Christmas Day

On Monday I re-organized my luggages, took out all the souvenirs and headed for the post office in Tweeds. I took my time walking along the beach and there was a Surf Life Saving Club. I see a lot of those around but never really sure what they are, it seemed like a pub because I always see people drinking out on the patio. A guy have been walking in front of me, seemed like he was going to Tweeds as well. When I caught up to him half way he asked me to put some sunscreen on his back for him, and he did look really burnt... Turned out he's also staying at the YHA. I thought he was much younger with his cap and sunnies on, but he was actually around my age. So we walked to Tweeds together, he waited for me to mail off my stuff at the post office, then we had lunch on the main street. He's from Germany, had a weird name that I couldn't pronounce. He does computer programming and is looking for work in that field or farm work to get his second year. He's planning to go to Brisbane soon though as there's not much here in Cooly. After we got back I decided to go to the beach, and he just went back to the hostel. After the beach I was looking for stuff to do and saw posters about the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and the hostel sells tickets that included the admission and a photo with a koala for $40, so I thought I might as well do that.

Next morning I woke up early to take the bus to the sanctuary, got off one stop late again. Got there around 9AM. It wasn't too bad, but there weren't a lot of animals out maybe because it was hot. I did get to feed the kangas and hold a koala, they were super soft! There were Bearded Dragon Lizards everywhere. I also saw Tree Kangaroos which I never knew existed, and Cassowaries. At one point I saw a display of how parrots were smuggled in tiny plastic tubes in suitcases and it made me sick to my stomach! I spent about 2.5hrs there, they had some bird feeding and animal talks throughout the day but the map was confusing so I didn't bother sticking around. I decided to walk back to the hostel, which would take me about an hr, but I just wanted to see some of the shops along the way.

I walked for about 15min and got to Tugun, it was basically a street of little cafés and grocery stores. I haven't eaten since 8AM so I was starving, found a tavern that had a Chef's Special of baked ham and veggies for $8!!! So I got myself a beer, the food didn't seem much on the plate, but the potato bites filled me right up and it was decent. Afterwards I bought myself a Milo ice cream cup from IGA, first ice cream I've had in Australia, and took my time walking back to the hostel. Got back to the hostel around 2PM and headed for the beach. I went into the water and it was actually pretty warm. I could never go into the ocean water in Vancouver, even in the summer time. The problem is I can't swim, so the waves scare me. I kept close to the shore. I spent about 2hrs at the beach, had a nice cold beer back at the hostel, showered, and had free BBQ at the hostel which consisted of crisps, sausages and onions. Apparently they don't use hot dog buns here, everything's eaten on toasts.

Today's Christmas Day and it's been quiet, most people have checked out of the hostel or are spending their holidays elsewhere. The Chinese brothers left this morning to go to Sydney. The hostel held a Christmas Lunch for those who had nowhere to go, which was pretty nice. They served fruits, pastas, salads, sausages, schnitzel, beer and wine and I was stuffed! There's also this East Indian lady who loves to talk to everyone. She's actually kinda weird, but really nice lady, and she made a bunch of East Indian food for the barbie as well.

For the rest of the day I just tried to look up for free stuff to do around here. Can't really afford to do any tours or anything yet since my cheque from the farm haven't gone through yet. There are a few towns I'd like to check out in Gold Coast, but they're all a bit far so I'd need to take the bus. I'm also gonna look into WWOOFing, Willing Workers on Organic Farms, where you work for accommodation and food on organic farms. I saw some more farm work on the TAW website, but since my last experience with the Morgan's I'm kinda iffy about the employers out there. TAW screens their clients so they're all legit, but I guess you still wouldn't know what kinda people they are.