It's all too easy...Part 2

One thing I'd wanted to do while I was here was to surf (or at least try) and when I mentioned this to Dave, he kindly looked into it, and booked us both into a Surf lesson for the Saturday morning.

It was in an incredible spot down the coast, and the guy who did it was a really great teacher. After about 5 minutes of: you paddle out, you lay on it, you paddle, you stand up, you ride the surf man...we were off in the water to give it a try.

It was actually easier than I thought it would be, and with the excellent tips from the instructor, I was getting the hang of it towards the end. (My main problem was I'm used to standing on the back of boards from Windsurfing - which doesn't work with a surf board - and results in rather amusing wipeouts). But I was able to get some good runs in towards the end.



In the afternoon we headed off to Surfers Paradise, which has an incredible beach with huge waves, and loads of great shops. As it was getting dark we headed up the Q1 Tower to get a view of the city. Now I'll admit - I wasn't that bothered on going up - but I'm so glad Jenny and Dave persuaded me - because the views were incredible. Here's some pics:

Surfers Paradise:





Jenny and Dave at the top of the tower:



A long exposure shot (10 seconds if memory serves):



And at the bottom of the tower (one of my favorite bands):



Just too easy...

After a quick shower and some food we went back to Surfers, but we were all pretty tired after the action packed day we'd had - and we ended up at the Casino and vegetated in one of the bars there.

But wait - there's more:

On Sunday we got up pretty late, and headed out to the Hinterland (basically everything in land). I was really surprised at how green it was as we drove to a place called O'Reilly's (and no it's not an Irish Bar), where you can see (and feed) wild birds. The trip up there is incredible - and it gets even better when you arrive, as there are bush and tree top walks.

Here's some pics

On the road:



The Gold Coast:







A wallaby on the way to O'Reilleys:



After several drinks at the bar, we drove back home, and saw some incredible wildlife, including a Tiger Snake - they "rank amongst the deadliest snakes in the world. Symptoms of a bite include localized pain in the foot and neck region, tingling, numbness, and sweating, followed by a fairly rapid onset of breathing difficulties and paralysis" - sounds a bit like some management meetings I've been too :-).

A cute bird - taken by Jenny:



Dave and the parrot - this was the biting one and he'd bite anything: ears, fingers, hair, heads, noses (that's the parrot - not Dave):









A thingy:



The incredible sunset from the O'Reilly bar:



The Tiger Snake:



A cane toad:



Dave took the day off on Monday and Tuesday, and on Monday we set off early for the Sunshine Coast. It's a laid back beach area where the celebs go shopping. We had a fantastic day looking around Mooloolaba and then swimming in the sea at Noosa Heads.

One tradition in Oz are the Surf Clubs, just like a Club in the UK, but the money goes to pay for Life Guards. You can get really great food, and the drinks are a bit cheaper than the pubs, and you get to enjoy the view of Noosa Heads. I can't think of a better spot - and a great end to what was one of the best weeks on the trip so far.

Maloolaba:







In fact - it was too easy...

(Editor's Note: "It's too easy" is the unofficial motto of the Gold Coast, and we ended up saying it all week. Too easy...which it was...)