Surfers Paradise to Glass House Mountains
There a couple bits of hostel etiquette every backpacker should know. For example, waking up at 4am is necessary sometimes. However, hitting snooze five times and rustling your bags for half an hour and chatting to your travel mate at 4am is definitely not. Please, don’t be that person.
After some questionable sleep, we groggily headed down for free breakfast. For some reason the staff manning the kitchen decided to blast Drake at an irritating volume, making my existing headache that much worse. I’m more the type to ease into my breakfast with some soothing samba or jazz.
We packed everything up, rescued Byrons swim trunks from the balcony below and retrieved the bikes from the parking garage. We were already bummed about paying exorbitant prices to park, but figured we’d squeeze both bikes under the gate and pay for one ticket for the one space we occupied. I went through first and heard a clank behind me. The red and white gate pole was lying on the ground after the back of Byrons bike hit the pole. The attendant was none too pleased, but we promised next time we’d pay for two bikes.
Out of the city intersections and into the suburbs, we ended up next to a group of fellow motorcyclists. We all rode together for a while, climbing up the evergreen lined hills, over bridges and past gurgling creeks. It was a dream to ride on, and got even better with open farmland and tractors.
The magic eventually turned to red lights and suburbs as we went through Brisbane surrounds. Somehow, our route took us right through the city congestion which felt like it went on forever. Finally, the suburbs gave way to lush forests and winding mountain roads as the Glass House Mountains National Park flashed by on our left, and the Australia Zoo on the right.
Tonight, we were treating ourselves to a stay at an Airbnb in Landsborough, which was the closest accommodation in our budget to the mountains. Deb, our host, was a sweetheart and made us feel at home with hot coffees and everything we could ask for.
After so many days in hostels, it was incredible to have a private room and spread all our stuff out. I didn’t even have to wear shower flip flops or use a travel towel. It felt like true luxury leaving my toiletries in the bathroom and getting a chance to paint my nails.
We relaxed in all the comfort and took advantage of the wifi to plan more of the trip and catch up on things. We agreed that we should splurge and get out of hostels every so often to enjoy these simple luxuries.
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April 30, 2018
Daily Costs
Accommodation: Landsborough Airbnb, $30
Food and Drink: $7
Gas: $20
Distance Covered: 186km