Gold Coast & Straddie

On Sunday a group of us drove to Cleveland (about 35 min drive) and then took a ferry over to North Stradbroke Island. It was a gorgeous day and a lot of fun!! We played in the water, threw a frisbie, and walked around. It is a treasure and not nearly as crowded or touristy as the Gold Coast. There are a few places to eat and stay, but not too much activity here. The beaches were beautiful!! I was suprised to see how blue and clear the water was. Stradbroke Island aka Straddie is just off the coast, directly east of Brisbane. We had a blast and will definitely be back!! I am getting tan here in the Aussie sun- I nearly got burned today and I had the sunscreen on thick.

This is the Main Beach at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island. It is just amazing!!!
Hi mum!!
I worked hard for this picture.
Vines and crab tracks in the sand. I just thought something about it was neat.
G'day to all my friends in Texas.

The group- a mixture of Australians and Americans.
Jumping for joy on the beach.
Pretty much says it all.
I think I should just move here. Soo gorgeous and so close to Brisbane!! At least I could getting married here, right?
These are the surf flags- you are suppose to swim between them if you want the lifeguards to save you. The lifeguard wear speedos and really cool hats too. The beach. The waves were actually much larger than they look here.


Surfers trying to watch a wave on the main beach. The waves were really large here. We played in them for awhile- you had to make sure to hold your bathingsuit or it might just come off.
Lindsey, Michelle, Devin , and Nikki.
Me and the beach...
This is what another part of the island looked like.

We spent most of this weekend at area beaches. On Saturday my friend Devin and I headed to the Gold Coast. We took a train and a bus to Surfers Paradise, it was about a 2 hour commute. This is a really popular destination with tourist and is only about 45 miles from Brisbane. The weather is great here all year round and the beach is clean and pretty. The Gold Coast has tons of highrises and hotels along the beach. Definitely a tourist place, but it is nice.

Welcome to Surfers Paradise... This is part of Gold Coast.

This part of the beach at Surfers Paradise was really crowded. It was a really pretty day and a Saturday so that explains it.

Looking the other direction at Surfers Paradise.
A relaxing day at the beach.