This excursion to Surfer’s Paradise was quite unplanned! I had expected to arrive at Bond University (Uni) on Sunday, January 10 at about noon. I then got the address of my residence and walked, about 800m, to my housing. There were only two catches, first I had about 150 lbs of luggage and the second they were closed on Sundays! The third party that I booked my room through failed to mention that while we had been talking about my moving in on the tenth that this would not be possible!
Luckily the woman that I spoke with at the Uni on campus accommodation center was extremely helpful! She booked me a room in a hostel in Surfer’s Paradise and called a cab for me. Before I knew it I was off! This hostel was far less desirable than the one I stayed in while I was in Brisbane. It was actually quite a dive but there were some very welcoming people staying there. After I was all checked in I walked about the town. There were some very nice canals that I walked along before I became oriented with the town.
I went to a nice bakery for lunch. It was located in a shopping center that bordered a nice courtyard that showed a movie on a giant screen above it each afternoon. People were sitting on this grassy opening in bean bag chairs just watching the movie.
I then made my way through the maze of shops until I finally came to the beach! It was quite a scene. The beach stretches as far as you can see. There were people swimming and sunbathing. It was neat to watch the Surf Life Savers in action. They made sure that everyone swam between the flags. All of the beaches are marked with red and yellow flags where the beach is safe to swim. Outside of the flags there are dangerous riptides. The Aussies and especially Queenslanders take their surf lifesaving quite seriously. I saw while watching for about fifteen minutes tow custom trucks, a jet ski and a helicopter all patrolling the beach!
After I hung out at the beach I made my back through the shopping centers to the hostel. There I hung out with some of the people staying there and read my book.
Hi JASON, THIS IS GRANDPA FULLER! Yesterday the Vikings went into a playoff game with the Dallas Cowboys. The vikings won 34-3; Brett Favre threw four touchdown passes. It was wonderful to watch. So they play the New Orlean Saints in New orleans next Sunday for the right to go the the Superbowl. It would be superfun if they could win again. Your Grandmother says "Hi". All of us are enjoying reading your blogs; so happy you are having a goood time in Australia. I'm going down to Texas to play in another Rice alumni baseball game. Marlys and I will stay with Brynne & Barry at Llano Grande some of the time. The four of us will drive into Houston for the game on Feb 6th. We will also spend some time in San antonio. We fly out of MPLS on 1/27/10 and return on 2/18/10. That will take a little chunk out of the winter! Please keep posting to your blog; lots of people are reading it. Study hard, be careful, and have fun. Love from us all, Grandpa and Grandma Fuller.
ReplyDeleteHi Jason,
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't know how to use a blog. I have been refreshing the last blog hoping to see some updates and haven't seen any. I now know why! The refresh button just doesn't work to see new posts!!! Well, everyone can't be a techno genius!! I'm so glad you are having a good time! As grandma and grandpa say " a wrong turn is an opportunity to see something you wouldn't have seen if all had gone as planned!" Love you! Brynne