Anne and I arrived in Surfers Paradise at lunch time on Wednesday. The weather wasn't good, and the "paradise" looked very much less than that. The hostel wasn't up to usual YHA standards either, and was run by a bunch of miserable, coughing, lazy, unpleasant English girls who were more interested in partying than cleaning up after themselves or opening reception. The food store near the hostel was woefully inadequate and we ended up having a "Ragin' Cajun" burger at McDonalds. We then trekked the 3.5km into town and bought a cheap steak and salad at Woolworths. That night's meal was one of the most glorious things ever to pass my lips, so the day wasn't a complete disaster.
The next day, the sun shone and shone. Suddenly we could see the attraction of Surfers Paradise, and we rushed to the beautiful beach and spent the morning there. This was more like it. Hurrah! Funny how much difference a bit of good weather can make.
The sun didn't improve the hostel, however. Never visit The British Arms YHA hostel at Surfers Paradise, I tell you.
Much better is the hostel from which I'm writing this blog - the YHA in Brisbane. We arrived here on Friday morning and I went to the airport after lunch to meet my mum (where she was shocked at my head - see my last post). She'll be with us now until about 17th June.
She took us for a nice Italian meal last night, and today we took a bus tour of the city. At first it didn't look like there was much here, but the bus tour revealed some very pleasant areas, including countless parks, nice buildings, and a man-made beach and pools by the river. We spent hours wandering after the bus tour, and got a catamaran up the river. Again, the winter weather's been great, so that has helped.
We're (my mum is) hiring a car to drive up the coast from tomorrow. It should be great fun. It's good to see my mum after four months away. I hope I don't annoy her too much! Anne and I are in tight tight budget mode, so we're having to adjust for my mum who is here for a holiday and is not looking to skimp. What makes it easier is that she seems to want to treat us - hurrah!
On an unrelated note, someone has contacted me about my family tree research (which is on our home page). They're sending me the details of a cousin of my dad's who lives near Cairns. Small world!