Watched some of the local tv shows before heading to bed by 10 pm. Slept well. Got woken up a few times with the train whistle. The motel was okay, just very tiny. We did have maid service which we haven't had in other motels. Our alarm went off at 7. Got up and had breakfast. Then packed up our bags and headed out to the car. Mark returned the key and checked out. Not sure if there were any other guests in that motel as there were no other cars in the parking lot. Headed south towards Brisbane. We stopped around 11 for fuel. Mark got off on an exit with a small town, but there were no gas stations. I checked on Google Maps and it was 25 kilometers inland, so we got back on the Bruce Hiway, M1, and headed further south. Mark saw a sign for a gas station and we got off and fueled up. In order to use their restroom, I was given a key. We haven't stopped at very many places that lock their restrooms. We were going to stop at a cafe for lunch, but it was too early. Mark said I fell asleep for a while. Then he started looking for restaurants. We stopped at one exit but there was only a KFC and McDonalds, so we kept going. Lots of farm in-between. We saw cattle ranches and sugar cane farms. We also saw tree farms, which may have been macadamia nuts. Mark found a Ducati dealer and wanted to check them out. We saw a Thai restaurant but it was too far away. So, instead there was a pizza shop plus a cafe called, Bean & Gone, which we selected for lunch. I am not sure what they called my lunch, but it was layered with all different vegetables and chicken. It was really good. Mark had the bacon and eggs on a bun, with fries. The price was inexpensive. It was almost 2 pm and they were closing up after we were done. The hiway had 4 lanes of traffic which was pretty full for this time of day. It may be that there are people vacationing with this holiday week. Drove another hour or so south and got off the hiway at Surfers Paradise. Mark remembers driving around this area back in November. I remembered the beautiful beach. He booked us into Widham Hotel. We are just a block off the ocean. We checked in and took our bags up to the room. It's a one-bedroom apartment fully furnished and really beautiful. We have a glassed in balcony, plus a washer and dryer. We walked over to the beach as it was already mid afternoon. Took a lovely walk. Lots of people in the water and on the beach too. We saw a Tibetan Monk feeding some bird and ringing a bell at the waters edge. Big surf with many surfers enjoying the water. We walked up and noticed some tents up off the beach. They put on a market a few times a week. They were just setting up from 4 - 9 pm. Enjoyed talking to the owners of booth that sold binoculars that caught Mark's eye. He brought one of our pairs to use on the cruise ship and back home on our next boat, so we really didn't need any. Walked back to our hotel. Picked up some towels at the front desk and changed into our swim suits. The pool was very nice. A little cool getting in. The daily high was around 27 C. Didn't stay too long in the pool. Then joined some other guests in the hot tub. The jets were strong, the water was hot and it felt so good!! Headed back to our room. Got out of our wet clothes and put together a load of laundry. We just had a quick bite to eat for dinner. I think the long drive today really wore us out. Thanks for the emails. So good to hear from everyone. Our Gold Coast friends were out of town, but we decided to stay here a second night. This place is really beautiful and we still have enough time before we have to be back in Sydney.