Surfers Paradise

Last weekend H and I went to Queensland with Martin and Claire, Chris and Anna. We stayed in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast and it was the first time I have left NSW since arriving here. I had been to Surfers before though, when I was last here as a backpacker.

So the reason for the trip was to celebrate Claire's 25th birthday. She is leaving Australia soon and wanted to see the Gold Coast before going back to the UK. We managed to book a three bed apartment in the new Q1 resort. It's the tallest residential building in the world and the 20th tallest building in the world and. Our apartment, which was a Big Brother meets IKEA hybrid, was on the 54th floor, which meant we had a stunning view of the Gold Coast.

We flew up on Thursday, the flight taking an hour or so from Sydney. On Friday we headed off to Dreamworld, which is one of a few amusement parks in the area.

We had a quality day out, and get this. We got stuck on a rollercoaster. It only happens on the movies right? Well no, it doesn't. It happened to us. Fortunately is sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was. We took off on the Tower of Terror, a ride that accelerates you from 0-160kph in 7 seconds (it used to be the fastest in the world) and shoots you up the side of a tower (38 storeys high) before free-falling back down.

Well no sooner as we accelerated but the ride slowed down and we came to a stop at the foot of the climb. We sat there for twenty minutes or so until three guys and a winch came to our rescue. The ride had actually done the same thing three rides before us but we decided to brave the technical issues and go on the ride anyway. The staff compensated us by taking us to the front of the queue of the Giant Drop. It's the tallest free-falling ride in the world at 39 storeys (although surely the one on top of The Stratosphere in Vegas is higher!). Don't you just love theme park statistics? This ride was superb. And having just broken down on the ride before, which was attached to the same tower, those thoughts were very much in our mind. I am not sure how I would've coped if I'd had to stay in my seat hundreds of feet off the ground. Anyway, all was good and it was a great experience, even though I had been told off by the same member of staff who took us to the front of the ride, for trying to smuggle my camera on the ride.

While we were on the Giant Drop we could feel the Tower vibrating as they continued their tests on the malfunctioning Tower of Terror. Feeling the whole thing move as you were sat in your seat only served to increase the apprehension, and adrenalin levels. But when we got off the Giant Drop we were told that the first ride was now working and that we would be taken to the front again if we so wished. Of course we would!! So off we went. And this time the ride worked. It was a beauty and so much better than I expected. So breaking down on rollercoasters does have its benefits.

We spent the rest of the day in the park checking out the other rides. These included The Claw, Wipeout and some lame water ride were H and Anna got a soaking. There was also a Tiger show which wasn't particularly good.

But it was a top day out and we were all knackered by the end of it. We ate some tasty Thai for Claire's birthday meal.

We spent Saturday in Surfers Paradise. Surfers Paradise doesn't seem to have changed in the last 7 years. It is the Blackpool of Australia in so much as it is full or trashy bars and clubs. The beach, however, is a beauty, although the waves looked pretty average to me. When I was last here I remember a huge poo pipe running the length of the beach. This has now been cleared away (or covered up) and the beach is a lot better.

We spent the evening in Broadbeach, which is ten minutes south of Surfers. It's much nicer.

Sunday was our last day on the Goldie and we headed back to Broadbeach for lunch after checking out the Oberservation deck on Levels 77 and 78 in the Q1.

Our flight was due to leave at 6ish so we then headed south to Coolangatta to have a look around. I was pretty excited by this as it meant I got to see two world class surf breaks; Snapper Rocks and D-bah. The swell wasn't big but it was nice to see decent waves after the mush at Surfers Paradise.

What a great weekend.

Book Twenty Seven

Does anyone out there know that this is all about?

I really struggled with this one. On a bit of a high after Book Twenty Six, I thought it was time to give this one a crack (it is also one of Hosseini's favourite books). But as soon as I started I knew it would be a mission to get through it.

I really didn't understand what was going on. Ok, it was something to do with a family in India. But that's about as far as I got. I found myself reading it for the sake of reading it, and not because I was enjoying it which was a shame. I read it because I started it (and didn't want to give in) and it was a relief when I'd finished it.

I found everything to be too descriptive and visual. Every sentence seemed to have some illustration. Nothing was simple. It was bloody hard work.

H loves this one, so does Kim and Ella. Why? Maybe I didn't like it because I haven't got a creative bone in my body.

It was also the first book that I've read where I tried to find an online guide to help me. I couldn't.

State of Origin

Last Wednesday night six of us braved the cold (yes, we are now in winter and very occasionally we get to see our own breath) to go to Telstra Stadium and watch the second game in the State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland.

It's rugby league at it's best and is the biggest game in Australia. They bill it as "State vs State, Mate vs Mate" and everyone gets fired up for it. I've watched it on TV a few times before but I really wanted to go along and sample the atmosphere.

I've only ever been to one game of rugby league before and, apart from the cricket, it was the best sporting event I've been to in Australia. Coming from the south of England, rugby league is rarely talked about. But for me it is my favourite sport out here. AFL is great when the game is close, otherwise it's pretty dull. I love football more than any other sport but Sydney FC did nothing for me whatsoever. Cricket is loads of fun and I'm bound to get into it again when India come over to tour later in the year. I haven't got Foxtel so watching England at the moment isn't easy. So that leaves me with the two rugby's - Union and League. I've been to a couple of union games and have enjoyed them both but I get a bit frustrated when they keep hoofing it up the pitch. Ok, there are some nices plays where the ball is spread all the way across the field (although I'm told that this can happen in league) but it still doesn't do that much for me. Rugby league is much faster and tougher. The players just seem to enjoy running into each other at full speed. You can't help but admire these guys as they smash into each other. See what I mean?

Back in England I would never have found myself thinking it, let alone saying it, but it's true. I really like rugby league. There. I've said it. I wonder if it has a 12 step program?

Anyway, Wednesday's nights game was a close affair and QLD beat NSW 10-6 to retain the State of Origin trophy. It was the first time they had won at Telstra since 1999. Before the game NSW had been told to search for some "mongrel" and "bring back the biff". Unfortuantely they were lacking in both. The hits were big but they just didn't have what it takes (we were hoping to see a lot of massive hits like these). Once again the atmosphere was a little strange. There was no segregation so there were very few songs being sung, but I did see one guy being evicted from the ground. There just seemed to be lots of beered up banter all over the place. I miss crowds singing their favourite songs at the opposition and vice-versa.

I'm not sure if it was everyone's idea of a good night out but we all seemed to enjoy the experience. I just need to get myself to Brooky Oval one day, drinks some tins on the Hill and support my local team, the Manly Sea Eagles.

The One-In-30-Year Storm

Sydney, and parts of New South Wales, were smashed by a massive storm last weekend. The NSW Premier called it a "one-in-30-year storm", which sounds very impressive, and a bit like 'Point Break' but 20 years shorter! Anyway, I'm not going to argue with him as having seen it's effect on Manly from my unit on the beach front, I could tell it was a big deal. The Hunter Valley region (where we went wine tasting) and the Central Coast have been declared a 'Natural Disaster Area'!

The weather turned on Thursday and we knew things were going wrong on Friday when news reports covered the story of a 40 000 tonne tanker which ran aground in 17m waves near Newcastle, which is two hours north of Sydney. The pictures are incredible.

The Manly ferry service was also cancelled all Friday and Saturday. It was the first time the swell size has cancelled the ferry since I've been here. These pictures were taken early Friday morning, and before the commuters could use the service to get to work. No wonder they were cancelled!

The one thing I have learnt about the weather here is Sydney is that it is all or nothing. When it rains, it rains! It's like the end of the world is approaching. It howled all through the night and on Saturday morning I decided to take a walk along the beach and check out the damage and the surf. The sand had been blown all the way up to the wall of the promenade and had covered some of the road. This was a common sight in all the beachside suburbs of Sydney.

Apart from the odd surf movie, It was the first time that I've seen surfers being towed onto waves by jetskis. Crowds of people lined the beach watching those out into the water. The beach had been closed but that doesn't stop some people. Unfortunately this pictures do little to show the scale of the waves but they were massive.

I then took a walk to the southern end of the beach where a few surfers had made it out in the protected corner. Unlike the north end, which took the full force of the swell, the waves were a little more appealing to the surfers as they came round the headland. You can see what I mean here.

The swell over the weekend was the biggest I've seen. These were taken at the Fairy Bower point break, which is just to the right of the photos I took above. These which were were taken on Saturday, at a break called Deadmans, which is behind Shelly Beach and just to the south of the Bower.

Given the bad weather, and the fact the ferries were cancelled, Saturday turned into a local affair. H and I had made plans to go into the city but they didn't happen. Instead, I made myself comfortable in the Shore Club with an old work colleague and lots of Stella. From there we went the Bavarian Bier Café. So having never been out on a proper night out in Manly until last weekend's Wine Festival, I've now been on two! It was a good night as Manly battened down the hatches.

The swell wasn't as fierce on Sunday and I decided to have a go in it. Needless to say, the waves looked very different from my balcony as they did on the beach, and I got nailed. But it's all good experience.

Sunday evening was again spent in the Shore Club. For some reason Australia celebrates the Queens Birthday so we all had the Monday off work. The weather has cleared up considerably and the swell was a lot cleaner, but still pretty big. I went out with my board for a bit, but then changed my kit over and went back out with my boogie board and fins. I managed to make it out the back and stayed there for ages, watching the biggest waves I've ever been in, as they came through. A couple of huge ones came through, which meant lots of whistling and cheering from those out the back. It's quite a humbling experience sat on top a wall of water as it passes underneath you, and then as you watch it knock everyone, apart from those who caught it, out of its path. Next time I'll take the waterproof camera with me.

After the surf I took a walk to check to Shelly Beach, the Bower and Deadmans to watch the the last of the storm swell. There were more great waves and a great cloud formation. You gotta love those Australian skies!