Brisvegas

Yup, that's where we are..Brisbane aka Brisvegas, Queensland, Australia. We spent a night in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast after we departed Byron Bay. It was a chill beach town and we splurged in an actual hotel room that came with a buffet hot and cold breakfast and I got to do things like cut my toenails and wear a clay mask. Those things can't really be done easily in a hostel when rooms and bathrooms are shared with total strangers. Plus, I love clean bathrooms.

So now we're staying with Evan's friend Courtney and her family. They are fabulous. Courtney is showing us Brisbane and her mom is doing an excellent job feeding us. Last night Evan and I rode the CityCat (a commuter water taxi along the river running through Brisbane) to meet Courtney after work. Today I got to do some laundry (yay!) and then we went to the top of a mountain to see all of Brisbane and then Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where we saw koalas, kangaroos, emus, platypus and even some kookaberra (sp?) which is a bird that's call sounds like a monkey. Evan finally got to cuddle a koala! We also got to see the South Bank of Brisbane for lunch and took a walk along the river.

We were all beat and decided an afternoon of mango daquiris on Courtney's patio would be fabulous. And now we're being completely spoiled and sitting on the couch watching new episodes of Southpark while her mom cooks us dinner. Sometimes it's nice to be "at home." Two more nights here and then we're off to Fraser Island camping and partying. I think this relaxation will come in handy once we get there.

I also discovered the magic of skype with webcams last night. It's one thing to email or bbm or even hear someone's voice but it's completely different to actually see someone's facial expressions and smile while you're talking to them after months of being away. Pretty cool.