Gold Coast

So two weekends ago (May 2nd-4th) Kim and I decided to go visit our friends in the Gold Coast. I met Matt (Canadian) the weekend we were in Byron Bay and we've been really close friends ever since. He's a great kid and I'm almost positive we will remain friends even when when we return to N. America. Matt and his friend Will are just backpacking throughout Australia for awhile and have decided to settle in the Gold Coast for a few months to make some money working jobs. They've come up here a few times to visit us in Brisbane, so we decided to make a little trip one weekend and go visit them. It was so much fun. It only takes us like 45 minutes by train to get down there and only costs $5!! How awesome is that. So we had a long weekend because of Labour Day in Australia and we decided it would be the best time to go! We got there and headed straight for the beach. What I love about Queensland is it is still hot enough to lay out on the beach and get a nice tan, so that's exactly what we did! Matt's apartment is literally 5 minutes from the main beach on Surfers Paradise. Surfers is a lot different from Brisbane because it is a much more commercialized place. When people want to take a holiday this is usually the place to come. There are beaches everywhere, a huge night life and tons of theme parks including Dreamworld (just like Six Flags), Movieland (just like Universal) and Wet-n-Wild (waterparks). There seems to be something for everyone in the Gold Coast. That night we met up with the boys and went out for a great night on the town. Sunday we woke up super early and headed out to the beach again. I'm not even kidding but I think we landed ourselves right in the middle of a huge sand storm. When we left the beach later that day my bag was overflowing with sand, I honestly could have made a man made beach of my own with all the sand I had in my bag haha. We did a little shopping, grabbed some food and then went to meet up with Theresa who was coming down for the day. Guess what we did???!! We went ZORBING!While I'm not sure how many of you know what that is but it's probably the coolest thing in the entire world. However, it wasn't the easiest activity for us to get to. It took us a very long time, riding several different buses to finally find this place, but in the end it was all worth it. And guess what we saw while driving to the Zorb Park...WILD KANGAROOS!! Soo cool!! I couldn't stop smiling as they all jumped around the side of the road (come on how many people get to say they saw wild kangaroos!) The gold coast is the only place in all of Australia where a person can zorb and yes, I did it! Basically what it consists of is going into this gigantic blown up ball and getting pushed down a hill where you are flipping, spinning and turning chaotically again and again! You have to start off by getting a running start and jumping/flinging your body through this little opening in the ball in order to get in (now picture three girls in swimsuits trying to do that). I honestly have laughed so hard in my life. The coolest part about it is that we (Kim, Theresa and I) all went in the same ball! Can you even imagine three people flopping all over the place...yah it was pretty crazy!! (I'll add some pics for you!) So that was tons of fun. Later that night we were pretty worn out from all our fun activities throughout the day that we just took a chillaxed night and ate some YUMMY chicken parmasean (which Kim and I cooked) and watched movies at Matt's apartment. Monday was Labour Day (so no Uni woot woot) and we enjoyed another fun filled day at the beach before heading home to Brisbane. Ohhh another fun thing that went on this weekend. I've been CRAVING Dr. Pepper so bad. They don't have it here...anywhere! So I've been making a list of everything I have to have as soon as I get back to the states as far as food goes and Dr. Pepper is on the top of the list. As Kim and I were leaving the train station I see this sign that reads, American and Canadian snacks and goodies store. We stop in and guess what they have right there in the refrigerator....DR PEPPER BABAY!! I was so excited and enjoyed a very nice soda beverage. Haha. All in all, a great weekend with great friends in a beautiful ocean town...what more could a girl ask for!! Love you all.