Aussie Adventure Part 4: A Bit of Urban Relief

We realized by this stage that the trip had been planned in the best possible sequence - because after a couple of days getting all dusty in 40 degree oven-like heat, a little bit of urban culture was just what we were needing. We arrived in Melbourne after two days in the Centre and it was lights, traffic, and restaurants everywhere. I couldn't help but lead my folks down some laneways and where did we end up on our first night? Not a quaint little Melbourne eatery, but Grill'd... not exactly the classiest/most typical Melbourne dinner to be had, but as we all know, it's really hard to beat a Grill'd burger.

We did a lot of exploring on foot the next couple of days. Our unexpectedly swanky hotel was on Collins Street, just a block from Fed Square, which was incredible. Having lived in Melbourne for nearly a year in 2008, I was automatically appointed tour guide -- kind of a tough job when you know a place by living it (and not necessarily doing most of the touristy things in that time). I could tell you where to find the best bagels, or how to get to the library or The Body Shop outlet (hint: it's in Richmond), but as for organizing an introductory walking tour, I'm kinda hopeless. Lucky for us, the amazing tourist info centre at Federation Square now publishes an array of walking tour maps that I'm positive weren't around when we lived in the city. So from there, we set off on a route that wound through the CBD along colourfully-painted laneways, lush parks like Fitzroy Gardens, to cool historical sites like Cook's Cottage (where we learned a lot about the famous Captain Cook, and even got to take silly photos in period costumes!), to huge ornate churches. All that walking wore us out, so we hopped on the old City Circle tram and ended up in Docklands, where a Harbourtown outlet mall had popped up in recent years (oooh, if only there was time to shop!), and later that night had a laneway dinner in picturesque Hardware Lane.

Our second day took us further afoot-- I revisited our one of our old neighbourhoods and found our beloved little apartment building still standing strong amidst all the development in South Yarra (and about to be dwarfed by a huge glass tower in the works next door). My parents hopped on a free bus and discovered a war memorial with great views over the city on the south side of Melbourne... that I didn't even know existed. After a brief visit to the fascinating and creepy Old Melbourne Gaol, our wanderings took us to Chinatown where we found a fantastic (and cheap!) dinner at Golden Orchids. I am a little sheepish to admit we possibly saw more of Melbourne in two days than I had in 11 months, but we were on a mission to check of all we could in the few days we had in the city. The next day we set off super early on a bus tour of the Great Ocean Road (a bit more relaxing than driving it all in a day!) and took in all the sights -- Bells Beach, koalas around Kennett River, the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. It was all as beautiful as I recalled and definitely impressed the socks off my parents!

On Day 13 of our trip, we hopped on our last short flight back to Sydney and met up with Adrian at the airport for the last hurrahs of the trip, visiting the incredible Sydney Aquarium, the Maritime Museum, and The Rocks Markets, and soaked in those last views of the harbour (in sunshine, for a change!) before my parents had to board their plane the next evening. We found a great little spot to have one last al fresco dinner before my parents left for the wintry climes of the northern hemisphere -- the Australian Hotel in The Rocks -- and said our sad farewells on Saturday night before beginning a brief little Aussie adventure of our own.

Not sure what it was with the Canadian influx this year, but we were stoked to continue the fun with my best high school friend Erin, who'd just arrived in Sydney with Jemma for a month of flitting between Oz and New Zealand. By the time we met up with the girls, they'd done most of the touristy stuff on their list, and the rain had started again, so we spent the next couple of days dodging rain in pubs and shopping malls and catching up. We explored a totally new side of Sydney, starting with the area we were staying in at The George (a definite step down from the Sheratons and Westins of my days previous, but not at all shabby for a hostel), right in the thick of the Chinatown [partytown] area along George Street south of the CBD. When the weather brightened up briefly, we managed to do the hike across the Harbour Bridge and checked out the adorable neighbourhoods on the the north side of the harbour, and later headed into Newtown for a little retail relief from all the tourist stuff -- a suburb that definitely lived up to our expectations!

Sadly, our time with Erin and Jemma was also far too short, and we said more goodbyes just a few days after our reunion... although we were happy to find no problem in occupying ourselves for the next couple of days in Sydney, where we visited the Art Gallery of NSW for the Picasso exhibition, ate humongous breakfasts, walked the gorgeous Bronte to Bondi seaside clifftop walk high above the ocean, and chilled out in Bondi (where it rained on us yet again) before hopping on a plane back to our far less exciting home of Brisbane. It was a fabulous end to a fabulous couple of weeks, and if I realized anything in that time, it's how small the world is nowadays -- my parents are already talking about what they plan to do "the next time" they come to Australia -- and the fact that we live just a short plane ride from all of these amazing places makes us really, really, really excited to be stationed once again down under. And the fact that my parents and I can share a hotel room for two weeks without murdering each other. :) Success all around! xx d.

We're Baaaack

We're back in sweltering Brisbane after a delightful week and a bit in New Zealand. For one thing, it sure is strange to holiday in a cold country only to come back to a hot place... the complete opposite of what we'd usually do! But though the South Island was a little chilly, it was kind of nice to put on some layers, don toques and gloves, and - dare I say it?- stomp around in the snow! Well, the snow thrill wore off in about 20 seconds or so, but it sure did make for lovely photos.

Anyway! We had a fantastic time -- NZ far surpassed our expectations for being a great place to travel. We lucked out with pretty amazing weather (lots of sunshine and blue skies), had great travel companions, and a strong Aussie dollar on our side. The Kiwis we met were really nice, endearingly rugby-mad, but sadly few and far between. The South Island felt more than anything... kind of empty. On almost any road in the parts we travelled to, you could count the cars you passed on your fingers, and when we did meet people running hostels or shops or tour companies, more than half the time they were from another country. It was a little weird... it seems that most New Zealanders must either live on the North Island, or in Australia. Where we went, it also even felt devoid of wildlife, which could have been due to climate, time of day, introduced species wiping out the native fauna, or maybe something else (we kept seeing signs about poison being used in national parks to wipe out various pest species...).

So it was just us and the sheep for most of the trip. We drove our Toyota Camry up and down mountains, hiked a few great trails around Mount Cook, Lake Tasman, Mt Aspiring National Park, and up Franz Josef Glacier - an unbelievable day for more than a few reasons! We got into a few adventures, trying our luck at paragliding in Queenstown, and scoring a free helicopter ride off the glacier when the mountain next to us started collapsing into the valley below. We had some great local food - cheeses, wine, lamb, and ketchup out of a can (for dipping grilled cheese sandwiches, silly!). We got caught up in the Rugby World Cup frenzy, we saw some rare penguins, and took a boat cruise through the fjords of Milford Sound, our boat chaperoned by adorable seals who swam alongside us. And besides all of that, it was so nice to get out into the fresh air and reunite with old friends. We're definitely already dreaming of a return someday to check out the North Island, and perhaps to embark on one of NZ's many Great Walks, where we can get gloriously lost in a national park for a few days at a time!

But that's our trip in a nutshell.... more detail to come! And if you've got the urge to look at a million or so mountain photos, don't forget to check our Flickr page. xx A&D

On A Penguin and Mountain High

Hello from gorgeous and cold New Zealand! It's been a crazy couple of days already, but since we scored some free wifi, we thought we'd take advantage and write a little update. 

We arrived in Christchurch to freezing cold weather and just an hour after an aftershock (damn!) on the 4th. Met up with our friends Stephane and Jenny and we're picking up where we left off in 2008 when we parted ways in Melbourne- they're perfect travel companions. Got our car and cruised around Christchurch as Disaster Papparazzi (hey, I call it photojournalism!) -- seeing all sorts of cracked, condemned, and empty houses, shops, and streets. The city centre is fenced off, crumbled, and deserted, and there are workmen about but that's all -- Adrian said it well when he remarked it felt like something out of a zombie movie!

From there, we drove inland on a dreary and cold afternoon after a big breakfast at Denny's (yes, the American chain!!) towards Mount Cook, watching the mountains in front of us get taller and taller, and oohing and aahing and stopping the car every time we saw a snow-capped peak peeking out from the clouds. And nearly every landscape belonged to us-- there's a certain feeling around the South Island that I've experienced only in the Aussie Outback: a huge sky, a massive landscape, and a peaceful and profound emptiness-- solitude, I guess. Very hard to describe! (Has anyone else felt this sort of thing? Help!)

It cleared up just as we hit Lake Tekapo, a beautiful blue glacial lake. We kept on until we hit Mount Cook Village in the evening, a contrived little ski chalet-feeling settlement  built in a flat valley beneath towering mountains with a posh hotel, 2 hostels, and a couple of houses for the Department of Conservation - Mt Cook is NZ's highest mountain at 3700m or so, though not that tall by Canadian or European standards- but still pretty amazing. We stayed and ate in this lovely "Backpacker Lodge" with a pub decorated with deer head hunting trophies and great beer called Tui on tap -- unfortunately the "grocery stores" were basically a few items of junk food and instant noodles behind the hostel reception desk. Ugh. So much for saving money by cooking! Every room had a view of the mountains that was almost too perfect-- it felt constantly like we were looking at a painting, not a real scene!

This morning we set off for a hike to Mt Cook lookout, a really cool trail running along the valley floor through grass and lots of spiky plants. We got close to the mountains and another turquoise lake at the lookout and heard a BOOM and a rumbling sounding something like a big truck going over a bridge on a highway... this happened a few more times, minutes apart, before we saw what it was: avalanches high up in the snowy mountains! Just crazy. We hiked another trail later on to Tasman Lake, in the same area, and this time found a huge blue lake with giant ice chunks floating in it-- that didn't look that big until we saw a teeny little yellow tour boat cruising between the icebergs.... and we realized how warped our sense of perspective is.

After our mountain hikes we headed back to the coast in our car, passing rolling hills, perfectly still lakes, and many, many sheep (with which we play our very favourite country-driving game... honking at sheep and making them hop and run this way ad that.... a forgotten pleasure from our drives around Tasmania, but somehow a game Stephane and Jenny also know! Maybe it's universal?) We made it to the coastal town of Oamaru about two hours before dusk, and checked out the Blue Penguin Centre to find out about seeing the little blue penguins the town, and this part of the coast, is known for. Turns out they've turned the place into sort of a Phillip Island (Australia) style circus-- $25 to sit in the grandstand and watch the penguins swim into shore from the ocean. 147 penguins counted last night, they kept telling us! We sort of wondered if we could just spot some on our own, and then one of the ladies at the centre let it slip in hushed tones that: "If you drive to this spot on the map right now, it'll take you only about 5 minutes to get there, and if you look hard and peer into the bushes alongside this beach, you might see a yellow-eyed penguin, as they come in from the ocean around this time to their nests in the bushes, where they live and hide along this inlet". Why not? We thought.... we could always come back to the penguin circus later.

We get to the viewing area and it seemed the word was out -- there were 5 or so other cars parked there, and it actually wasn't long at all before we saw funny little shapes in the bushes on the steep incline from the beach. Penguins! More emerged from the grasses and we were totally photo happy... and even video happy, as we watched them build nests, shake their cute flipper arms, and make the weirdest bird noises ever (we'll edit the clips together and post them on the blog in the future). It was insane! They totally stole the spotlight from the adorable little seal flopping around on the beach far below, but ah well, these were really cute penguins! 

Finally the sun set and we were so full of penguin-spotting joy that we just headed to a hostel and a grocery store.... and then what do we learn from the lovely hostel manager? Well, if we just walk to the town pier, there should be plenty of the little blue penguins nesting along the rocks at night. Sure enough.... well, none of us have ever seen so many penguins in one day, but there is something about spotting rare (?) wildlife in their natural habitats that just gives you this amazing feeling of satisfaction. Euphoria, really! And so far New Zealand has been a continuous shot of pure euphoria. We can't wait to find out what comes next!

Checking out Brisbane

View to Brisbane city from South Bank

Hello, Brisbane! Yes, we've made the move up north to Brissie, Brisvegas, Brisneyland, whatever you want to call it (we're still wondering exactly why Brisbane has so many damn nicknames!) and we're settling into life in the city.

It's a pretty nice place, with lots of nice people. It definitely doesn't have that work-work-work attitude of Sydney (so we hear), and it's got a great climate -- hence why we keep meeting ex-Melburnians who moved up here after deciding it was a little cold for them down south.

Yarrrrr, possums!

Sadly, it doesn't have the gorgeousness and grandeur of Sydney and its harbour, and it's minus the cafe culture, the fascinating little alleyways and the old buildings of Melbourne too, but as we explore the city bit by bit, we're finding we like it more all the time. There's heaps of beautiful plants everywhere, for one, thanks to the subtropical climate, and we are both madly in love with the typical Queenslander home: generally a big wooden house on stilts (designed to let the air flow underneath cool the inside) with a huge verandah, and often, really cool stained-glass windows for accent, and feels a bit like it would fit in in the Deep South of the U.S. There's also something of a wild feeling to the city -- nearly every wander our residential neighbourhood has found brush turkeys running around. And they're crazy! (And having poultry running loose in the city will forever make us think of Asia.) And the possums.... which are really cute, but I have a wee bit of hatred for after one devoured my basil plant leaf by leaf on our back patio one evening.

We heart Queenslanders!

But it is nice waking up to the sounds of bird calls (reminds us of our camping days!) while living a ten-minute walk from the Brisbane River, which cuts through the centre of the city. And we do love that there are parks everywhere -- how very... English? So perhaps we just haven't been here long enough, but we're finding it very hard to put our fingers on exactly what Brisbane is all about. It's certainly a weird mix of places we've been, and it's unique in that way for sure. Nothing stands out as overly spectacular, but at the same time, it's all very lovely. While we're still stumped as to what to put on a tourist's must-see list of the city, we do like that we're always stumbling upon pretty buildings and scenic vistas, and for that reason, we'll just keep our eyes open and keep on observing our new home.

Hell on Wheels

There's nothing like the feeling of freedom a bicycle gives you (at least when you're a non-car-owner). When you're going from no wheels to two wheels, suddenly many more places are within reach, travel times are slashed dramatically, and all the while you're getting some exercise. It was certainly our mode of choice in Toronto, where biking often beat the subway to the destination!

My new wheels at my favourite stretch of beach

We've both been contemplating buying used bikes for a while now, but hadn't gotten around to yet. Last Thursday I'd finally had enough of being limited by my feet and the mysterious ways of the Gold Coast bus system, and hopped on Gumtree (the Aussie equivalent of Craigslist). Within minutes I found a whole bunch of used bikes for under $100. Sweet! There was one bike that looked particularly good (despite being pink and purple and having a "Miss Cool" sticker on it) for just $65.00. I called up the seller and it turned out they had a number of used bikes on offer, and they were only about a half hour's stroll from our apartment. So the next day, I moseyed on down to Broadbeach Waters, wondering what kind of bike theft ring these likely crackheads must have going for them (after all, who is available anytime during a Friday other than students and crackheads?), and soon found myself horribly cursing my own cynicism. Instead, I met a retired couple with a lovely house on one of the canals, who fix up bicycles as a hobby for a little pocket money. They were actually really sweet (though I'm still not entirely sure where they get all the bikes from) and after trying out a few choices, I ended up with a slightly shabby-looking 10-speed that felt great on the road and had these awesome higher handlebars (extra comfortable for those long beachside rides, said the lady). And it was $45. Nothing a little spray paint couldn't fix. Woohoo!

There were too many things to do over the weekend to take my new wheels for a spin, but as soon as Monday rolled around, it was definitely time to explore some (formerly) unreachable Gold Coast corners I'd been itching to check out: The Spit, for one.

The view south from the end of The Spit

The Spit is a long strip of land a little north of us that runs along the ocean and extends beyond the suburbs of Surfers and posh Main Beach (home of Palazzo Versace, Versace's own Gold Coast hotel) and Sea World, and looks pretty uninhabited on our maps. It separates the ocean from "The Broadwater", a wide but calm inlet where many people keep their boats. Word is there's great snorkeling somewhere along The Spit, too. So I hopped on the bike path that stretches along the beachfront and cruised along the shore — waves on my right, beautifully smooth pavement underneath. For those of you used to biking around Toronto, you'd probably understand that the Gold Coast's lack of potholes, curbside junk, and big cracks in the pavement are a real treat! What does suck about biking around the Gold Coast is that bike paths suddenly vanish for no apparent reason, there's a lot of roundabouts, and road bike lanes are a little random as well. Nonetheless, cycling is about taking things as they come. And there was plenty to see on the way — the beachside caravan park we stayed in back in 2008, Donatella's hotel, a fishermen's co-op, a posh marina, Sea World's roller coaster and resort, and tons of birds. Finally, the road ended at a parking lot that was surprisingly full of cars for a Monday afternoon.
People were fishing from boulders along the seaway, and surfers paddled in from the ocean. Two people were having a private surf lesson on the beautiful dune-lined beach, and lots of people bro
ught their dogs along to have a frolic (dogs aren't allowed on most of the beaches here). Looking south, you could see the skyscraper hotels of Surfers faintly off in the distance, but this place felt very natural and far from any of the built-up-ness of where we live. You could just feel that the people who visited this place really appreciated having a slice of nature so close to home. I certainly did.

Cute & chirpy little thing!

There was still a long ride ahead of me, though: next stop on my route was Southport (sort of the business centre of the area), to get the old bike kitted up. Though clearly visible directly across from The Spit, there is only one bridge to Southport that joins the two bits of land — and it's way south of both The Spit and Southport, in Main Beach. The scene along the way back was even prettier with the sun sinking: orange light along The Broadwater, the birds getting more chirpy as sundown approached. About 7.8 kilometres later (yes, I looked it up), I find myself in Bicycle World in Southport, checking out prices of bike baskets (eek! $39 at the cheapest!) and gel seats ($80- ouch!) and oogling the many gorgeous shiny hipster bikes for sale (but if I'm only going to use mine for a year, there's no way I'm shelling out $600!). Guess I'm not a bourgeois cyclist after all, though maybe I'll get a really cool bike the next time I'm sure I'm staying somewhere for a long time. After settling on a fitting — and more affordable — bell decorated with the words "I love my bike" and a water bottle holder, I scooted over to K-Mart's bike section instead at the shopping mall. No luck on the basket, but at least I scored a mediocre gel seat cover for my aching bottom. The last 6 km back to Surfers were definitely the toughest (note to self, next time bring a snack!), but in all, after my 22-kilometre maiden voyage, I can safely say I think my new bike and I going to make a great team!

You can check out my route on my biking Google Map — I made it partly because I was dying of curiosity about how far I'd pedaled. Turned out it was further than I thought! Guess maybe I should invest in one of those tripometers, too. -D.


View Dayle's Biking Adventures in a larger map

Culture Sponges

To kick off Adrian's mid-semester break, we figured it was about time to get a little culture. The Gold Coast is beautiful and all, but we're realizing more and more that we're truly city people. And although many people call the Gold Coast a "city", we'll argue that a place without museums, an art scene, live concerts, intriguing bars and cafes (in our opinion at least), a Chinatown, or any old buildings just isn't really a city. Lucky for us, Brisbane, Queensland's capital city, is only about an hour and a half away by train. So we hopped on the train early Easter Saturday, and made a beeline for Brissie's museums and skyscrapers.

Actually, Brisbane isn't entirely new to us — we visited Brisbane 3 or 4 times on our last Australia trip, but only to visit people, dash to the airport, or run exciting errands like filing tax returns. And just the week before Easter (this year), we actually ended up in Brissie by accident, when we took a wrong turn on the highway on the way to a farmers' market with our friend Tim, and ended up downtown. But this day was our first of our real exploring — grabbing a map and soaking it all up, just like sponges.

Brisbane's CBD was totally what we were craving: oooold ornate buildings (OK, not Europe-old, but Australia-old!), stately downtown shopping malls, stores selling cufflinks and high-end men's business clothes, pedestrian streets, and people everywhere! In a flash, we'd found a camera shop selling a Canon battery charger I was having one hell of a time sourcing in Oz, Starbucks frappuccinos, and signed a petition against animal testing. We soon reached the Brisbane River, a wide ribbon of water that loops through the city centre (and can be credited with some of the flood footage you would have seen back in January). Crossing over the bridge to Southbank, the views were pretty awesome, and we tried to imagine what it was like when the river was carrying boats and pontoons swiftly out to sea...

We'd heard great things about the "21st Century: Art in the First Decade" exhibition, which was about to close at the Gallery of Modern Art (aka the GoMA). It was a totally unique exhibit, and so cool to see some work by great present-day artists, as we're usually looking back at artists from previous decades and centuries, even. We only wished we had two days to spend wandering the exhibition, which was a collection of works by present-day artists from all around the world. Highlights included a massive 'cloud' of plastic shopping bags (Pascale Marthine Tayou, Cameroon), a cardboard-box installation, a piece by exiled Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and a performance by an "iPhone Orchestra" (seriously!). A lot of it was really interactive, like a huge table of skyscrapers made of white Lego being constantly rebuilt into new forms; Rivane Neuenschwander’s (of Brazil) I wish your wish had visitors making wishes on paper and swapping their wish for someone else's wish, which was printed on ribbon and hung on a huge wall (somehow we both ended up choosing "I wish to travel through time and space"); a postcard sending project, and all kinds of other cool concepts and ideas. And it was all free! [Sadly, I don't think we would never find an exhibit this good — and free — at the AGO in Toronto!]

We still had a few big things on the to-do list, and kept wandering. Turns out Southbank is a pretty great place to hang out — there were tons of people out at the huge park along the river, which was almost finished from the post-floods fix-up. The Southbank Markets were really cool — full of way better arts/crafts/fashion than you'd see at the Surfers Paradise night markets each week, for sure. And there were so many great spots to stop and have a snack or a beer! We were introduced to Fat Yak ale and we're big fans since...

As it got dark, we found ourselves crossing the river again, this time ending up in the Botanical Gardens, where we met an interesting fellow that gave us a good rundown of what those flood days were like, pointing out scraps of plastic bags and debris still in trees. As we started to get really hungry for dinner, we found ourselves totally lost in a part of the map that looked fairly ordinary — reminding us of our least favourite part about Australian cities: street names often change by the block and there's absolutely no grid or logic to the majority of the urban planning. We ran into a Kiwi couple in the same boat as us, and somehow found our way to Fortitude Valley, where the plan was to have a nice-ish dinner (too hungry- went for Grill'd burgers!) and check out the nightlife (Adrian was promptly turned away from a bar because he was wearing shorts!). But anyway, it was a long and eventful day where we got a good taste of Brisvegas. And little did we know, we'd be back two days later to have some Anzac Day beers — with a lot of sailors! — under the massive Storey Bridge, at the Storey Bridge Hotel. It's certainly no New York, but it'll definitely do for an urban fix while we're living down in Gold Coast!

Adventures in Snoopville

If anyone's wondering where Snoop Dogg is right now, don't worry, we've found him. Yes, just in case you're wondering, he's just hanging out in...um... Southport.

I learned this after finding myself in a totally new part of Gold Coast yesterday, attending to an appointment in the nearby suburb of Southport. Until now, Southport — which is a little north of us and just inland of the ocean — was just a place with a big shopping mall (Australia Fair) that the bus careens through on its way to Griffith University.

Southport is Gold Coast's main business area, and if you don't look across the lagoon (the inland waterway that known as "The Broadwater") at Sea World, is totally absent of the touristy vibe of Surfers Paradise. At 3:30 in the afternoon, the streets and the mall are filled with uniformed schoolkids, skateboarders, and office workers in collared shirts and heels. With low buildings and street-level shops lining the sidewalks, and benches positioned under big leafy tropical trees, it's got a bit of a tropical country town feel to it. Then throw in a dash of urban America — think vacant storefronts and lots of bargain warehouse shopping and a few hoodlumish types hanging about... and you've got Southport. Think Cairns, Australia crossed with Buffalo, New York (and maybe throw in a dash of Tully, QLD for that true tropical country-town feel). It's a weird place.

Fast-forward to 6pm: I'm in the moisturizer aisle of Chemist Warehouse, trying to make a choice amidst the endless shelves of skin products, when I catch a snippet of conversation from the pharmacy counter:

"So, really, you just saw Snoop Dogg? Like where?"
"Yeahhhhh, he was just here."
"Here in Southport? But where? What was he like in person?"
"Yeah, they've been talking about him a lot on the radio lately..."

That's when my brain interrupted with a whole lot of "Huh? Snoop Dogg? Really? Here in Southport? Wait, which moisturizer was I just looking at?" and unfortunately accidentally tuned out all the good stuff of the conversation (if there was any). And that's when my internal paparazzi grabbed hold, made my purchases for me, and led me out onto the street. First I saw a group of teenagers in cornrows and big t-shirts gathered in a group — aha! Snoop must be in there somewhere. I walked by very slowly and it turned out they were just gathered around a cell phone that was playing music.

And then I saw Happy High Herbs, a shop which I'd passed by earlier. Eureka! Where else would Snoop Dogg hang out? I reached the shop and peered inside, getting my camera ready.... and saw a lot of rainbow, and a couple of hippies. Strike two!

I started to think perhaps I had imagined the whole Snoop Dogg conversation as I wandered a bit more through the now-creepy streets of Southport in the dark, and decided to call it quits on my futile search. Because, thinking about it more in depth, I started to wonder why someone like Snoop Dogg would come to the bustling metropolis that is Southport.

But as soon as I got home, internet sleuth Adrian was on the case. And fo' shizzle... Snoop is in the neighbourhood! Just check out his tweets and the local news. Apparently he was just doing a little bit — $25,000 worth — of shopping. At least the Aussie government let him in this time. (Thanks Russell Crowe!) Well, maybe we'll run into him today instead.