Gold Coast

Realized this afternoon how much I like being on the road. It is a fantastically beautiful day, sunny, but not too hot. Going south through "surfer's paradise". Resorts, clean, prosperous looking cities. So many high-rises, some lovely architecture. Some absurd touches like the ferris wheel on top of the bus station/transport center. Why? There was a giant ferris wheel in Brisbane along the river, maybe it is all a fad based on the London ferris wheel? I think I like it best as a mystery. We have crossed into a new time zone, now at GMT plus 11

Gold Coast is actually a name of a city, as is Surfers Paradise, but I generalized the term to mean this region of tourist towns where it takes lots of gold to visit. Now, the next morning it is gray and raining, last night after checking in to Byron Bay hostel took a walk on beach and saw the stars again. I am going to sit and write, then later take a walk to the lighthouse, hopefully after the rain lets up. The lighthouse is the eastern most point in Australia. Byron Bay is a lot scuffier than Noosa, with many vegitarian restaurants and book stores, I feel more at home here. But tomorrow it is time to move on to Bellinger which is my only "inland" destination.