Surfers

This place is insane! I believe this is what Miami would look like, auzz style. The tall high rise apartments everywhere, the insane downtown core bustling with people. Everything is new, hot, busy, and beachy.
I met up with Mandy again, she got a job at a local pub in the district of Main Beach, kind of like a Stony Plain or Sherwood Park. She also has been working as a telemarketer selling lottery tickets.
We are camping in the middle of town for now, but we found some auzz college girls needing some roomates, and it's looking like we can move in soon. It's in a condo complex, first floor, directly in front of the swimming pool, and a five minute walk from the beach. And best part is it is dirt cheap! Mandy will stay and work for a few months, I will stay for the next two weeks and then head north of Brisbane to a small town called Woodford. Mike and I will volunteer, setting up street lights for the Woodfork Folk festival. We work for 7 days, and in exchange we get free entry (the tix are $400!) free camping, and free food. The festival runs Dec 27th - Jan 2nd, and has attendance in the 50 000 mark...should be an interesting new years.

So a few more pics to look at. There are more on facebook, but this blog is limiting my pictures.
I'm in Bundaberg right now, just started picking red peppers today (our jobs are at random, we are sent where ever we are needed). I made a serious $43 big ones! They pay us $1 for a 10 galloon barrel worth of the stuff. We were rained out early (it's the wet season, so rain everyday now). I'm hoping for a tomato job as the pay is better and the days longer.
We'll stay for a couple of weeks or until my back breaks in half.

Just back in from North Stradbroke Island, which is directly east of Brisbane.
It's a beautiful little island where frequented by Auzzies during their summer months. It's still spring so we were able to find a camping spot close to the beach.
For mike and I we took our second surfing lesson, and the girls had their first (even though our instructor turned out....wasn't an instructor and wasn't actually legally able to teach...) surf lesson. Water was crazy, sun was hot, and we got up a few times. After that we watched the Melbourne cup (thought it was a rugby game...turned out it was a national holiday where the entire country shuts down for a 5 minute horse race....and then everyone gets drunk.) But we only had one beer and went sandboarding. Basically snowboarding on a huge sand mountain. Same "instructor", he turned out to be a ex pro surfer who "rode the circuit in the late '90s". Pretty cool guy.
We just dropped off Mandy, she'll tour south looking for work while the rest of us continue north to Cairns (another 1600km). If the van makes it we'll skydive/snorkel along the way.