"We're going to Gold Coast" "Like on vaca?! Let's all go!" ROAD TRIP

If you don't get the reference in the title, take 7 seconds and watch it here 

There are several ways to get from Airlie Beach to Gold Coast, but since Nick and I both enjoy road trips (and I enjoy it even more when he is driving) we decided to rent a car from Avis. 

This was our mini Nissan for the 14 hour, 1,200 km trip:

Roadtripping through Queensland, we didn't have a ton of time to get from Airlie Beach to the Gold Coast airport- we left Airlie on Thursday night, and had our flights back to Vientiane from Gold Coast on Sunday night. Friday was spent mostly in the car, trying to get from Mackay to Maryborough, so we stocked up on some roadtrip snacks (granola bars, water, bananas and the like).

Which made me so confused: what are sultanas? Are they raisins? Little apricots?

Upon Googling "sultanas" 5 minutes ago, I discovered that they are plumper, sweeter version of raisins, called "Golden Raisins" in the States: http://britishfood.about.com/od/glossary/g/driedfruit.htm 

Road-trips also call for McDonalds breakfasts. Two days in a row. 

Road-tripping meant weird hours and stopping in random cities and staying at a couple motels, including this one in Mackay:

Also, Australians drive on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right side. Nick has had to drive on the left side every time we do a trip to Udon Thani, but having the steering wheel on the right side (plus the blinker/ windshield wiper were switched) really threw him off.

Our one "stop" on Friday was at Rockhampton, which is Australia's beef capital. Unfortunately, it was Good Friday, and this is a holiday in Australia. Everything- including the Dreamtime Aboriginal Cultural Center I was so excited about- was closed. So disappointing. 

Rockhampton emptiness

On Saturday we went to Noosa, which was recommended by others on our sailing trip as a quiet but fun resort town. For Easter weekend, however, Noosa was anything but quiet. It was crazy busy. I have no photos from Noosa, which is unfortunate because we did a really nice 8 km hike and then spent a couple hours at the beach.

I did, however, take a screen shot of this really weirdly-shaped lake on the way to Noosa. Doesn't it look like the Roadrunner from the Wile E. Coyote cartoons?!

Couldn't ask for a better roadtripping buddy :)