Mooloolaba a small town north of Brisbane :)

Our journey to the next small town was only around 1 hour and half which is not so bad but we left late as there was one guy on our bus that was travelling to brisbane and he didn't realise we were Infact sitting at the brisbane transit center! What a plonker!

Anyway there was only 3-4 people getting offt the bus at mooloolaba, but first impressions were it look lovely :) the beach was just at the end of the road and our hostel was just opposite the bus stop perfect! Now This hostel looked not as pleasant as Brisbane yha! It looked like a cheap family run hostel ! But the last 5 months had taught us not to judge accomodation by its cover ! So we went in with a positive attitude! We couldn't check in until one it was currently 11.50, we wanted to put our luggage in the luggage room and go and explore but upon opening the luggage room it was clear this wasn't a "room" it was a small cupboard that had a luggage room sign on it! Plus it stank ! Luke says it smelt like used nappies! So we just sat on the sofas and waited ! And I decided to write my nan a letter I had been sending her loads of postcards but decided I wanted to write her a letter :) I missed Her so much and I missed chatting to her.

 When we finally got our room key we headed up the two flights of stairs! There was no lift :( we were getting so sick of lugging our stuff around! We didn't even have a lot we cleared our stuff regularly to get rid of anything we didn't need but it does get a bit annoying moving all the time and packing and unpacking even tho we only really lived out of one bag! It's so hard to explain! 

So we went Into our room and it was actually ok much different from the last one! This was budget accomodation, no aircon, it was quite dusty and just generally run down, but on the whole it was livable for the four nights we were here! And much better then other places we have stayed ! And we had a tv! And a fan! We were starting to realise that not all hostels had the standards of YHA's! We quickly settled and wanted to head to the beach! The beach was only 5 minutes away, right opposite the hostel was a small selection of shops which included a mcdonalds and a dominos! The others didn't really matter! The mcdonalds was a plus not because of the food but for the free wifi all mcdonalds in kiwi land and oz had free wifi! Result at least we no we could make quick contact with the outside world! As wifi at the hostel was sooooo expensive :( and the dominos as it was Tuesday all the pizzas were $4.95! It was the kind of price that we didn't feel guilty about treating ourselves! 

So when we got to the beach we found a nice spot near the sea front ! It had rained pretty much the whole time at Brisbane so we were loving laying on the beach! However the sea was very rough today and the waves were the highest we had seen yet and the lifeguards said the sea was particularly unpredictable today they didn't advise going in so we didn't we weren't people to mess with the sea especially sea with sharks in! We decided after a while to sit up in the grass as it was so windy the sand was going everywhere! When we got back we asked for the remote control for our tv and the cut a long story short the tv didn't work so we got to check out three other rooms and make sure the tv's worked and decide which one we wanted ! And it was a good job we did as we picked a room that was slightly better then ours! And the tv worked ! We spent that evening eating dominos and then went back and watched some tv! After all it was now a luxury to watch tv! The only bad thing about this room was it looked liked the fan hadn't been used in a while and there was so much dust on it, so when we turned it on the dust went everywhere :( however all was not lost as when Luke picked up the new room key the girls on reception gave him 10 free hours of internet ! We were so pleased paying for internet is not something we imagined we would have to do and we didn't budget for it. That evening we decided to do a bit of fishing as it became evident that mooloolaba was a town based around a huge river that went into the sea! It quite literally winded through the town in all directions, we tried at various locations and actually found some beautiful spots and also got a chance to look at how he other half live! There were so may huge houses on one side of the river I saw a couple take there dog for a walk and then get back in there small boat with there dog and go back across the river to there huge house ! Luke's fished at various locations using a spinner but didn't have any luck we might buy some bait and try at another spot in the next couple of days, a bit bummed that he didn't catch anything but it was all experience.

.....mooloolaba beach

......a beautiful sky :)

......the one that nearly got away !! 

I was so tired that night I was falling in and out of sleep while watching tv, and had quite a bad headache :( I did however sleep relatively well until around 6am when I woke with a massive headache, the kind that would inevitively be a migraine :( but I had learnt that instead of stressing over the headache I would take some paracetamol and drink loads of water and doze! which is what I did and when we decided to wake up properly around 9 it was still there but quite faint so Luke made us a cuppa and we watched Australia's equivalent to this morning! To catch up on news! And to our surprise we heard that there was a severe weather warning and a cyclone coming the north east of Queensland ! Which was just where we was heading! Not to worried at this point as there was something like this that happened while we were in Vietnam. But we will keep an eye on the news. It was so windy at mooloolaba more them usual, so we were keeping at eye out.

Today we decided we would use the free push bikes that were at the hostel and go to the estuary that we had spotted whilst sitting at the beach! It was a good place to fish as it was were the river meets the sea and there are loads of natural foods for the fish so it attracts them! It was a short bike ride around 10-15 minutes to the very end of the estuary, the push bikes were a bit of a challenge to ride they were pretty old and in bad shape, the pedals felt like they were going to fall off ! But I have to say the seats were big so they were as comfortable as it was getting ! we couldn't spot any fish but Luke gave it ago anyway! He fished in spots all the way up the estuary for 2 hours while I just chilled out in the sun! But he had no luck, however when we was just about to leave I did have some luck .....I spotted a sea turtle :) right in front of us :) it was a rare sighting and we couldn't believe it, another lucky sighting :) we just started to ride back when Luke Saw a bait shop it was tiny more like a shack! But we went in and the lady that we presumed owned it was extremely helpful she told us about all the fish that we might catch and what bait to use and some methods it was really helpful and the bait was really well priced, we had been using the spinner but thought it would be an idea to use some bait so Luke bought some squid which had be very recently caught and it was only $5 and you got quite a few squid in there! So instead of going back we decided to try fishing again! We went to the same spots as before but caught nothing we stayed for a couple of hours and luke said he got a couple of bites but a fish didn't take it :( it had started to rain and the wind just wouldn't give up! It had been so windy all day and when you looked out to sea it was dark and grey like it was raining out at sea the weather just felt weird. We cycled back via Coles supermarket to pick up some dinner and some fruit, we had soup for dinner! Nothing exciting but it was gooooood I get these cravings for tomato soup every couple of months it's odd I have got them for a few years! I do love a good tomato soup! Luke had a steak and bacon soup which he said wasn't to nice. We decided to try our wifi and we weren't surprised when we found out it didn't work on our floor just in the reception area ! We facetimed my mum and dad I was hoping to speak to my dad and wish him good luck in the first day of his new job, it was great they were enjoying there new life down in Poole and we couldn't wait to visit them when we got back :) the apartment they bought was so nice and just perfect for them and the area was great, mum had a nice job and dad getting a new job would just top it off :) but he had already left :( will try to speak to him tomorrow as it's his birthday :)) so just caught up with mum :) always a pleasure :)) we played a bit of ping pong after making up our own rules as we went along it was quite a laugh! We then settled for a good old cup of tea and some chocolate :) and some tv :)) and a cuddle :)) perfect evening I'd say! 

The next day was my dads birthday :) I couldn't wait to speak to him later :) but for now we were going fishing! We decided to fish at the spit which was just around the corner from our hostel perfect, it was a nice day, it was over cast but hot! I was happy just sitting beside Luke, catching up on the blog and listening to music :) I enjoyed seeing Luke doing something he loved :) we stayed here all day and although Luke had some bites including a large bite he only caught an eel! But all was not lost it was all experience :) 

we headed back around 5pm, showered etc watched some tv and then decided to FaceTime my dad it was around 21.15 then and we didn't realise that the hostel actually shuts down the communal areas the only place where the wifi works at 21.30! So we had just started talking to my dad and where told they were closing ! Errrrrr excuse me......this is the only place the wifi works I will not be moving far from here! We so were told we could sit on the sofas in the communual area but be quiet! God it was like having a bed time! So we sat on the door step in the dark with just a outside light ......dad said it was like the Blair witch project! But at least we got to catch up with him and say happy birthday! We had sent him back a little pressie And a card :) I had already left two cards with mum to give him but Luke had picked him a card in New Zealand so we sent that back I had also bought him a Super mini tripod in New Zealand which we had also bought and it literally came out with us everyday! It was amazing and could bend all over the place until you got the right shot! I thought perfect for dad he can keep that in his pocket when they go out and take self timers of him and mum :) so anyway he liked his gift :) and was having a good day. We had left it so late for dinner that it was now nearing 11pm by the time we had finished using the internet and we couldn't cook as they turn he gas off at 21.30 so we got dominos and then called it a night.

The next day we decided to lay in, do some things on the internet as we had recently realised we had been given 20 hours for free and not just ten! And just pack our things and cook a meal, we didn't really go anywhere except the supermarket and we had a walk along the beach front in the evening :) it was a nice day :) the only bad thing was the tv in our room stopped working :( we were a bit bummed about this as it was part of what we had payed for and also we were enjoying our little luxury! But we were leaving tomorrow to head to noosa so it wasn't the end of the world.

So our verdict on mooloolaba.......we liked it here it was a nIce little town not overrun by tourists and backpackers we could walk or ride a bike everywhere, and although the fishing was pretty pony it was still fun and good experience :) would we return.......probably not unless we were going past it, but we enjoyed it. The hostel wasn't the worst or the best we had stayed in, it was a little run down and could do with renovation as it had a lot of potential, there was a lot of people there that lived there while they worked, Infact most of the people there actually lived there. The staff were nice but didnt know an awful lot and the place was a little dirty especially the kitchen which had ants everywhere :( but the room was ok we had a fan and tv so couldn't really complain ! All in all an ok stay.

Next stop noosa.