The first day we just relaxed, did some shopping, and sorted out our plans. Early Monday morning we got our surfboards that we rented for the week. Unfortunately the surf at Surfer's Paradise wasn't ideal so we took a tram and a bus to get to Currumbin where the surf was better. It was a blast hanging out in the sun and "attempting" to surf.
Later that evening we all discovered that we were all burned which we blamed on the Natural Sunscreen that Matt and I had bought. I don't know for sure if it was the sunscreen, but we all applied it twice and still burned.
That night we headed out to Springbrook National Park to see the glow worm caves. It was as awesome as I remembered, having been there years ago. The drive was beautiful as well, but I was slightly disappointed we didn't head out there earlier and could see the natural bridge waterfall in the daylight.
Tuesday we went to see Brisbane. That weekend was the G20 Summit where many political leaders were meeting from around the world. We decided to go early in the week to avoid the craziness. Little did we know that it was the perfect time to go! Many people had left on holiday to avoid being in the city for the week so it was emptier than usual and to impress the world leaders they had a special Colour Me Brisbane light show going on every night!
We first went to the Brisbane LDS Temple where a grounds keeper told us we could park there the whole day! From there we walked on a boardwalk along the Brisbane River (in the shade) to all the sites.
We visited the Street Beach in Southport
Matt and I got on the Wheel of Brisbane
Played around at a playground for a bit
We walked around the city and talked to a police woman who informed us the building they had blocked off was housing the Canadian Prime Minister and some other PM. Over seven other buildings were completely blocked off while housing other world leaders.
We went to the art museum
And toured the botanical gardens - where Matt had loads of fun with lizards.
Afterwards we finished our Brisbane tour by hiring City Cycle bikes where for $2 you can rent bikes all day for 30 min and park them at another station in the city. So we went from station to station in 30 minute increments throughout the city until we ended back at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs where the temple is located. What an awesome way to see the city!
The special light shows made the whole trip extra special!
Wednesday morning I met up with the surfboard rental guy to replace our surfboard that had a fin brake off with a body board for Josie. He told me the surf conditions were great that day in Currumbin so as a last minute decision Whitney and I rushed out to Currumbin for a surf. Although the conditions were great, we got tired quickly and didn't catch much. We also found out that Josie had left the room so when Matt woke up everyone was gone and he didn't see Josie's note explaining things. Oops!
Later we went to Dreamworld. It was actually a big disappointment for Matt and I having attended more impressive theme parks such as Disneyland, Disneyworld, Six Flags, Busch Gardens, and even Lagoon in Utah is better in my opinion. For Australia's biggest theme park I was really surprised! You can easily finish the whole park in a day. My favourite part was Tiger Island and the behavior shows they had. The tricks the tigers performed were amazing, but it was a lot smaller than I expected and I now know that I don't think I'd really want to work there.
We finished the day with a nice hearty meal at Hard Rock Cafe. It was pricey, but well worth it! Matt ranked his burger a 9 with only TGIF beating it.
We had one more event that night...the markets. There were loads of shops with a little bit of everything from graffiti hats, magic tricks, beauty products, necklaces and more! Matt had one thing he wanted....to hold the crocodile.
Thursday was a cloudy misty day. I went for a walk early while everyone was sleeping and decided it wasn't too bad to surf. I learned that I was too weak and the board was too small because I really struggled to balance while paddling and couldn't ever get to the good waves. A ton of surfers would be just ahead of me catching the waves and yet I never could reach them so I gave up.
After everyone got up we went to Whitewater World which is the water park next to Dreamworld. I figured the water park would be better for the cloudy day so we could use the sunny following day for the beach. Unfortunately standing in line at the top of towers waiting to go on a water slide was not exactly where you wanted to be on a cloudy and windy day. We ended up quiting early and skipped the simple slides, but I really liked all of the water rides. My favourite was called the Green Room where all four of us got on a tube opposite each other and the kind of height you get is scary.
Early Friday morning Matt and I decided to try and get one last good surf. The conditions weren't too bad, but we lost all our energy paddling out to the other surfers. When we finally got to where others were there were hardly any waves. After trying to catch a few I quickly realised I had no energy to even try to stand up so we headed back pretty quick.
Afterwards we all went to the Skypoint Observation Deck which is the tallest residential building in the world. It was a great way to see the city! Matt and I also went back to see the city at night.
For the rest of Friday we spent most of the time hanging out by the pool at the resort. It was relaxing and fun and in the end I was glad we kept the nice sunny day for hanging out. That night we finished off with watching the movie The Tall Man.
Saturday we turned in the boards and had to say goodbye to Josie and Whitney who flew back that evening. Matt and I decided to make the most of our last day and drove to Mt Tamborine. We decided to do some of the hikes. We went to Witches Falls at first and it was a HOT day! Although we were in the shade I was sweating profusely and when we got to the falls we weren't sure we were in the right place. It was dry there was just a trickle of water going down the mountain.
We revitalised with some cold water and ice cream and decided to try the Curtis falls. Again not much water was flowing but the creek was still pretty fun to walk around and we found two eels in the small pools of water!
A local told us about the Cedar Creek rock pools to go swimming in and after melting on the first hike we thought that sounded amazing even if we would have to jump in with our hiking clothes. When we got there my swimming motivation was gone and there were a lot of people already there. Most were just watching this young teenage boy who was struggling to get the confidence to jump off the cliff into the pool. He never did, but we watched long enough to see if he would do it. The pool is deep, but in my opinion when the conditions are not ideal and the consequence could be paralysis or death it's not worth it.
We finished off our last night at Benihana's, an expensive Teppanyaki restaurant inside the Marriot hotel. For the price I expected better food and entertainment, but we had a good time.
It was a great holiday and I'm glad we got to spend some time with friends as well. I don't know if they were both into the same things as Matt and I, but I think everyone had a great time and good company. Brisbane was definitely the unexpected highlight of the trip and perhaps some day Matt and I will move up there. Nevertheless, I am more than happy to be back home in Sydney and get to cuddle with my kitty again!
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