There's a reason when you mention Mooloolaba most people havnen't heard of it

So we took about a 2 hr bus ride from Brisbane to get to Mooloolaba. The bus stop was literally across the street from our hostel which was convenient. This hostel was extremely different from our hostel in Brisbane. In Brisbane the staff all wore uniforms, there were security cameras everywhere, and the rules were posted everywhere. Here there was no way to tell the staff apart from the backpackers, and we later found most of the staff were backpackers staying in the hostel, most of them came for a weekend and ended up staying weeks. This hostel seemed to really cater to surfers who are drawn to the famous Maroochy beaches. There were wetsuits hanging from all the balconies and over tanned shirtless men everywhere. Our room was very small with two bunk beds and some of the most uncomfortable mattresses imaginable, it was freezing at night and we didn't have any blankets in addition I thought there was a faint smell of urine to the room, but Lindsay didn't notice.

Lindsay and I walked down to the beach as soon as we arrived. Mooloolaba is an extremely cute little beach town with tons of restaurants and cafes right along the beach. The beach was only about a ten minute walk from our hostel which was really nice. The beach was gorgeous with views of the mountains to the North and large rocks jutting into the water that we could walk on. There are also terrifying shells that are wedged under large rocks that look identical to coiled snakes (Lindsay has a picture in her facebook album). After getting back from the beach we picked up a $5 pizza from dominoes to split, while eating it we met a very odd Dutch boy who insisted we play ping pong, not with him but against each other (we did not). We were in bed and sound asleep by 9 pm, but freezing, while the party raged on outside.

The next morning we got up early because we were supposed to go on a tour of the glass house mountains, but we were the only two signed up so it didn't happen. We also got to try Vegemite on toast for breakfast; Vegemite is not at all what I had imagined, first we didn't know that it is supposed to spread VERY thinly on toast, so I was quite surprised when what I expected to taste like a peanut butter substitute actually tasted the way I would imagine congealed gasoline to taste. Anyways not the best start to the morning but the hostel "staff" was very nice and offered to take us surfing instead of the Glass House Mountains tour. A group of six of us went to a beach about a ten minute drive away. No one in the group was an experienced surfer, the water was freezing, we didn't have wetsuits, it was an unguarded beach, and there were 15 ft waves. Lindsay and I decided theses were not the ideal conditions for us to try our hands at surfing.

Lindsay and I actually had a great time in Mooloolaba; we discovered there was free wifi at McDonald's, enjoyed the beaches, and had some delicious meals (see Lindsy's album for a picture of Pumpkin Pizza). Well we are off to Noosa next which is a bit more of a resort town, we don't have anywhere to stay yet but I hear there are heaps of 5 star hotels if we can't get into a hostel. jk. But really we are hoping for hostel vacancies.

Cheers,
Laura