and merged it into one. It's busy, there are shops everywhere and there is a real 'be who you want to be' feel about Brisbane.

I'll post some more pictures in tomorrow's blog post!

This is the view from our hostel:

It's going to be 25 degrees celcius tomorrow!

Day 20 - Currumbin Creek

Wow, nearly 3 weeks in already! It's going so quickly!
We're off to Brisbane tomorrow which is only about an hour north. I can't wait to get into a city again after experiencing Sydney!
Today we went to the other side of Palm Beach. There were some beautiful rocks by the beach and we managed to get some great snaps.

By the sea we saw some crabs. They were ace.

Day 19 - Reedy Creek Walks

We did some more of the local walks today and came across a beautiful stream surrounded by rocks! We managed to do a bit of 'natural' rock climbing. Not gonna lie, I felt a little bit like Lara Croft.

Afterwards we went to a shopping centre in town and had a look at the shops. I went into GAME to have a quick look and was shocked at my discovery. Games are SO expensive over here! Fable 3 for the Xbox 360 - $120!!! That's something like 75 quid!

Tomorrow is our last day at Jackie's. It will be a shame to leave, her and Geoff have been so lovely to us and we are so grateful.

Day 18 - Burleigh Heads

I woke up at 8:30 today and had breakfast like any other normal day.

Except today was different. Today was the day I successfully rode a bike (without stabilizers) for the first time in my life!

Yipee! But I didn't come travelling to learn how to ride a bike. I'm only doing it because Brisbane (where we'll be next week) offer FREE bikes around town!
Beat that London!

Once that was all done and dusted, we went to Burleigh Heads for the day. More rainforest, beautiful views and peaceful walks.

 

The walks led onto a beautiful beach. The sand was so clean and we had a nice 40 minute walk along the beach.

I don't think I'll ever get bored of Australia's beautiful climate. We're nearly halfway through Australia and it's going to get even hotter as we go further north! Bring it on!

Day 17 - Natural Bridge, Springbrook National Park & The Mountains

A day in the mountains today!

Jackie kindly drove us up the long winding roads of the mountains. We got to visit loads of lookouts and national parks, and even found time to have a picnic by the river. The views on the way up were astonishing.

We made quite a few stopoffs in the mountains to visit various lookouts, but the main walk today was at Natural Bridge. The walk lasted about an hour but was beautiful. The boardwalks winded around the mountains surrounded by bush.

 

At the end of the Natural Bridge walk was a beautiful waterfall:

We finished off the day by going to a lookout called 'Best of All Lookout', and it really lived up to its name! A 300m trail buzzing with plants and wildlife, check out this massive tree!

The views from the top were spectacular, I've never seen anything like it.

And that's Surfer's Paradise far, far away in the distance.

Day 16 - Point Danger & Coolangatta Beach

Today, we went to Point Danger. I'm not exactly sure where it got it's name, but it is marked by a communications tower that also points North, East, South and West. A compass communications tower, never seen that before!
Point Danger is where New South Wales and Queensland meet.

After walking along the coast for a bit, we decided to spend the day on Coolangatta Beach, as we hadn't had a beach day in a while. While it wasn't particularly windy today, the currents were strong. The lifeguards were issuing warnings to stay near the shore due to a 'dangerous sweep north'. I tried to get a picture of how high and rough the waves were but pictures don't really do it justice.

After sunbathing for a bit, we went into the sea (staying close to the shore of course!) The water was 19 degrees celcius, which was lovely! But apparently, that's quite cold for Coolangatta Beach.
We had a nice swim over some waves, but got pretty tired after about 20 minutes as the currents really were sweeping everyone north, the lifeguards were on constant watch.
I think it's terrible that Lifeguard's in Australia (with the exception of a few in Sydney) don't get paid! It's a completely voluntary job. I think it should be a well paid job.
We stayed on the beach for a few more hours and then came home, getting this photo on the way (you'll see Surfer's Paradise in the background, where we were only a few days ago!)

I believe we'll be going to Natural Bridge tomorrow, can't wait!