After Nicole arrived in Brisbane, we went for a few adventures in the city. One involved heading to Mount Coot-tha, which we eventually found, then went for a walk to some waterfalls, which we either managed to miss completely, or they were dried up due to the lack of water in the area.
It was pretty muggy during the days, and for two nights in a row, fierce thunderstorms rolled over, but it barely rained at all - just a few spots.
It was cool to meet up with Mandy who I'd met in WA, and she took us out in the West End.
Leaving Brisbane we headed up the Sunshine coast to Noosa, a prim but pleasant seaside town, and then down to Caloundra before driving south of Brissie and onto the Brisbane <-> Sydney road, which is very well trodden by tourists and backpackers.
We decided to start in at the deep end by heading to Surfers Paradise, where a thin strip of sandy & sunny beach is met by a band of huge skyscrapers. Just like the opening titles for Miami Vice!
At the suggestion of a chap standing next to me by the aquarium, I was going to say that we'd encountered these beasts while snorkelling, but don't think I'd get away with it. They were in SeaWorld, where they also did a 50's style intentionally cringeworthy water skiing expo, plus lots of impressive dolphin cavorting...
Further south, Byron Bay was very different from 'Surfers' - a more chilled out place on the coast, but still full of trendy restaurants, bars and people.
From down again, at Nelson Bay we went out on a dolphin watch boat, then headed inland to the Hunter Valley to sample some wine.
Then we had a few days in Sydney before Nicole flew up to Cairns, and I spent the couple of extra days checking out Coogee, Bronte and Bondi Beaches before sadly leaving Australia.
As expected, they were full of bold and beautiful Aussies. Have to admit that it would be quite nice to have one of these beaches just outside Edinburgh's city centre... Portobello beach is lovely, but it doesn't quite seem to match up!
