Surfers Paradise & Mini Topdeck Reunion 21/08/16

We decided to go for lunch at the Surfers Paradise Surf Club which was right by the beach. I ordered a steak wrap but it came out with loads of tomatoes on it. It didn’t say that on the menu so I had to send it back and get another one without them. They ended up changing the menu afterwards!

Kayla and I walked down to the beach and chilled there for a little while.

I also got some pictures under the Surfers Paradise sign which was cool.

We walked back through Surfers Paradise after the beach and headed back to Kayla’s for a chilled afternoon. It was nice to just chill on a proper sofa for a change!  I did some laundry and blogging and we just chatted and watched TV.

In the evening, we got ready to go out as we were meeting up with Ricky from our Topdeck tour. We went to a place called Cavs Steakhouse in Labrador near Surfers Paradise. The steaks we had were absolutely huge and cooked really well! We chatted for ages catching up over drinks. We also got some compulsory duck face selfies! We were in hysterics when we all got next to a fake cow in the restaurant for some pouting pictures.

We said goodbye to Ricky after dinner and then headed back to Kayla’s house. We were both so full and exhausted from dinner we pretty much went straight to bed. We had to be up early as Kayla had work and I had booked a tour to Mount Tamborine. 

Q1 Skypoint Climb 21/08/16

This morning I had arranged to do the Sky Point Climb of the Q1 Building in Surfers Paradise. It’s the tallest building in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, with 298 steps and 270 meters high.

Before the climb, Kayla wanted to show me around Surfers Paradise, so we left reasonably early to drive in to the city. We parked really near the beach and walked through the main shopping streets. It was really strange to see skyscrapers next to the beach!

 We sat on the beach for a while and then headed to the Q1. As we were walking nearer I realised how high it really was and felt a bit nervous!

I checked in for the climb and changed into proper walking shoes. Kayla was heading to the Observation deck to whilst I was climbing as she was scared of heights. I did try and convince her to do it but she wasn’t keen.

We got into our overalls and harness and then headed to the lift which took us to the observation deck. It was really fast and took us up to the 77^th level in 42.7 seconds. I met Kayla at the top and she took some photos whilst we had our last safety briefing.

We then had to get into a glass airlock to start the climb. I started getting really nervous as I realised there was no edge to the building and every step was completely see through. When I stepped out onto the first ladder I didn’t think I’d be able to do the climb as my legs felt like jelly.

The first ladder took us 240m above street level which was so scary. I was clinging on to the edge the whole time. As we worked our way up the climb I started to relax a little. Our guide was so nice and really good at reassuring everyone. The views of the Gold Coast were amazing!

When we got to the top we could see some helicopters really far down below us, which made us realise how high we were. We took some photos at the top with us leaning over the edge of the building. Our harnesses could easily hold our weight but I was terrified of letting go completely. I managed to let go with one hand and lean back which was so nerve wracking!

We took some group shots at the top and spent some time looking out over the coast before heading back down.

It was even more scary walking down as you could see the ground directly underneath you. As we got nearer, I could see Kayla on the observation deck as the glass was see through.

I was so relieved when we got back on the ground! We headed back down in the lift and I got some photos. I went back to the top of the observation deck to meet up with Kayla, as we walked round for a while looking at the view. We went back down after we had been round and decided to go and get some lunch. 

Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens 20/08/16

We drove through the Byron hinterland to get to the Crystal Castle and Shambhala gardens, which had some amazing scenery. The castle was a botanical gardens filled with crystals, plants and ‘mystical’ sculptures.

As soon as we got there we saw they did aura photos, which we both wanted done. First, we walked around the Water Pourer Pond to the World Peace Stupa. We ‘walked the kora’, where we had to walk around three times spinning every prayer wheel. Tibetans believe that 13000 prayers are released in the universe for each person.

We also each wrote and hung a wish on the wishing tree.

We followed the trail to the Buddhapada, and then went on a Reflexology Walk where we had to take off our shoes. There was a huge piece of rose quartz on the track.

We decided to go and get our photos done, so started to walk to the Crystal Gallery. On the way, we saw the Wizard’s Hat, which was a huge piece of amethyst, and a few other crystals.

There was a spinning ball of quartz in the main courtyard which was really cool.

There was also a mural that has symbols of 12 of the world’s main faiths. The stones in the archway are supposed to represent the oneness of humanity.

We went into the Crystal Matrix for our photo and reading. Mine ended up being so many different colours which each represented a different part of my personality and the ‘new direction my life was heading in’. The green was supposed to represent a big change in my future.

When both our readings were finished, we decided to explore the Treasure Room and Wisdom Alley, which had loads of different crystals and dream catchers. There were some scrolls with some really great quotes written on them.

It was storming outside so we didn’t want to get soaked. We went to the Crystal Jewellery shop and straight away I found a pink crystal which I really liked. I collect them at home so ended up buying it for my collection.When the rain stopped we walked through the Amethyst Gateway to see the statue of Ganesh. 

We then walked the Rainforest and Bushtucker Track which had some amazing views!

One of the coolest places at the Castle was the Buddha and Lotus Pond. It was a huge statue surrounded by water. There was also a rose quartz statue where you couldn’t go across the rocks or it was bad karma.

Kayla and I tried to copy the Buddha statue.

After the Buddha, we walked down Bamboo Alley which was really cool. When you looked closely, all of the bamboo shoots had carvings on them.

Past the alley were statues of Lakshmi, Nandi the Bull, Garuda and Vishnu, and Avalokiteshvara. There was also a huge piece of Sodalite which is meant to establish inner peace.

We went back to the amethyst gates which were so pretty with the sunlight reflecting from them.

We didn’t have much time left so we had to head towards the exit after we made a quick stop in the Peace Room. There was a really cool quote on quartz by Dalai Lama and a labyrinth maze which you could walk across on the way out.

We had to drive around an hour and a half to get to Surfers Paradise, where Kayla lived. On the journey we crossed the border into Queensland, which I realised was the last state in Australia I would be travelling.

We were both pretty exhausted from walking around all day, so we decided to stop off at KFC for a takeout on the way home. We got in and I met Kayla’s housemate and her famous cat Gizmo. It was so nice to be back in a proper house again! We ate our KFC straight away and watched Pirates of the Caribbean. We stayed up and chatted for ages before going to bed.