Day 138 This morning it was time to head off the mountain. After a quick fuel stop and one more awesome lookout, we were heading down a different curvy road on the other side of North Tambourine. We were headed to civilization so to speak, the Gold Coast was just an hour away. Soon after the mountain road ended we reached the 4 lane M1 and drove the 30 or so kilometers south to Surfers Paradise. We got so used to driving around with very little traffic that all the lights and construction was more annoying than usual. It looked like there might be some rain coming so we ducked into a mall for a bit. I ruined my shoes working and could use some new ones. As the day got on the skies cleared up a bit so we made our way to the ocean, parked the van and headed down the boardwalk to the water. It has been a while!! Being so far inland and only doing trips to national parks we have missed the sandy beach. We did not go swimming however as the gusting winds and the wintery temperature kept it a little too chilly. It was still very nice to feel the sand between the toes. By the time we got back from the beach dinner was upon us. We walked one street over from the beach to what appeared to be a restaurant district. We walked for a block passing numerous eateries, bistros, restaurants boasting all kinds of cuisine from Italian to Chinese to Mexican. The Mexican Burrito Bar ended up winning and we sat down for some "tea" (Aussie for dinner). We shared a plate of Mexican fries with a very tasty in house chipotle and mayo combo, and a big plate of nachos. After the meal while walking back to the van we finalized plans to head to Jupiter Casino. It just so happened it was a few blocks away on an island of its own. Coincidence? Highly unlikely. As we turn off the road and into the parking garage we had to come to a quick stop. The stuff we had strapped to the roof of the van was not gonna fit under the clearance bar. We backed out and continued on trying to find parking which we could not. Thought it was a little odd that they would discriminate against high vehicles. We ended up parking off the island in a mall parking lot and walked over. To say it is on an island is kind of deceiving, it is but it's more like there is a moat around the casino as opposed to it being far off by itself. As we were carded by security we asked about the parking situation. He said there is other parking than the garage we must have just missed it in the dark. Our casino trip proved to be a positive one. After all was said and done we left up $160, and for all that are wondering we did not play any poker. We did check out their "poker room" use the term very lightly here as all it was is 5 tables roped off in a corner (I think they had 1 open). This poker room only opened about a month ago, didn't ask but did wonder if they had poker there before that.
The next day proved to be as cool as the last one. We again got some beach time in but it was much the same, no swimming but a nice walk in the sand. We did ponder trying to go for a swim but after seeing a brave soul take the plunge and start hyperventilating, we knew our choice not to swim was the right one. While flipping through the many tourist mags and brochures we accumulated, we seen an add for stand-up comedy at the arts center. Never having a bad experience at home with Yuk-Yuk's we were in. We got to the venue a little early and had time to look at some of the local art while waiting for the doors to open. The doors opened at around 6:30 but the show did not kick off till 8. This gave us a bit of time to eat. The menu contained very few items but luckily for us nachos was one of them so we had it 2 days in a row. Definitely NOT complaining here. It was a full house and a nice couple got seated with us at our table. We picked their brain about local dos and don'ts and had a good time talking during breaks. Turns out before the kids they used to travel also, they met in Ecuador of all places. She is American and was there to learn Spanish and he was on the tail end of a Canadian trip and decided to see Ecuador before coming home. He went to the bar she worked at to see if he could catch the NHL playoffs and the rest is history. The show started promptly at 8, I gotta say the emcee stole the show. He was awesome. The first comic was actually not that funny. The second one was better, the headliner the best of the 3 but like I said the emcee stole it for most of us, as we could hear people talking during breaks. The only thing we were a little worried about was not fully understanding the Aussie slang but it was not a problem. We even learned a few things such as a Bogan is Aussie for redneck that may or may not live in the city and that Logan a suburb of Brisbane is filled with them. The night was a complete success lol!!
After breakfast this morning we went for yet another stroll on the beach (I could do this daily). We followed that up with one of our favourite things to do, visit a market. Again thanks to the help of tourist brochures we found ourselves 15 minutes from Carrara Market. We made our way over, Jenn made a sweet move cutting in front of 20 cars after we almost missed our turn. The sights and sounds of the market, people haggling, vendors yelling out deals, selling almost everything under the sun and of course the mop guy pitching his sale. It was a fun afternoon that included a good burger and fries lunch. Unfortunately it was time to head back towards Chinchilla as the weather was nice and the paddock was drying up...so we thought.