Going...going...gone?

Well it's now Sunday December 13th, we've moved on from Surfers, tied up the loose ends, shifted routines and moved into the new once again. It's meant saying goodbye to friends, jobs, the Gold Coast and all familarity while embarking on a new adventure in a new city.

I really had that itchy feet feeling where there's a million things to think about but you're not sure what to sort out first,
I find it hard to believe that we'd been in Surfers Paradise the same amount of time as LA and Maui combined but it just goes to show that when you stay in one place and routines start forming, time speeds up.

What i'm noticing and really love about Australia is the constant joy people get from being out in their natural environment. They're so so lucky, the locals here have grown up with dramatic cliff drops at Mount Tambourine, forests in the Hinterland, Waterfalls at Springbrook, neverending waves up and down the coast and over 300 days of sun every single year.

Jealous? Me? YES. And that's just in a small area of Queensland.

For someone who thrives on exercise, nature, sports, sun and generally feeling happy and productive I'm very aware that England just can't compete with Australia, America or pretty much any country with a good climate and a passion for the outdoors, and it's bloody depressing. I'll tell you what's brought this on, I was watching an Aussie show called 'Getaway' in which a selection of presenters travel to different areas of Oz and review towns, campsites, things to do, hidden gems etc and it really is unfair. There are white sands, coral coves, red deserts, lush jungles and the Great Barrier Reef on the doorstep for gods sake!!! The attitude is different here, kayaking, climbing, skydiving, surfing and hiking the norm. I don't really know what i'm getting at, do I want to move countries, emigrate? Well yes, maybe I do. I've always felt instantly home in the heat and the positivity it brings to the population.

So a couple of weeks back Jules, Martin and I hired a car for the day and drove over to Nimbin, known only for one thing (it's green and you smoke it!) but still on all the sight-seeing tour circuits and an interesting place. It's pretty much just a high street with a few shops and cafes which can be 'seen and done' in 10 minutes but I guess the charm begins to flow when you allow yourself to sit in a cafe for a while and watch the 'unique' locals stumble by. So just to sum it up, Nimbin is a real time warp town with the majority of people in it being dreadlocked, long wavy haired, weed smoking, pipe puffing wrinky weirdos.

After some exploration inland we drove to the most Easterly point on the east coast and spent the late Afternoon sipping a strawberry ice-cream smoothie in the beautiful Byron Bay. We only had a couple of hours to soak it in before having to head back north to Surfers but I very quickly felt that if i'd discovered Byron before Surfers I would never have left it.

On one Sunday night Jules and I had another really nice chilled night at Swinging Safari, the random place I mentioned in the last post. We had some wine and listened to a Bob Marley tribute band play reggae while the crickets hissed and palms swayed in the warm breeze, it really took me back to my holidays in Antigua. It's a real shame we didn't get to hang out there more but i'm sure there will be plenty more little gems dotted around the coast to discover.

The following Monday Amanda, Loz and I went for trip number 4 to Max brenner which was to be my last up on the Gold Coast :(! I had the most incredible, obscenely amazing, indescribely delicious chocolate brownie though, the best i've EVER tasted and will be 100% going back for another in Sydney.

Unfortunately the last couple of weeks did not provide much in the way of work, the dreaded 'schoolies' kept away
tourists and the shifts at Bear were slashed. This meant our last couple of weeks wasn't as fruitful as hoped and
after leaving both Bear and the Club last weekend it's back to outgoings only, argh!

Something else Jules, Martin and I did to end things was visit Perle one last time...though to our shock horror the $6 tapas menu and $9 cocktail menu had been removed! Noooooooooooooooooooooooo. After much deliberation we decided to buy a drink there anyway and soak in the vibe, I asked for an Amaretto coffee (my usual treat) and the waitress came back with the most unusual version of one i've ever seen. Basically a shot of espresso, shot of Amaretto and brandy glass full of vanilla ice-cream. I guess it was more of a dessert than a drink but still pretty good.

Our last night out was in Broadbeach for the Bear Christmas work party and it was a great way to end our time on the Gold Coast. The crew decended upon Aztec's Mexican Restaurant like a pack of drunken Hyena's and didn't leave until we'd drunk the magarita reserves dry 3 hours later. The secret santa presents went down well and I didn't have to sit next to the douchbag of the group (we all know who that is!) so all in all a great night.

So eventually the day came to pick up our hire car and begin road trip 3, Surfers Paradise down to Sydney. At 8am sharp we walked over to Hertz and were presented with our little red Yaris beast, opened the map (thanks Amanda) and popped on our John Farhnam mix cd (thanks Zach). We knew it was gonna be a tight squeeze to do this trip in 2 days so set off towards the half way point in Port Macquarie straight away.
Our first stop was Byron Bay where I managed to blag the best bargain EVER! A perfect dress for NYE reduced from $170 to $34..amazinggggg! We walked around the town and ate some boiled eggs on the beach, as you do, before setting off again towards the tarmac.

A few hours later we passed through Coffs Harbour which to be honest we wern't all that impressed with, we didn't even see the big banana which I was looking out for. The weather had taken a turn for the worst, all grey and cloudy and the sea looked dark and a bit menacing, definetely not ideal for a swim. We drove to the jetty and stretched our legs before I took over the wheel to take us down to Port Macquarie.
As this point Loz fell asleep for over an hour and left me alone to sing my heart out to some Backstreet Boys and N' Sync until he convieniently woke up as we approached the stop over.

The tiredness must have been starting to kick in as we both used up 2 more of our 9 lives that night. I must have been so keen to get to the campsite that I unintentionally drove staright through a stop sign intersection and missed a full on collision by maybe 3 or 4 seconds. When I realised what had happened the shock sent me into a trance and I grabbed onto Loz's shoulder for a full 60 seconds before loosening the claw like grip and letting go. Later on that night it was Loz's turn to tempt fate as he started driving THE WRONG WAY down a dual carrageway towards an oncoming car. There was quite a bit of yelling and more gripping of body parts before we decided enough is enough, our brain's are fried and need to switch off!

Day 2 wasn't supposed to be as hardcore because we'd covered more than halfway on day 1 but we ended up taking some slow roads in the hope that they were more scenic..but they weren't. We kicked ourselves into gear with coffees and a cinnimon pastry and then hit the road again stopping off at a nice beach at Pacific Palms for a quick swim.
It was 7pm by the time we found ourselves driving over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and heading towards our new apartment in Surry Hills and when we stepped out of the car both felt the strangest sensation of being plonked in the middle of cosmopolitan city vibe without being ready for it. There we were in flip flops, swim wear and beachy caps while young professionals power walked past in their trendy suits staring in disbelief at the colour of my skin.

A few days has passed now and we've had the chance to adjust to the new climate and explore the area, and we LOVE it. Surry Hills really reminds me of Islington in London, endless boutique shops, quirky cafes and quaint restaurants. Everywhere you look there's a nook or cranny with some tiny secret thing hidden away for you to find and multi-coloured terraced houses brighten up what should be an average road. The city is so clean and fresh, new
modern architechture blends in with the older historical sights and the bright blue skies make everything look great. The other thing i've noticed is the amount of greenery around, every road, pavement, park and garden is bursting with vegetation and makes the city feel so summery and natural!

On Friday Loz and I took the bus down to Coogee Beach which was bursting with people, slightly worrying considering it was a week day. Apparently there's normally around 50,000 people down on Bondi on an average summer Saturday, god knows how many will be there for Christmas day! We're hoping it'll have the July 4th Independance Day vibe to it, not sure that day can be beaten though.

...and on Saturday morning we took the city rail train to Turramurra to visit my relatives the Dobree's! We stayed with them for our first week in Australia and it was so good to return to that family atmosphere and be welcomed into the fold like one of their own. Mary produces the most amazing meals and we've been treated to some of the best food i've had all year in the last two days. Fresh prawns, oysters, sundried tomato and cheese breads, amazing salads full of red and yellow peppers, avocado, celery, cucumber, carrots, rocket, onion and juicy tomatoes. Then there's the mangoes, cherries, apricots, peaches, feta and spinach dips, hommus and cous cous. We've even been treated to date scones with double cream and raspberry jam with cups of tea by the pool. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

We thought we'd only be here for a day but we've been asked to join the family to a Christmas carol concert and fireworks display tonight and can't wait, maybe it'll get those Christmas feelings flowing a bit more!

Tomorrow (being Monday) we're heading over to Bondi for the day, Loz is checking out a possible new apartment for once i've left Sydney and then it's more beach time for the two of us.

Bring. It. On.