Surfer's PARADISE? REALLY...?

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God, I am so far behind. I realise I have been neglecting the blog for quite some time. Shockin, shockin behaviour altogether. You'd swear I'd run off with Jason Donovan or something. So, where were we? Hmmmmm. Brisbane last stop I think.....well after Brisbane we just had a few more stops to make before hitting Sydney - and more to the point we only had a limited amount of time to get Madge back to Travellers Auto Shack or whatever it's called. So the next major stop was Surfer's Paradise. The legendary Margaret Meade has been known to say that Dunleer is the last place God made. Well mother, you'd know you'd never been to Surfer's Paradise. Paradise? Paradise my jacksie! Unless you consider utopia to be full of nasty skyscrapers and drunken 17 year olds. Surfer's Paradise is what I imagine Miami might look like - a nice strip of beach ruined by endless high rises and one too many Mickey D's. It's a sprawling mess down the gold coast, HOWEVER, we shared an apartment while we were there, which did feel like a little bit of luxury, especially when compared to our last hostel in Brisbane! And i did get in a bit of sunbathing, although the sun disappears by about half three in the arvo at this time of year.
We went out on the Saturday night while we were in Surfer's and it was a bit of a painful occasion - I felt a bit like a 45 year old at a teenage disco, and, oooooh, it wasn't pretty. Most people come to the Gold Coast to go to loads of theme parks, one invovling some film company, one with a couple of whales, and one with some aussie animals I imagine, but we didn't venture to any of them, mainly due to a lack of Theme-Park-Expenditure in our current budget.
So we left Surfer's Paradise without too much hesitation, and set out for Byron Bay, which promised to be a much different affair. And so it was. Byron Bay is one of those places (there seems to be quite a few in Oz) that started out as a surfer/hippie community, and then gradually became a little more upmarket over the years - but it's gentrification certainly hasn't marred the place; it's a gorgeous little town on a beautiful stretch of the coast with oodles of fab restaurants and individual clothes shops selling locally designed goods. There's still a total hippy feeling to the place, although it has lost any crusty edges; Claud even got her aura read (which proved very inspirational!). We stayed in a backpackers near the centre of town and not far from the beach; it was ok, although our shower was covered in what still remains an unidentified green substance. Not very inviting. A boardwalk stretches along Byron's coast all the way up to a lighthouse, and there are really unbelievable views, especially in the evenings when the sun is going down. It is a good idea to keep your eyes directed out to sea however, because if you do happen to turn around you will be assaulted with the view of a number of amazing clifftop mansions, and that's enough to make anyone feel seasick...
So Byron Byron, lovely Byron - I'd go back in a heartbeat, although next time I will stay in one of the many plinky plonky spa resorts that are popping up around town, which promise to transform you into a zen-like beach goddess through various relaxation/torture mechanisms. Perhaps it's just as well I can't afford that option this time around, because I think they would really have their work cut for them at the mo...

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