Sept 26 - Beach and Building of a Tall Variety

Got to get my tan on at the beach today with sunny skies and warm water. I skimboarded until my legs were tired, took a nap on the towel, then jumped some waves but one rolled me over a sandbar and I knicked my knee on a rock. So I figured it was time to vacate the ocean with a bleeding limb, and walked back to the hostel.

Met up with a new buddy from Vancouver that we had chilled with last night and we all headed over to the Q1 building to check out the 360 degree panoramic view over the city and ocean. The Q1 building is new, modern looking and the highest in the area. The observation deck is on the 77th floor (out of 78) and the elevator rocketed us up in like 25 seconds. The views were stunning and it was cool to see how the city was set up and the river that went through it and the loads of beautiful buildings. We hung around chatting up there for awhile then went back down (just as quickly) and went in search of a good place for some dinner and beers.

After a lengthy walk, we settled on the clock tower building and went through a few pitchers (or jugs as they call them) and had a tasty $10 steak and mashed potato meal with a side order of salad (proud of me, mom?). They had some rugby playing on the tv, which seems like football we played in elementary; full tackle on anyone at anytime, no whistles, kicking and throwing the ball, etc. Just a gong show. Near the end of our dinner these babes in bikinis came in to collect donations. They are called meter maids and they go around Surfers and get new parking stubs for cars if they're running out of time and before they get ticketed by the city. Not surprisingly, they aren't funded by the city and hence the asking for money. Unfortunately for them, we are embracing the plastic future and had no cash.

After dinner we wanted to get some cool night photos, so we walked over to this mini amusement park and took a bunch. Watched some people ride the slightly sketchy rides, of which there were only like 4. From there, we went over to the brilliantly lit up ferris wheel for some more pictures, then back to the hostel to swap stories and photos from our journeys. Tomorrow we venture to the sunny location of Brisbane.