Slinky Head Bailing!

Brisbane!

What a weird/cool place! Loved our time here, but it was a very confusing place, for many reasons, but mostly geographically due to the river wrapping around the cbd! After extensive research of our accommodation options and checking every hostel we moved into a hostel with views out over the city and river and it even had a pool! It seemed tho mother nature decided we weren't going to get to enjoy our pool and decided to throw torrential rain showers at us all week. Being used to a wee bit of rain this didn't stop us getting out and exploring the river banks, and city. Our tactic being to spend the first day or two scoping out the city to see where we want to work and what's available. 

This was a good plan and would have worked I think if we had stuck to it, but one three days in we stuck our heads into a backpacker travel place and ask if they have any jobs going. At first we were promised mango picking...my first reaction was I  like mango! Then, how do mangos grow? Turns out you need to free climb a tree and pick them and drop the carefully down...We were not too impressed by this idea, but then we remembered our less than comfortable financial situation. 

Just before we were shipped off to our bleak new employment the boss came over and asked if either of us had ever taken photos and if we liked kids. Jumping at the opportunity we both confirmed his suspension that we would be the PERFECT candidates for a job he had just got in that day. The job was to take photos of kids, one of us would have to make them smile the other capture the special moment with a camera...what could be easier/more suited to us. 

The next day was one of the most stressful days WE have had...trying to find cheap smart clothing. STRESSFUL. Anyway we got what we needed and the next day we turned up at the trail with GOTCHA and were asked to pr some people. We got a good few in each and were told we could go. On the bus home the head office called, wondering who we were and what we were doing?! After explaining the situation they offered us the jobs and asked us to come down to head office the next day. So up early and dressed up all smart again we jumped on the train down to Surfers Paradise (from the look of it, it had been named wrong-surfers hell). A quick tour and introductions made, we were ushered into a conference room and given contracts to sign. After signing our contracts we were told we would be going to Western Australia in 2 days...Yeah cool! 

That threw the proverbial spanner at our plan of going up the coast to visit Mairi's cousin Calum. So not wanting to disappoint we rented a car, threw the boards in and headed up the coast the next morning. Before meeting Calum we decided to go check out the local beaches and stumbled across a sensational long right point break with big big heavy walls rolling through. I've never surfed a wave that transforms so many times on each ride, and which goes for so loooong! At times it was so fat it was almost dull then it would suck boil off the rocks and rear up and race off ahead of you. To get ashore I was faced with the choice of dumping my self and board on the punishingly sharp and intimidating rocks or try swim up the river which the wave passes by...I took the river which I was sure would be full of sharks and crocodiles and snakes and other evil things.

Hanging out with Calum, Jill and the kids was really nice, and a good laugh being away from the dirty daily grind of smelly backpackers and dingy hostels. Promises were made to come back and spend more time and explore the area and maybe get some surf on our return to Brisbane! 

If work doesn't work out, maybe we should just start chasing rainbows!

One of the longest waves Ive ever surfed....it just kept going and going!

Must have been a bit emotion I though I could see a saltier in the clouds! haha