Adventures Down Under: Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Byron Bay and Surfer's Paradise

First off, I would like to apologize to my mom, and maybe my dad for the video that is about to follow. Do not freak out until you have finished watching the video in its entirety.

WATCH THIS VIDEO BEFORE READING AHEAD!

So yeah, I went skydiving! It was the most amazing experience ever, and I went at Australia's top rated skydiving company, and the highest offered in Australia: 14,000 feet! The location was beautiful. We took off in an open field and flew over the ocean then circled back around to drop right over the beach then land on grass.
In the video you notice one girl going first, then an older couple going second. This older couple were stunt skydivers and at least 60 years old! Abby and her profession went next, followed by one other guy. Me and Nathan, my professional skydiver went third and Matt, my video guy went at the same time. The free fall was about a minute and ten seconds long and then the float down after was about five minutes. We went through clouds and got to see everything around the Gold Coast. You free fall at about 200 kilometers per hour, or 124 miles per hour. I imaged that once I got into the plane, I would be nervous. Oddly enough, the nerves never really set in. When it was my turn to go and I was hanging out of the plane, I had a slight "oh my goodness" moment, but I was more excited than anything. It is an exhilarating experience that I would totally going again, this time warning my parents!

After lunch we got dropped off at Byron Bay. Byron Bay is the cutest town. Very Hippie-esque. The beach itself was gorgeous. The water was so blueish green and surrounded by mountains. Abby and I walked down the beach for a while then napped on the beach until we got picked up.

My trip overall was amazing. I loved every city I visited. Abby, Jenn and I flew into Brisbane Thursday night, check into the hostel, and woke up early the next morning to make our way to the Australia Zoo. The Australia Zoo aka the late Steve Irwin's Zoo was on my bucket list for Australia. I have read so much about it, especially about the crocodile shows. It was a cloudy/ rainy day, but it worked out because it was less crowded. We went to a giant tortoise show, a koala show, an elephant show, the croc show and a tiger show, along with seeing other animals at the zoo. All of the shows were very informative, and fun. It basically monsooned during the koala show, but I still got to pet a koala. I also got to hang out with kangaroos and I touched them and hand fed an elephant. Unfortunately, I did not see any of the Irwin's, but I did get to yell CRIKEY as much as I wanted to without being judged.

We spent the entire day at the zoo then headed back to the hostel to clean up and grab some food. After, we explored Brisbane and walked across the main bridge to go to South Bank Park. Despite it being night time, it was still so warm and the city was beautiful and bustling. In the main square there was a Latin music band and lots of people dancing. The three of us had to make it a fairly early night though because we had to be up early to catch a train to the Gold Coast. Once in bed, Cassie and Christina arrived at the hostel.

The train ride to the Gold Coast was about an hour or so, and we caught a bus after that dropped us right off at the hostel. Courtney from home recommended the hostel we were staying at and it was actually really nice. We had a pool and game room, none of which we used, but it was still pleasant. After getting settled we caught yet another bus to the famous theme parks of the Gold Coast. There are four in total, but a kid in my housing unit at Deakin who is from the Gold Coast recommended DreamWorld and Whitewater World. He told us they were the most like Disney. The theme park and water park were attached and our ticket gave us access to both, so it was really convenient. It was such a nice day and the lines were not long at all for every ride. We hit all the rides at DreamWorld first, then hit all of the water rides at Whitewater World second. To finish off the day we decided to nap by the wave pool in the sun, then go on our favorite DreamWorld ride one more time before the parks closed. We rode the ride and after it finished, the guy controlling it asked, "Do you guys want to go again?" So we went again without waiting in line, with a huge line of people behind us. The big laugh of the day was looking at all the pictures taken on each ride. I decided I need to be aware of these cameras more often because natural Julia is not a flattering Julia. Every picture was so awful of me, that I considered never letting my picture being taken ever again. One ride I actually posed for the camera because we all planned it. It was the coolest concept of a roller coaster ever. The seats were motorcycles so the ride was like we were racing these motorcycles.

After theme parks we headed back to the hostel, washed up and explored the town. The Gold Coast was also the coolest place. I felt as though Jack Johnson should be playing everywhere I walked. This night was another early night because Jenn had to wake up early for scuba diving, and Abby and I had to wake up early for skydiving.

The last and final day (sadly) we woke up bright and early, hit Starbucks then Surfer's Paradise! Surfer's was right down the road from our hostel, and it was a Monday so the beach was pretty empty. The water was warm, and similarly to Byron Bay you could go out really far and the water would still only be up to your knees. It was a perfect beach day. After taking a walk and laying for a bit, Jenn and I decided we needed to be active so we went and bought a AFL football and tossed it around with Abby. After a while of playtime we decided to get some lunch, and that is when the clouds and rain rolled in, cutting our beach day in half. We wasted time before the airport playing cards in the lobby of our hostel for four hours.

The flight home was pretty empty. I got a whole row of seats to myself, so I could lay down and sleep. We arrived back in Geelong and it was cold and rainy. Such a downgrade from beautiful Goldie (as the locals call it).

Take me back to the Gold Coast!