Once again I am waiting for the Oz Bus which today leaves at 1.30 to take me to Surfers Paradise. I have had two nights in Brisbane and it has been fantastic! It has been quite strange to be in a city again but Brisbane is really cool. It is a strange mix of really old looking buildings and modern sky scrapers and it has a pretty cool bridge designed by the same bloke who did the one in Sydney. I went to the Botanical gardens which were really pretty and I have had a wander around the city but I will admit that (once again) it has really been all about the party! My hostel has a bar underneath, conveniently called Down Under Bar and they do a $9 meal and pint special. On Sunday night there were $1 pots (half pints) so obviously we had to take advantage of that. Went there again last night. Its good fun and I bumped into lots of people I have met either on the bus or randomly who are doing the same sort of route.

Before arriving in Brisbane I spent a few days in Noosa which is where rich Australians go on holiday. Despite this the hostel was really nice - it was in the oldest wooden building left in the town and is a National Trust property. I was just in a three bed dorm with Polly, a girl I have been on the bus with quite a few times, and an English guy. We had a door going right onto the verandah (sp?) which went the whole way around the property. It was pretty! Went to the beach and on the second day Polly and I went for a walk in the National Park and saw a koala bear! Then we went to the beach and saw lots of dolphins! That was pretty cool but we couldn't manage to take photographs of them which was annoying. Went out in the evening (I know, I know what a surprise!) as a guy working in the hostel had been on our bus so we kind of knew him and another worker was leaving so we got free entry into the club.

After being a little bit unsure of Australia at first I have completely changed my mind and can see why so many people want to come here. I don't know if it is the weather but everyone is really friendly and I have actually managed to avoid a lot of Brits and meet quite a few Aussies. This can be quite amusing as half the time they don't understand what I am saying! I was talking to some Aussies and they had a friend from Hull and they reckon when we were talking to each other it was like a foreign language!

It is still hot here but not so humid and intense which is nice. Looking forward to Surfers Paradise as I am there three nights so I can have a little rest. All this travelling is hard work! That's all for now - time to get my bag then hit the road!