2 5th Ave 
Palm Beach, QLD 4221

http://www.pablopablo.com.au/

On the last night that we were in Gold Coast, we decided to go to a more local restaurant - somewhere closer to the place we were staying. Thanks to Urbanspoon, we found a nice Spanish place in Palm Beach (the area where we were staying). I had never had any Spanish food before this so I was excited to try it.

This place was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Definitely a good way to end the trip. All dishes were made to share - Tapas style. This place had a similar vibe to Little Creatures in Melbourne: a cozy and dimmed light atmosphere. Everything about the place was perfect: the food, the waitress and the atmosphere. Everything just matched. I cannot express how much I love this place. If I were to ever go back to the Gold Coast again then I would definitely come back.

The food was cooked to perfection! A little more on the pricer side for a student but you are paying for what you're getting for. At places like these I don't mind spend that bit extra because you're getting good quality food. 

This year my best friend and I decided to do a joint birthday. We had a marvellous plan that looked good...until a month before. Everything we planned came crashing down. So we decided to have a beach party with a number of our close friends but once again everything didn't go according to plan. Long story short, we ended up having our joint birthday at my house in the downstairs area. 

It was hectic organising everything for the party! We were going to order a cake but found that it was too expensive so I decided that it would be fun to make our own cupcakes. We bought all of the materials to make both the stand and the cupcakes. The night that I came back from the Grampians I had to ice the cupcakes. It didn't turn out so bad - I haven't mastered the icing technique but it definitely turned out better than I expected. I have to work on perfect cupcakes sometimes, maybe one day I can make cupcakes for parties (a big dream I know but it doesn't hurt to dream right?)

The Cupakes!

There were three types of cupcakes that were made. The first were vanilla cupcakes with M&M's in the middle and chocolate icing. The second ones were chocolate cupcakes with a cookie dough centre and chocolate icing. The last set were our left overs (don't tell anyone!). They were all vanilla cupcakes with whatever icing we had left and M&M's sprinkled on top. 

On the day I went to the market to get some last minute supplies then headed to my best friend's house to give her a lift to mine. We started on the decorations but at the last minute one of my closest friends who claimed that they couldn't come showed up to my front door. It was a nice surprise but I immediately was worried that there wouldn't be enough chairs. Eventually it worked out: three big tables with chairs around them to fit 20ish people. 

It was lovely seeing everyone again from school. It saddens me that I may not see some of them again because we aren't close or it may not work with our university schedules. Either way I had a fantastic afternoon. A lot more people showed up than expected and it was nice to catch up with people who were missing in action. Soon enough my bed was filled with presents and people were chatting away downstairs. 

By the end of the afternoon I talked to everyone and tried to take a picture with everyone. All in all the party was a success. We winged it but it worked! My favourite moment was when someone shouted 'THERE ARE M&M's IN THE MIDDLE'. Everyone loved it so much that some were asking to have another one. By the end of it there were no cupcakes left. 

After everyone left, my three closest friends stayed behind. My best friend and I opened our presents together. I loved every single gift that I got. Usually people don't know what to get me and end up getting random objects that I don't ever use but this year everything I got was useful in one way or another. All gifts will be put to good use!

All of the present my best friend and I got!

Love,

Victoria

It's been a while since I've posted here! I would make a list of reasons but the only reason why I haven't been posting is because I either forget or can't be bother. Going through my blog feed I'd thought it would be nice to write about my holidays so far. I will probably do it over a few posts and write about an event each time.

Just before my birthday I went to a place called the Grampians. Every year my brother goes down there but I never understood why...now I do! We arrived there Friday night and basically just settled in - this meant labelling our food so that it wouldn't be thrown out in the youth hostel. It was a nice place - it had everything you need: room made for four people, public toilets, public dining area and public lounge area. It's not as polish as a hotel but you don't really need all of that special stuff. After all you just need a place to sleep right? 

The following day we started our activities! In the morning, we headed into town and check in at an outdoor activity specialist place (don't know the special name for it). While we were signing forms, a girl named Nina entered wanting to do canoeing and more. It turned out the place needed a minimum of two people to do an activity. She was about to give up but the instructor said that she could join our group if we allowed it. We were more than happy have her a long. So she canoed with us! It was amazing canoeing down the river. No matter what direction you look there is something to see: trees, mountains and wildlife.


Canoeing

Originally we were going to do rock climbing in the afternoon but there was a clash in times so we decided to book it for the next day. Instead we decided to eat lunch back at the hostel and then go hiking. Nina also joined us as well. She was travelling by herself around Australia so it was nice for her to have some company. Our first hike was a bit of a fail...the walk wasn't very long and everyone else had been there before so we drove a little longer to find another trail. This time the hike was good! Tiring on the way up since it was basically a steep hill with some flat ground every now and then. It was nice being in touch with nature again. I also managed to create some conversation with Nina and I found out that she's from Germany and is the same age as me. She's doing an equivalent to a gap year around Australia...all by herself!? 

The place we reached at the end of the hike was beautiful! It's called Fish Falls (and no there were no fish). We were at the very bottom of the waterfall then we decided to climb up some rocks to get closer to the falls itself. After admiring the view and taking photos we climbed a number of steps which took us to the top of the falls. We were basically the only people there so we took the time to enjoy the view and just relax. The hike back was much easier we were going down hill. Towards the end of the track we bumped into a few kangaroos which was nice. That night we had tacos and I tasted amazing. I don't know if it was because I was tried or the fact that hadn't had it in a while.

Our last day there we went rock climbing in the morning. Again we had to hike to the top where the rocks were. Let's just say it was really steep! We got to our first stop and we had to self belay down the rocks. I don't remember the exact term but we basically had to ascend down.  At our first stop we abseiling down the wall! To be honest it was very scary at the start. We had control of the ropes which meant that we could control how fast or slow we go down. This scared me at the start because I had to lean back to get some momentum. When you're looking down 20m or so it can be scary but once you get going it's not as bad. It became quiet enjoyable.
The view from where we were abseiling down

Rock Climbing! (that's me!)

Afterwards we went to another station for some proper rock climbing. There were two walls: one easy, one hard. We took turns belaying and feeding the ropes through. I had a go at both walls. I got half way up the easy before I felt uncomfortable going up further due to the holdings of the rocks. The second one was way out of my range; I only got a quarter of the way up. Either way it was an amazing experience. I will definitely do it again when I get the chance. It is such a difference atmosphere compared to indoor rock climbing. Not to mention the view was incredible!

That's all I have for this trip. Hopefully I will remember to post some more over the next few days!

Love,

Victoria