14. Mooloolaba (Sunshine Coast), Australia

Helloooo....Sunshine Coast time!!

DAY ONE

We caught the bus at 10.15am (just!) and we due to arrive at Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) at 11.45am. Due to traffic we only got there about 12.30pm. Upon arrival we realised the hostel was absolutely literally over the road from the bus station. 

 

We got to reception to check in and saw that it was closed 12-1!! And it was half past 12! Oh well, we hung around in the lobby waiting for it to open. There was a ping pong table, a pool table and a tv area so we were happy enough. 

It got to 1pm and so we checked in! We got to our room and were really pleased with it :) our next few places are private rooms so abit of a rest from dorms. We won't complain but it is true you meet a lot of new friends in dorms which is a huge bonus. The meeting-people-potential is high. Obviously you don't have that privacy to just relax and not worry about talking level. But obviously dorms are cheaper.

Yes we were flicking and found bargain hunt.

 

We found out they had free bike hire, bodyboard and surf board hire so was really excited to try surfing!! But the weather was awful. Due to the cyclone lingering along the east coast it was really cloudy. Not living up to SUNSHINE coast!

We thought, 'Why should the weather stop us?!', so we decided to hire some bikes! They were similar to Byron Bay's bikes but a lot more rickety so weren't as comfortable! We called them Orangalina (me - due to it being orange of course!) and Nat called hers Johnson. 

 

We headed off, again with helmets, towards the beach front and the esplanade! The receptionist wasn't really pushy about wearing helmets but again good job we were sensible, literally 50 meters down the road there was a police station and JUST as we passed a policewoman was getting out of her vehicle! $150 fine right there if hadn't worn then!

 

We got to the beach and it was lovely!! Minus the weather if course! We sat at a lookout, partly for shelter from the rain, and let our bikes and our legs dry out! The lookout was called 'The Loo With A View'. Brilliant name!! Also I was shocked due to plenty of surfers still surfing regardless of the weather. But thinking about it, the waves were quite good so that brings them all out!!

 

 

We also found the lifeguard boat and grabbed a photo! And grabbed a couple of small shells for souvenirs, not sure they'll fit in the bag though!! :(

 

 

 On the way we had seen a 'Coles', a major supermarket here so decided to head there! Again, we ACCIDENTALLY bought some chocolate and toiletries!

 

We then got sick of the rain and went back to the hostel. Before we did though we nipped into a convenience shop and saw these massive pepper or capsicums as Australians call them. They were gigantic!!

We grabbed a shower and then, due to our hostel being silly (again!) and not having FREE wifi, we headed out on a search for free wifi!! We seriously don't agree with having to pay Australia! I love this country but that's one thing that gets us! :S haha!

We headed towards some big hotels and on the corner we found a wifi hotspot, free! Thank you unnamed restaurant! But the catch was, the restaurant was above a shop so we were next to a smelly bin and a carpark! Oh the things you do for wifi!
 

 

We then headed towards the esplanade and hit the jackpot. A restaurant providing free wifi, with a outdoor seating area so meant it had good coverage (seriously wifi searching talk now haha!!). In payment for the wifi, we show a picture of Bellissimo Bar & Restaurant. Thank you very much hehe!

 

After some jobs were done and emails sent we went back to the hostel. It's great, our hostel was very safe due to after 9.30pm the gates going across at the entrance so had to use room key to get in. Very good :)

We then enjoyed a comedy gala which was on tv and then went to Z Land!!

DAY TWO

Due to the program only finishing at 1am we slept in until 10am! The weather was very muggy again, not as much rain but still very cloudy! :( Sunshine Coast still hasn't arrived yet!

 There wasn't a toaster in the kitchen area so enjoyed a lovely breakfast of bread and jam!

It was nice though due to having a balcony where you can eat! Obviously it was cloudy but tomorrow (when it was sunny) it was a great place to sit and eat your meal!

I really wanted to surf but it's just not the weather for it. It's also really rough so quite big waves and for me, someone who hasn't even surfed before, it wasn't a good decision to go in!! Especially when the flags weren't out so no swimming, meaning no lifeguard!!

 

We walked towards the beach, went to our favourite restaurant for free wifi! We've got tours coming up so have to email company's so got that done. Then headed for an adventure!  On the way we went into a souvenir shop when I bought some secret souvenirs for certain people!! :D NO, NO PICTURES!! haha!

We also spotted a novelty toy which was amazing! We were so tempted to buy it but thought it wasn't probably the best use of our money ($30!). Was so funny, it copied everything you said and said it back to you in a high pitch time. Was hilarious listening to an Australian kangaroo repeat the Yorkshire accent!!

We then walked north up the coast towards Alexandria Headlands and on the way had abit of a gym session!

 

When getting to Alexandria Headlands we spotted a nice lookout spot. Due to the big waves there were loads of surfers out, including a paddle boarder too!

 

We also ran into some really cute dogs having an absolute whale of a time! Bless then, so cute!

AND we then saw the biggest lens we've ever seen in our lives! He was taking pictures of the surfers so with that equipment must be quite good at it!!

 

Half way down the beach, we settled at the side of a skatepark, so random and watched some cute little kids on their scooter and some skateboarders. One of which had no shoes on, and just whilst watching got a grazed knee, cut toe, sprained wrist and pulled shoulder. And he still never gave up!! Hardcore!! 

 

After getting abit bored of people falling over we headed back to where we were sitting before, at the bottom of the beach.

We watched the surfers again and also saw this surf code!

  

I then grabbed a shower and had noodles again! Remember 20 cents a meal!

Due to leaving tomorrow we then packed our bags and I sewed my Byron Bay badge onto my bag!

Headed for free Internet again at our favourite restaurant and the went to bed!!

It was very windy!!

 

DAY THREE

Can you believe the morning we leave, the clouds clear, the sun comes out and the heat rises! It was a gorgeous morning and so typical of our luck. We got up and had breakfast in the lobby. We had packed already so checked out and put our bags in luggage storage until we get the bus at 11.45am.

We then went to actually look around the place with the sun out and blue skies! Went to the beach and changed the sun status haha!

 

We saw a statue commemorating Steve Urwin which we thought was lovely!

 

 Then we asked at an information desk for some maps of the area for souvenirs and also other places. He was so helpful. A little too helpful as he told us about places we aren't going to but he was so lovely and SO informative!! Thank you Peter!!

 

We then grabbed some lunch! We splashed out on a lovely sandwich (me chicken, nat egg - she'll enjoy eating that on the bus later haha!) and I got some white chocolate cookies and nat got a blueberry muffin! The lady was so lovely, chatty and so sweet bless her! And made a hell of a sandwich for us both :)

 

We then got our bags and caught the bus!! On to Hervey Bay and for the 3 day Fraser Island tour! Can't wait!! Thankfully the cyclone has gone so hopefully no more cloud and rain!! Sun sun sun please :)

 

:D See you there!!
 

Rach xx

1. The Adventure Begins! (Getting to Bangkok)

Helllllooo from Bangkok!!

We can't believe we're here, after years of planning, months of excitement, weeks of preparation...it has begun!

We started the trip in our house stressing over what to take, how to pack it and whether it needed to go into hand luggage or checked in baggage! We said our goodbye-for-now's to our family and friends and set off on our journey. Which NEARLY didn't go as planned due to a bus fire that literally just happened as we got to about 2 miles of it, resulting in long queues, motorway lanes to be closed and for our stress to rise...not too much...kind of!

After overcoming our motorway drama, we arrived at the airport only for me to find (after thinking I'd left it at home) a lovely extremely melted creme egg in my jacket pocket and due to me taking this jacket I had to wash it as obviously would be not allowed (not that a jacket is needed at this part of the trip!!!! its sooooo humid!!!). So this was quickly washed off and resolved!

Our flight left at 20.10 so we had plenty of time to relax and figure out where we had to go, after checking in, we went through security and got to the gate. We had a bit of chill time to eat some lemon drizzle cake (one for grandma!!)!

 

We then boarded our flight but before we could Puggles wanted a selfie with the aeroplanes in the background, what's he like!

 

 

For those wondering who Puggles is, it's a replacement of Nat's boyfriend which has his aftershave on, how romantic hehe!

 

So, the flight was with Emirates (economy of course $$$) but the standard that economy is at, makes you feel like you're in first class!! Pillow, headphones, machine in front of you to choose from hundreds of movies, songs and games too! The woman in front really did like that Inflight trivia game! Also comfy seats, sooo much legroom (very handy when got crazy long legs...), blanket and PROPER KNIFES AND FORKS...basically we love Emirates. We set off about 30 mins late but was all fine, then 7 hours later arrived at Dubai. Midway through however, we saw that outside the window we could see the turning of night into day and captured it :)

 

 

Upon arrival in Dubai, in the distance we saw the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, even when it was miles and miles and miles and miles away, it still looked magnificient!

 

The Dubai airport is crazily big, and ultra shiny with branded goods everywhere, shops with extremely expensive products in...we really could tell we were in Dubai!

 

We made it to boarding but when we got through we got a MASSIVE surprise. We had been upgraded to BUSINESS CLASS!!!! Here's the proof!

 

 

 

So this came with some amazing advantages; soft blanket, amazing eye mask, FULLY reclinable chairs, noise cancelling headphones, water and ridiculously nice food! I unfortunately felt really rough about the first flight so annoyingly had to decline the food and settle for iced water (in a proper glass!).

 

So we then arrived at Bangkok airport where we had a much shorter wait! Taking full advantage of our business class opportunity because it might not happen again (happy for it too thought!).

 

 

So after getting our visas stamped, we went to collect our baggage.........

 

However, after what seemed like forever, we saw a lot of people from our flight gathering at the lost or damages desk...made us scared. In a nutshell, even though we set off an hour late from Dubai due to a ''baggage handling problems'', none of the luggage had been put on the plane!! The image below is after the queuing up because it was so busy and tight around the desk.

 

 

So currently we are waiting to be reunited with our bags which have all our clothes in!! So safe to say, in this weather, we need more clothes!!

 

We then got the metro which have these AMAZING tokens instead of paper which fascinated us for a while...easily entertained. Made us think it was for a funfair ride...

 

 

After a little bit of wandering we finally found the hostel which is really nice and comfy! In a really central area (train station, shops, metro) however the downfall to that is traffic...it is completely mental but you avoid crossing roads (full of tuk tuks and mopeds) by using the metro entrances and exits. At each entrance there is a security sensor and guard, it's brilliant safety wise however is a pain because we have to open our bags every time (however today the lady let us through due to seeing us TOO many times).

 

So, hope you enjoyed our first post of our arrival to Bangkok, it's weird being 7 hours ahead of England however we have managed to get in the time zone surprisingly fast!

Feel free to comment below :)

 

See you on the next post!!

 

Rach x