Getting Settled

Week 01

Once we landed we were supposed to have a hired car take us the 40 minute trek to Surfers Paradise from Brisbane. We are still not sure if "hired car" means a driver is taking us there or we have to rent a car but the result was we didn't have a ride. We ended up renting our car a day early from the companies plan and drove ourselves. Waiting alongside Sarah at Avus my mind was painting pictures of throaty V8 Holdens and euro Ford's I have only seen pictures of. Come on...Come on....be good to us, Yanks......"Here is your keys to a Toyota Camry." At least it wasn't Beige, and it was a 2012 which we don't even have yet. Sarah wouldn't let me drive so she was the first to try driving on the right side of the car....and on the other side of the road...in a new land...and the highway. The first thing she did was try to get in on the left side, not a good start. Sitting as a passenger on the left side is strange and the car feels huge! I was constantly looking at the rear view mirror because my brain is trained to look there every minute. Your depth perception of both front corners of the car is also off and think you are going to clip everything. It is very strange to look to your right and see drivers in others car instead of passengers. Sarah learned very quickly how to drive but struggled with the turn signals being on the opposite side of the column and staying to the far lane when taking left turns.

We found our resort and got checked in and were handed over top floor keys. Our corner room is clean, modern, and has a huge balcony with a million dollar view. Everyday is a treat to wake up and look outside. The skyline is very full and has great architecture. On one side of us is the beach and on the other side are waterway canals hugging multiple residential islands and bays. Downtown Surfers Paradise is very active with tourists and retail with plenty of energy but without trying to be upscale. Food is expensive and alcohol pricing is a joke.

The beach is unreal and goes on forever. The sand feels like brown sugar and the water is a perfect gradient of Cobalt to Tiffany's blue. The water is warm but not tropical and the weather never feels hot because of the constant breeze. The waves are consistent and full of surfers but I get the feeling there are better spots based on the quality of riding I am seeing. I picked up a boogie board and will attempt to surf soon. The people are gorgeous and there seems to be a trend of bro-cations where we are seeing herds of dude tourists running around.

We have been mostly cooking our meals with daily trips to the grocery store. The meat sections are drool-worthy, the cheeses are fantastic, deli turkey isn't an option, Coca-Cola is $3.00 a can, the produce is on par, bread is square, and their carts have 4 wheel steering which is a core workout trying to keep that thing straight.

No worries, mates.