Party on the Goldie

Our penultimate stop in the camper van was in Noosa.  We had high expectations for Noosa having heard lots of good reports from people we met – it is described in lonely planet as ‘a stylish resort town for fashionistas and bronzed bikini bods’!! The latter especially sounded good to me.

The only downside is that its full of condos and beach side apartments so there are really no campsites next to the beach – our first time having to park frustratingly far away.  We decided that we couldn’t really complain having practically parked on the beach every night for three weeks lol!! Noosa itself did not disappoint, it is very similar to Puerto Banus with quite an upmarket promenade and main strip with mostly unaffordable shops and restaurants, filtered down with touristy souvenir shops.  We enjoyed wondering along looking at all the well dressed fashionistas!! The beach is just off the main strip and was absolutely packed when we were there – it was a hive of activity with surfers, kite surfers, paddle boarders and swimmers.  We didn’t sit by the beach as there was no shade we opted instead to sit at the pool in our campsite – it was quite refreshing not being in saltwater for a change.

Noosa was certainly a fantastic place and although we couldn’t quite make the most of it, its a place definitely worth visiting for those not travelling with backpacker restrictions as the sea front hotels and restaurants looked amazing!

We had 2 nights in Brisbane with Vinnie before we were due to leave him back.  We found a campsite 4km outside the city centre which was perfect.  We got the bus into the city and did some touring around.  It’s a nice city although not much touristy stuff to do, it is famous for its art and museums neither of which we were bothered by – instead we pottered through the shops and looked at the Christmas decorations etc.  

Brisbane has a purpose built beach and pool area just on the outskirts of the city called South Bank, it was a gorgeous place and absolutely packed with kids and families when we went to visit.  After the floods we were told that it was really badly damaged and the water was all polluted etc so it is such an important area to the local residents, that anyone whose house was not affected by the floods spent as much time as possible volunteering to help rebuild the South Bank area.  It is basically back to normal now and its really pretty.

With heavy hearts we left Vinnie back on Wednesday morning – we really did have the most amazing time with him and will remember it fondly for a long time.  We were so lucky that we had absolutely no problems with him either so were relieved to leave it back safe and sound – both him and us!! 

  The day wasn’t all sad as we headed into Brisbane that afternoon to get the train to the Gold Coast to visit our friends from uni – I was really excited for this!!

Alice is a dentist and Thomo is a doctor and they have been out here living and working for 18months.  We have had an amazing week with them and their friends, we felt so chilled and welcome it was so nice.  They have created a whole life out here for themselves with a really fun group friends, a nice area to live and they are just so happy.  It was the first time since we had been away that both of us could see how people do end up settling out here for a longer period of time.  Don’t worry we haven’t been getting any ideas lol!   

Their house is absolutely amazing, on the edge of a river with a little jetty and private beach area, a huge decking area and a pool, as well as huge open plan living kitchen area looking out onto the water – we really should have come here earlier!!! We basically spent the time relaxing, catching up, eating, bbqing, drinking, swimming and sunbathing – a perfect week after the hectic few months we have had haha! Although it seriously was nice to not be on the move constantly and to shower with no shoes on!! You forget about these little luxuries!! We even got to see them putting their Xmas tree up while sitting in our swimwear...really felt so wrong!!

party on the pier!! 

The waterways on the Gold Coast are rumoured to have bull sharks in them and the guys in the house have created a challenge for everyone who visits to swim across the river and back – basically an initiation although they have done it themselves too.  (All started because Thomos Dad who is 65 did it when he visited!)  Never have I seen James swim so fast haha!! We both did it and survived thankfully although I did have flashes of news headlines ‘Irish girl eaten by shark as fiancé and friends stand helpless’!! We felt very brave and daring after doing it although the locals swim in the water all the time – I was beginning to think it was just a myth until James had  a look on Wikipedia which says ‘There are great numbers of bull sharks in the canals of the Gold Coast’ – whoops!! Very glad I read that afterwards!

Alice just got engaged 2 weeks ago so I was very lucky to get to go wedding dress shopping with her!! It was so strange being in bridal shops out here, basically there is no difference lol!! And she might have found ‘the one’ so that was even more exciting – I cant wait to see the finished version after she basically redesigned the whole thing in the shop!!! Bring on wedding season next year...it is going to be so much fun and it will be nice that we will get to meet her Australia friends again, this time in Scotland!! It did feel a little strange though saying ‘Good bye see you on my wedding day’ as that is the next time we will see them both haha!!

James finally got to go fishing using Thomos equipment and he caught 2 fish – not exactly monster fish but still its a start!! He was very pleased with himself!

We got to see a pretty luxurious side of the Gold coast with these guys but the city itself is so strange looking, its basically loads of huge high rise buildings the ‘CBD’ on one side of the road with the beach and sea on the other side.  It is a popular party area and big for surfing, the beach is really pretty although with a strange backdrop!  

The Gold Coast is quite famous for its theme and water parks so we went to Wet n Wild one day – it was amazing, felt like big kids again!! One of the highlights was a ride where you stand upright at the top in a tube and they pull the floor away from you and basically your momentum takes you around a loop the loop before reaching the bottom.  The lighter people don’t make it the whole way around and go backwards to a midway exit point...clearly I didn’t have this problem!!  It was class though but super scary!!

We had such a fantastic time visiting these guys, if only these things didn’t have to end!! I am really happy they will be moving back to Scotland in 2012...slightly closer for the next visit haha!! Thanks again to Alice Thomo and not forgetting Mary for all the fun and banter and tours round the area!

We are off to Byron Bay for a few days now, then its back to Sydney for the very part of our adventure...tear!!! Until then....

xxxx