A WEEK OF TOTAL AWESOME-NESS!
Oh boy. I have so much to report on. Here we go...
First of all, I never went to Melbourne. I know, big shock. Instead - I went to Queensland! There's a long and complicated story behind this but I really can't be bothered to go into it. I'll dive into everything else though so be warned, this might get rather long!
***FRIDAY***
I had only decided the night before that I was heading to QLD instead of VIC so I got up extra early to pack and have breakfast. We left the mountains just after 8:00am - Ashlea and I in one car, Nigel and Grayden in the other. The trip up was a ball of fun, but as are most roadtrips with fun. We stopped a few times for food and general leg-stretching and then we did a swap at Kempsey - this time Nigel and I were in one car, then Ashlea and Grayden in the other.
One of the best parts was that I got to see my Dad for the first time in ages! It was only a quick visit because we still had ages to travel but it was worth it because I haven't actually been up to the farm since before I started college and that was ages ago!
We kept ourselves quite amused all the way up there, epescially with our music range which we had blaring through the speakers. We got into Brisbane around 10:00pm which was a pretty good day's effort. Grayden stayed at a relative's place and Nigel, Ashlea and I stayed at Nigel's house at Forest Lake. Thank goodness, because we were exhausted. I didn't last long before I hit the pillow and was dead to the world.
***SATURDAY***
We didn't get up late at all but I felt so rejuvenated - Nigel's family is amazing, we had a great Saturday morning chill-out session and had a massive breakfast. Then Nigel, Ashlea and I headed down the coast, taking a heap of detours along the way so I could experience everything that QLD has to offer. We went past all of the theme parks and took a stack of photos which was fun. We eventually made our way down to Surfer's Paradise and went to the famous beach area known as 'The Strip'. This is where the near (and very cool) TV show on Channel 9 is located. It's amazing having huge buildings right by a massive section of beach. We tanned, swam, and had a total ball. The water was amazing, so warm and clean! And Ashlea and I were stoked to get a little browner!
After our beach session, we grabbed lunch, and then decided to check out the new Q1 building. And I am so, so glad we did. This building is amazing. Basically, it's an apartment block for people with a lot of money, but the top floor is open to the public and they can go up there to check out the amazing views. But this is where it gets interesting - this building is the 20th tallest building IN THE WORLD! And the TALLEST accommodation building IN THE WORLD! How awesome is that? That should give you an idea of how freaking tall it is. And the views revolve around the entire building, a whole three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view! I took so many photos, it was absolutely breath taking.
In the evening the three of us headed off to dinner, namely Montezuma's which is a mouth watering Mexican restaurant. I've been to it once before because there's one in Parramatta so I knew the food would be good. I had Nachos which turned out to be some of the best Nachos I've ever had. Amazing!
In the end, we headed back to Nigel's house to drop him and head back to Surfer's to find a decent youth hostel - but in the end Ashlea and I were persuaded to stay at Nigel's a second night! This was awesome because we were already on a night enough budget and wanted to try and save as much moolah as possible. Once again, I crashed. And did not wake until the morning.
***SUNDAY***
Sunday morning was a lot like Saturday morning. We got up, had an amazing breakfast, and then Ashlea and I took off, ready to start our day. Nigel stayed with his family and did a bit of well needed catching up. Instead, Ashlea and I drove around the area and just got familiar with our surroundings. We ended up finding out that the markets were on so we walked around and had a great time just casually strolling around. We ended up going on a ridiculously MASSIVE ferris wheel, which was way bigger than any other ferris wheel I've ever seen. We actually freaked out when it took us to the top, it was so insanely high up! But it was definitely amazing to experience because, just like Q1, it showed us all of the beautiful surrounding views, and I naturally went nuts with the camera.
We realised we'd be needing a place to stay that night, so we hit up an Internet Cafe and found a "mystery hotel" on WOTIF.COM - I swear, that site is amazing. Thanks to our amazing-ness, we found a five-star resort for $99 per night! And we took it straight away! It turned out to be the Raddisson Resort on the GC - and OMG - this place was so ridiculously amazing. I swear, we looked like such bums, and we had absolutely no money left over, I didn't feel we deserved to be there.
The worst was when the Concierge opened my door and welcomed me - and here I am, sitting there with no shoes on, looking like shit. It got worse when the Porters asked to take our bags and we had to beg them not to, considering our shit was spread from one end of the car to the other. The poor guy ended up waiting five minutes before coming over and taking our bags and taking them to our amazing room. The worst part was, we couldn't even tip him! We felt so horrible, especially since we're in the Industry and know how hoteliers feel about tipping! It was horrid!
Still, the resort was amazing, even if we couldn't afford to raid the mini bar or eat in the restaurant. We still made very good use of the resort's two pools and spa, and the gorgeous room itself. Our bed was big enough for four people but the two of us were quite happy to spread out and lie there in style.
Dinner proved to be quite a massive joke. We got all of our coinage together and between the two of us, we made it up to $6. And that was it. Ashlea still had a small amount on her credit card so we decided to keep things simple and get two beef burgers from Maccas. The hilarious thing was, when Ashlea put her credit card in to pay, the freaking thing DECLINED! So Ashlea pipes up, "We're just going to get more money from the car" and the two of us sneak into the car, and PISS-BOLT out of there. We laughed so hard, I thought I'd throw up. The fact that we couldn't even afford two burgers from Maccas was absolutely hilarious.
We decided to take our amazing $6 to CONRAD JUPITER'S, which is the awesome casino. It didn't take long for us to lose our amazing savings but that was pretty much a given from the beginning and it was nice to see the casino - especially since it's opposite the Sofitel GC and I'm tempted to apply there in December. I'm ready to move to the GC! But I'll go into that later.
We ended Sunday night by dragging our sorry, poor asses back to the resort and eating spaghetti, two-minute noodles, and breadsticks. Very classy! Yum!
***MONDAY***
We did what Ashlea and I do best - we hit the beach! First we took a stroll up a massive pier opposite South Stradbroke Island, and back again. And after that we hit 'The Strip' for an intense tanning session! The hilarious part of the day was that we managed to get ourselves more tanned walking down the pier than we did at the actual beach!
The best part about Monday was that it was PAY-DAY! I was so excited, when I saw that Kevin-Oh-Seven had paid me, I screamed so loudly that a bunch of people turned to look at me to see what all the fuss was about. Talk about awkward! Ha!
Having money felt amazing. We got lunch and icecreams, and I checked us into another resort closer to the beach, namely The Islander Resort. I were situated on the ninth floor which gave us the most amazing views of the beach, Cavell Avenue, and the general hipe surrounding Surfer's and the GC. I also got my eyebrows waxed because they were driving me insane.
We decided to treat ourselves and went to dinner on Monday, to a restaurant which was really close to the hotel. The meal was amazing and it felt good to just sit there and not have to worry about anything exept our slight sunburn. Combined with the tan, it didn't look too bad, so that was a relief.
All we did after dinner was walk around and window shop - until I found the most AMAZING bag which I have been after for over six months. It's a designer ANYA HINDMARCH LONDON bag (and yes, it's a total coincidence, I didn't even know the brand until I bought it, a whole day later) with the words 'I'M NOT A PLASTIC BAG' on it. It's amazing - they're all the rage but the main reason I got it was because Keira Knightley has one. Haha!
I fell asleep in my amazingly comfortable bed not soon after and slept till the next morning, with absolutely ZERO interruptios. Total R&R!
***TUESDAY***
On Tuesday we went and had an amazing breakfast at Harbourtown, which is about halfway between the GC & Brizzy. We had coffee and crepes which were absolutely to die for. We also did a bit of shopping because the stores around there are amazing - Ashlea found herself the most GORGEOUS Guess clutch bag. I'm actually really jealous because it's fantastic. Luckily, I was way too concerned with my Anya Hindmarch bag to cry too many tears over it. Hehe.
After that we drove into Brizzy where we met up with Narelle! I decided to drag her shopping with me because I desperately wanted sunglasses and just the general feeling of shopping, which would naturally make any girl happy. I ended up finding a fabulous pair of KNOCk-OFF CG glasses. I officially love them. Ashlea bought herself a pair too.
We left the car in the most expensive parking basement ever invented so we had to cut our little shopping session short. Seriously, the car was there for 1.5 hours and it cost us $20! How bullshit is that? I was not a happy camper.
Afterwards, we drove to Ashlea's old ferry dock and waited for one of her old work mates, Courtney, to meet us. She's an awesome girl and the three of us decided to be random and go bowling! Which was a heap of fun. I came last in the first game but I came FIRST in the second game and that certainly made my day.
By the time that was over, it was approaching 6:00pm and Ashlea had planned to meet up with Jess and Ray for dinner - of course, Jess was under the impression that I was chilling out in Melbourne and Ashlea and I had managed to keep that rather quiet.
Hehe. We met up for drinks at the VIBE hotel and I hid behind a pillar whilst Jess and Ray said their hello's to Ashlea. When I ran out to greet them the pair of them looked shocked to shit, especially Jess. She bowled me over and it was so good for the three girls to hang out. It's amazing how much fun we have together.
I had the most amazing cocktail at VIBE and afterwards we drove to a wonderful Malay Restaurant not far from there. God, we ordered so much food. By the time we were done, none of us could move, we were that full. But it was so worth it because the food was devine!
Ashlea and I had decided a few days prior that we would head back to Sydney that night. So once dinner was over, at 9:30pm, we said our goodbyes, and headed back into Surfer's. Hear I bought my amazing bag that I had been eyeing off for a full 24 hours and that made me the happiest person alive.
***TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING***
Driving...driving...driving...driving...The two of us should be presented with awards. I don't know anyone who can NOT go to bed and instead, drive the 1000km from BRISBANE to SYDNEY. It was rather difficult at some stages, but combined with our crazy-ness, the music, and the freedom of the road, the trip went reasonably quickly.
We got into Sydney at around 8:00am and I was home safe by 9:00am. We were so tired that we felt ill and kept falling over. I advise for NOBODY to do what we do. It's not smartest move in the world but it did mean that the trip had some VERY interesting moments, due to our crazy sleep deprivation.
Either way, I had the most AMAZING time. I'm aware I just wrote a fucking novel and I don't care. This was the first time I experienced QLD properly and I loved every second of it. I'll definitely be going there more often from now on and am 99% sure that I want to do my next placement there. It's strange how these things change. But yeah, I'm thinking either the Sofitel GC because I know someone there, or an island further north, or atleast something on the coast which is CLOSE to an island up north. I just want to explore more of what QLD has to offer.
I had the best week ever! Queensland ROCKS!
First of all, I never went to Melbourne. I know, big shock. Instead - I went to Queensland! There's a long and complicated story behind this but I really can't be bothered to go into it. I'll dive into everything else though so be warned, this might get rather long!
***FRIDAY***
I had only decided the night before that I was heading to QLD instead of VIC so I got up extra early to pack and have breakfast. We left the mountains just after 8:00am - Ashlea and I in one car, Nigel and Grayden in the other. The trip up was a ball of fun, but as are most roadtrips with fun. We stopped a few times for food and general leg-stretching and then we did a swap at Kempsey - this time Nigel and I were in one car, then Ashlea and Grayden in the other.
One of the best parts was that I got to see my Dad for the first time in ages! It was only a quick visit because we still had ages to travel but it was worth it because I haven't actually been up to the farm since before I started college and that was ages ago!
We kept ourselves quite amused all the way up there, epescially with our music range which we had blaring through the speakers. We got into Brisbane around 10:00pm which was a pretty good day's effort. Grayden stayed at a relative's place and Nigel, Ashlea and I stayed at Nigel's house at Forest Lake. Thank goodness, because we were exhausted. I didn't last long before I hit the pillow and was dead to the world.
***SATURDAY***
We didn't get up late at all but I felt so rejuvenated - Nigel's family is amazing, we had a great Saturday morning chill-out session and had a massive breakfast. Then Nigel, Ashlea and I headed down the coast, taking a heap of detours along the way so I could experience everything that QLD has to offer. We went past all of the theme parks and took a stack of photos which was fun. We eventually made our way down to Surfer's Paradise and went to the famous beach area known as 'The Strip'. This is where the near (and very cool) TV show on Channel 9 is located. It's amazing having huge buildings right by a massive section of beach. We tanned, swam, and had a total ball. The water was amazing, so warm and clean! And Ashlea and I were stoked to get a little browner!
After our beach session, we grabbed lunch, and then decided to check out the new Q1 building. And I am so, so glad we did. This building is amazing. Basically, it's an apartment block for people with a lot of money, but the top floor is open to the public and they can go up there to check out the amazing views. But this is where it gets interesting - this building is the 20th tallest building IN THE WORLD! And the TALLEST accommodation building IN THE WORLD! How awesome is that? That should give you an idea of how freaking tall it is. And the views revolve around the entire building, a whole three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view! I took so many photos, it was absolutely breath taking.
In the evening the three of us headed off to dinner, namely Montezuma's which is a mouth watering Mexican restaurant. I've been to it once before because there's one in Parramatta so I knew the food would be good. I had Nachos which turned out to be some of the best Nachos I've ever had. Amazing!
In the end, we headed back to Nigel's house to drop him and head back to Surfer's to find a decent youth hostel - but in the end Ashlea and I were persuaded to stay at Nigel's a second night! This was awesome because we were already on a night enough budget and wanted to try and save as much moolah as possible. Once again, I crashed. And did not wake until the morning.
***SUNDAY***
Sunday morning was a lot like Saturday morning. We got up, had an amazing breakfast, and then Ashlea and I took off, ready to start our day. Nigel stayed with his family and did a bit of well needed catching up. Instead, Ashlea and I drove around the area and just got familiar with our surroundings. We ended up finding out that the markets were on so we walked around and had a great time just casually strolling around. We ended up going on a ridiculously MASSIVE ferris wheel, which was way bigger than any other ferris wheel I've ever seen. We actually freaked out when it took us to the top, it was so insanely high up! But it was definitely amazing to experience because, just like Q1, it showed us all of the beautiful surrounding views, and I naturally went nuts with the camera.
We realised we'd be needing a place to stay that night, so we hit up an Internet Cafe and found a "mystery hotel" on WOTIF.COM - I swear, that site is amazing. Thanks to our amazing-ness, we found a five-star resort for $99 per night! And we took it straight away! It turned out to be the Raddisson Resort on the GC - and OMG - this place was so ridiculously amazing. I swear, we looked like such bums, and we had absolutely no money left over, I didn't feel we deserved to be there.
The worst was when the Concierge opened my door and welcomed me - and here I am, sitting there with no shoes on, looking like shit. It got worse when the Porters asked to take our bags and we had to beg them not to, considering our shit was spread from one end of the car to the other. The poor guy ended up waiting five minutes before coming over and taking our bags and taking them to our amazing room. The worst part was, we couldn't even tip him! We felt so horrible, especially since we're in the Industry and know how hoteliers feel about tipping! It was horrid!
Still, the resort was amazing, even if we couldn't afford to raid the mini bar or eat in the restaurant. We still made very good use of the resort's two pools and spa, and the gorgeous room itself. Our bed was big enough for four people but the two of us were quite happy to spread out and lie there in style.
Dinner proved to be quite a massive joke. We got all of our coinage together and between the two of us, we made it up to $6. And that was it. Ashlea still had a small amount on her credit card so we decided to keep things simple and get two beef burgers from Maccas. The hilarious thing was, when Ashlea put her credit card in to pay, the freaking thing DECLINED! So Ashlea pipes up, "We're just going to get more money from the car" and the two of us sneak into the car, and PISS-BOLT out of there. We laughed so hard, I thought I'd throw up. The fact that we couldn't even afford two burgers from Maccas was absolutely hilarious.
We decided to take our amazing $6 to CONRAD JUPITER'S, which is the awesome casino. It didn't take long for us to lose our amazing savings but that was pretty much a given from the beginning and it was nice to see the casino - especially since it's opposite the Sofitel GC and I'm tempted to apply there in December. I'm ready to move to the GC! But I'll go into that later.
We ended Sunday night by dragging our sorry, poor asses back to the resort and eating spaghetti, two-minute noodles, and breadsticks. Very classy! Yum!
***MONDAY***
We did what Ashlea and I do best - we hit the beach! First we took a stroll up a massive pier opposite South Stradbroke Island, and back again. And after that we hit 'The Strip' for an intense tanning session! The hilarious part of the day was that we managed to get ourselves more tanned walking down the pier than we did at the actual beach!
The best part about Monday was that it was PAY-DAY! I was so excited, when I saw that Kevin-Oh-Seven had paid me, I screamed so loudly that a bunch of people turned to look at me to see what all the fuss was about. Talk about awkward! Ha!
Having money felt amazing. We got lunch and icecreams, and I checked us into another resort closer to the beach, namely The Islander Resort. I were situated on the ninth floor which gave us the most amazing views of the beach, Cavell Avenue, and the general hipe surrounding Surfer's and the GC. I also got my eyebrows waxed because they were driving me insane.
We decided to treat ourselves and went to dinner on Monday, to a restaurant which was really close to the hotel. The meal was amazing and it felt good to just sit there and not have to worry about anything exept our slight sunburn. Combined with the tan, it didn't look too bad, so that was a relief.
All we did after dinner was walk around and window shop - until I found the most AMAZING bag which I have been after for over six months. It's a designer ANYA HINDMARCH LONDON bag (and yes, it's a total coincidence, I didn't even know the brand until I bought it, a whole day later) with the words 'I'M NOT A PLASTIC BAG' on it. It's amazing - they're all the rage but the main reason I got it was because Keira Knightley has one. Haha!
I fell asleep in my amazingly comfortable bed not soon after and slept till the next morning, with absolutely ZERO interruptios. Total R&R!
***TUESDAY***
On Tuesday we went and had an amazing breakfast at Harbourtown, which is about halfway between the GC & Brizzy. We had coffee and crepes which were absolutely to die for. We also did a bit of shopping because the stores around there are amazing - Ashlea found herself the most GORGEOUS Guess clutch bag. I'm actually really jealous because it's fantastic. Luckily, I was way too concerned with my Anya Hindmarch bag to cry too many tears over it. Hehe.
After that we drove into Brizzy where we met up with Narelle! I decided to drag her shopping with me because I desperately wanted sunglasses and just the general feeling of shopping, which would naturally make any girl happy. I ended up finding a fabulous pair of KNOCk-OFF CG glasses. I officially love them. Ashlea bought herself a pair too.
We left the car in the most expensive parking basement ever invented so we had to cut our little shopping session short. Seriously, the car was there for 1.5 hours and it cost us $20! How bullshit is that? I was not a happy camper.
Afterwards, we drove to Ashlea's old ferry dock and waited for one of her old work mates, Courtney, to meet us. She's an awesome girl and the three of us decided to be random and go bowling! Which was a heap of fun. I came last in the first game but I came FIRST in the second game and that certainly made my day.
By the time that was over, it was approaching 6:00pm and Ashlea had planned to meet up with Jess and Ray for dinner - of course, Jess was under the impression that I was chilling out in Melbourne and Ashlea and I had managed to keep that rather quiet.
Hehe. We met up for drinks at the VIBE hotel and I hid behind a pillar whilst Jess and Ray said their hello's to Ashlea. When I ran out to greet them the pair of them looked shocked to shit, especially Jess. She bowled me over and it was so good for the three girls to hang out. It's amazing how much fun we have together.
I had the most amazing cocktail at VIBE and afterwards we drove to a wonderful Malay Restaurant not far from there. God, we ordered so much food. By the time we were done, none of us could move, we were that full. But it was so worth it because the food was devine!
Ashlea and I had decided a few days prior that we would head back to Sydney that night. So once dinner was over, at 9:30pm, we said our goodbyes, and headed back into Surfer's. Hear I bought my amazing bag that I had been eyeing off for a full 24 hours and that made me the happiest person alive.
***TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING***
Driving...driving...driving...driving...The two of us should be presented with awards. I don't know anyone who can NOT go to bed and instead, drive the 1000km from BRISBANE to SYDNEY. It was rather difficult at some stages, but combined with our crazy-ness, the music, and the freedom of the road, the trip went reasonably quickly.
We got into Sydney at around 8:00am and I was home safe by 9:00am. We were so tired that we felt ill and kept falling over. I advise for NOBODY to do what we do. It's not smartest move in the world but it did mean that the trip had some VERY interesting moments, due to our crazy sleep deprivation.
Either way, I had the most AMAZING time. I'm aware I just wrote a fucking novel and I don't care. This was the first time I experienced QLD properly and I loved every second of it. I'll definitely be going there more often from now on and am 99% sure that I want to do my next placement there. It's strange how these things change. But yeah, I'm thinking either the Sofitel GC because I know someone there, or an island further north, or atleast something on the coast which is CLOSE to an island up north. I just want to explore more of what QLD has to offer.
I had the best week ever! Queensland ROCKS!