At Tweed Heads we pass into the state of Queensland. The state line is marked by a memorial to Captain James Cook, which may have looked very trendy in 1970 but now looks quite dated.
We spend the night in Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast. This is the ultimate in resort development, which could easily match the tackiest resorts of Torremolinos or the Costa Del Sol in Spain. Standing on the beach there are high rise hotels to be seen as far as the eye can see in both directions. Still though, the place does have its attractions with a dazzling array of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Alan and I go to the very loud and busy 'Shooters' nightclub, which is tonight hosting one of the qualifying heats of the 'Miss Shooters' contests. The stunning winner claims to be a 21-year old school teacher from Brisbane, but as the compere says 'I don't remember having any teachers that looked like that in my school !'. Surfers might not be Paradise, but it sure has some angels.
Alan savours the unspoilt beauty of Surfers Paradise
Little Skippy gets head over heels in child seat
Everybody say Aah !
Koala at an active moment
We spend most of the day at the EKKA, which is the local nickname for the Royal Exhibition Grounds and the Royal Agricultural Show. This is like a trip into another world as the country people come in from the bush to show their wares and skills to the city folk. In the wood chopping arena brawny giants use shiny axes to cut through 300mm logs in about 10 seconds. There is a farm dog who herds ducks and chickens (inspired no doubt by the movie BABE). There is pig racing where different sections of the crowd whoop enthusiastically for their chosen porker (my choice 'Pork Chop' led well but faded into second place after the last corner). The village pub has a freckled, red haired Michael Flatfoot doing a spirited rendition of Riverdance.
The highlight of the show though is the Rodeo, which could easily have been in the heart of Texas. This featured crazy bull riding, bareback bronco (horse) riding and steer wrestling. the cowgirls also got to strut their stuff in the 'barrel racing' where they rode their horses at speed around an obstacle course of oil barrels. Every competitor was resplendent in Wrangler jeans, leather boots and cowboy hats while a throbbing soundtrack of country music completed the trip into the surreal.
All a blur as man battles horse.
Junk food cravings were well catered for the local favourite being the Dagwood Dog. This consists of a sausage on a stick deep fried in a thick layer of batter and then dipped in ketchup for maximum cholesterol, YUMMY.
The city is focussed on the sport of Rugby League today, as the Brisbane Broncos defeat the Parramatta Eels in the Preliminary final (semi final) at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney. We watch this in a local pub and the locals are delighted with their victory and look forward to the Grand Final next week.
The next stop is The Big Pineapple, which is another temple of kitsch, but is good for a photograph. Because of arriving late, we are unable to sample the more exotic pineapple-based cuisine and settle for some freshly squeezed juice instead.
Think of all the Hawaiian Pizzas that could make !
We stop for the night in the pleasant seaside town of Noosa where we spy a large manta ray swimming in the harbour.