We went Surfing! And the rest of our time in Surfers Paradise

It has been a long and tiring day but we finally have wi fi here in Coolongatta (right on the border of Queensland and New South Whales) that isn't on a half hour limit from Starbucks so it decided to do an update for everyone at home. 

I should probably start catching up from where we last left off, but the most exciting news first.

Becki showing off her skills and smiling for the camera

We went surfing today!!! And actually managed

to stand up, many many times. The waves were really small and we really are not that good, but we did it! We took a 2.5 hour lesson (maybe the best 60 dollars I have ever spent) with Scotty our 

instructor (who apparently dated Jessica Alba when she was 17 and he was 23), and he got us standing within the first 3 times! Becki got up the first time but I got up on the third, but it isn't a competition, right? There are hundreds of surf schools in the area but our new Danish friends Marianne and Casper went out with him yesterday and had great success so we gave it a shot, and had a fantastic time. We gave the assistant instructor Becki's camera so we could prove to everyone that we really did manage to do it. We are very excited that our hostel in Byron Bay, which we head to on monday, has free boards so we plan on spending our days trying to improve and hopefully ride some bigger waves!

After the lesson Scotty drove us to our hostel here in Coolongotta (saving us a bus trip), and we all split some "cheesy fries" which is basically poutine, but apparently here in Australia it is an extremely new and exciting food which is becoming popular with the surfers, while looking for whales on the ocean. All in all it was a great day, and we are definitely hooked on surfing. Can't wait to get out there again.

Now for an update on the previous couple of days. We arrived in Surfers Paradise on Tuesday, with intentions of staying for 2 nights, however we ended up staying a third as we could not find a hostel in Byron Bay for Thursday night as originally planned. The Surf and Sun where we stayed was great, very good at bringing people together as every night at 10pm everyone from the hostel would go to the bars together. The first night we we hung out with some new friends from Melbourne, Belgium, England and Brazil and played cards by the pool before going the Beer Garden, where $3 tequila shots and vodka drinks as well as a dance floor made for a fantastic

 night. The next day we went for sushi lunch with friends and then spent on the beach sunbathing and wave jumping (Becki learned the importance of not wearing strapless bikinis in the waves) before coming in for dinner. The sun seems to set very early here, around 6pm which always gives the appearance that it is later tan it is, but that evening we got to know the 3 other people staying in our room, Marianne and Casper, and Claus from Germany, as well as new Irish friends Noel and Alanna, while playing "Drinking Jenga" by the pool. We then headed out for the "Wednesday Big Night Out" which consisted of four bars and 4 free drinks as well as $2 beers at the first bar. We witnessed some interesting dance moves and uniquely dressed bar tenders, but had a great time overall.

First stop of the pub crawl

Becki and Claus on the beach

Surfers Paradise from Coolongotta

Bacon and eggs with avocado in the morning helped to cure our hang overs, and we spent a majority of the day yesterday lying on the beach and boogie boarding with Claus before he had to fly back to Sydney. After two nights of partying we were glad to stay in and watch some movies, play some cards, discuss travel and compare life in Denmark to Canada with our roommates. Thankfully we got a good nights sleep as the surfing today has us exhausted anyways.

 That is all for now, hope to read comments and hear from everyone soon

Dave, and Becki (when she awakes from her nap)

4 minute update from Surfers Paradise and the Gold Coast

Have 4 minutes left of Starbucks wi fi before we have to buy a new coffee to stay on. Surfers is crazy, party all the time, kinda trashy but a good time. Moving down to Coolongatta next for 3 nights and then to Byron Bay for 3 more. Should be a little more relaxed.

Surfers Paradise main beach, walking from Broad beach after a delicious sushi lunch

Spent the day yesterday on the beach, and then stayed in with some new friends from Denmark and Ireland at night. Surfing lessons in half an hour, hoping we will be able to stand up. Scotty our instructor comes highly recommended, so we are hopeful that all will go smoothly.

Will update about the surfing and more details of the past couple of days from Coolongotta.

First couple of days in Brissy

It has been a couple of days since our last post and I am sure that all 12 or so of our loyal fans are just bustling for an update. However, once you hear all that we have done since the last post you will surely understand why we didn't have time to write. So without further delay, let us begin...

Last you all heard we had just finished a jog by the river, when we returned we had to move into the room next door which was a bit smaller but still had a nice little balcony. We had heard about the West End Market from our friend from the plane and decided to go check it out. By the time we got there things were starting to wrap up for the day but we did manage to pick up some delicious pork chops (and potential job leads from the guy selling them to us), the biggest bunch of green onions we have ever seen and some other produce to make a great salad. It was a great place and hopefully if we are back in town another Saturday we can go earlier and do some more shopping. On the way home we came across a huge block party/ festival happening near the hostel, with some very interesting characters having the time of their lives. Loads of live music, beer and food vendors, belly dancers, and "the parade of pixies and fairies" (I would try to explain but I am not sure I could adequately describe them. You would have to see it to believe it). The festival as a whole was a very unique, a mixture of Tam Tams in Montreal and The Hillside Festival in Guelph, but with a distinct urban flair.

Sunset from the Botanical Gardens

After the market we went for a walk across the river to downtown, ending up in the Botanical Gardens on the southern tip of the "Brisbane CBD". The gardens are a huge park filled with gorgeous vegetation, open spaces, wildlife and small lakes. It attracted a wide range of locals; Wedding parties taking photos, kids playing rugby (in the background of the photos), and a several groups slack lining between huge palm trees. The river makes a hairpin turn around the park with walking paths and benches overlooking the water all around the perimeter. We grabbed some local beers (XXXX bitter) on the way home and enjoyed them with our pork chops and salad for dinner.

Our first shark experience in Australia, Survived!

That evening we got out our bottle of duty free tequila from Fiji and sat down in the hostel court yard. We had planned to head back to the festival but met some fellow Canadians as well as some others from America and France and never made it out for the night. Unfortunately that tequila bottle also did not make it through the night which we quickly regretted the next morning (ruined our early morning jogging plans for sure). We had a great time learning about their travels and experiences, picking up pointers and advice for future adventures.

Urban rain forest down by the river

The next morning (once our hangover had faded), we headed to the Queensland Cultural Museum, and learned about local animal life (poisonous and not), as well as some of the history of the area (right back to the dinosaurs!) Shortly after we walked along the South Bank of the river where we found sub-tropical rain forests filled with colorful flowers all along the bank, leading to a man made beach over looking the Brisbane skyline. We spent some time in the middle of the city, yet at the beach, which was a very cool and refreshing experience on a hot spring day.

Streets Beach on the south bank, Toronto needs a place like this!

After catching some rays, we took a local bus to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary! We had been very excited to come here, as we got to see some of Australia's wildlife (but safely from behind cages). We were able to see a Platypus, Tasmanian Devils, Wallabies, Kookaburras, Dingos (didn't eat any babies),  Crocodiles, many dangerous Snakes, and a lot of funky looking birds. Our highlights of the day were definitely being able to hug a Koala Bear (Tinkerbell), and feeding the Kangaroos! Both were very soft, and the Kangaroos were so calm and not bothered by your company at all. Overall it was a fantastic experience, and we have lots of pictures to capture the memories. We finished our day with a bottle of Australia red wine and got to bed early for a great nights sleep.

Kangaroo with a joey in the pouch

Today is our last day in Brisbane, and it has been a great one so far! We decided to switch hostels to stay in a different area of the city, so we moved to a place in Fortitude Valley, closer to downtown. We were shocked upon our arrival to find that we had been upgraded from a 4 person bunk bed dorm, to a swanky loft suite! It has our own kitchen and washroom, as well as a second floor with our bedroom and balcony with a great view of the city. It is a great way to end our time in Brisbane. After our check in, we went for a swim in the pool and decided to walk down through Chinatown, where we found a delicious "Vietnamese Restaurant" (that is actually the name! Very innovative). We each got a couple of delicious spring rolls, as well as a seafood noodle soup, and a curry chicken noodle soup. Next time we are in Brisbane we will have to make another trip there to try a duck dish, which they are apparently well known for.

Our ballin apartment, bedroom upstairs

Our ballin view from the balcony

After lunch we met up Dave's elementary school friend (Miriam here is your shout out, 82B represent!) and went for a walk through the Roma Street Parkland (apparently the largest urban, tropical garden in the world!). We went through the Fern Gully (Which brought back fond childhood memories for Becki, no bats were seen trying to save the rainforest though!), and then through some gardens with beautiful tropical flowers. We then returned to the hostel and are enjoying some vodka red bull and watching the sunset from the balcony before our free dinner provided by the hostel. After our free taco and chips, and a couple of $10 jugs of beer we watched some standup comedy at the hostel. This included a couple of hilarious acts and some others which were just getting their careers started. We even got free pints for volunteering to sit in the front row!

Today we head down to Surfers Paradise on the train or bus, where we have a hostel booked for the next two nights. We will be staying in a 4 person dorm style room (unless we get miraculously upgraded again), and hope to spend our time lazing on the beach and searching for jobs so we can soon get an apartment. We have heard good things about finding employment there for both our our skill sets, and so are hopeful that things will progress quickly. Look forward to updating you all from a new location either tomorrow or the day after. Miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!!

Dave and Becki

From Fiji to Brisbane

We are finally in Brisbane! It was a long way to get here, but the journey is half of the fun. Following our last post, we left LAX to fly 10 and a half hours to Nadi Fiji. We were very lucky, as we scored the best seats on the plane for checking in so early, the emergency exit seats! We had at least 3 feet of leg room, which was good for doing stretches half way through the flight. There was a very nice Australian girl sitting beside us as well, so we were able to put some fears about the bugs and snakes to rest, and ask many more questions about living in Australia. After sleeping through most of the flight, we arrived in Nadi just before sunrise and took the shuttle to the Hostel on the beach.

After some much needed breakfast overlooking the water, we were swimming in the ocean before 8am. The water was warm and calm, and there were thousands of tiny fish swimming around my feet, but apparently running into Becki's. Once we got our room, we dumped our bags, grabbed a delicious lunch (fish and chips and a beef curry), and headed to some local hot springs and mud baths, at the foot of the Sleeping Giant mountain.  This was followed by a half hour massage with home made coconut oil before returning to the hostel for a much needed nap!

To finish off our night in Fiji, we got up from our afternoon nap (a bit sun stroked), and went to the roof top patio to drink some wine and watch the sunset, and then down to the beach for a sunset walk. We sat outside for dinner and experienced our first Kava ceremony with the Kai and the Kavaholics! They were 4 local Fijians in a band that invited people in a circle to share Kava, and sing songs with them. Kava is a beverage, made from the crushed root of the plant, mixed with water, which locals enjoy to relax and spend time together. After several "Tsunami" sized portions, and a couple of jugs of the local beer Vonu, we were ready for bed as we had to be up at 4 30 am to continue our journey. Our  cab driver Khan from the day before was there to pick us up and we got to the airport without a hitch.

Kai and the Kavaholics. Bula!!

Our 4 hour flight from Fiji to Brisbane went very smoothly and we arrived at our hostel in the Southwest side of the city. The people here are nice, there are great cooking facilities, and the place has a lot of character. We dropped our bags and walked around the West end market so we could make a delicious pasta. Following our lunch/dinner, we decided to have a "2 hour nap" so we would be well rested for the night. 9 hours later (1am) we woke up and decided to continue our sleep which lasted a total of 14 hours. We woke up quite well rested and ready to see the city, so we set off for a jog by the river. It was a great way to start the day and see a bit of the city. The Brisbane festival is on all week, so today we intend to walk around and get more familiar with our surroundings, and hopefully see some of the festival! Who knows, we might even fall into a job as we go around meeting new people.

At the Daily Grill at LAX, drinking some Heineken, waiting for our flight to Fiji