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Published: January 15th 2009
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12th January 2008 - ARRIVAL IN SURFERS PARADISE!!!
The bus ride to Surfers Paradise was ok. Nat Slept for most of it. I watched the film 'Goal 2' though apart from the shots of Beckham I wasn't overly impressed especially with the ending as it didn't finish. Still it passed the time and we arrived in Surfers at about 5.15pm. We met 2 girls in the bus depot staying at the same hostel and they phoned the hostel and arranged our pick up. A limousine arrived shortly afterward to take us to the hostel. Don't get excited...it wasn't a luxury car and rather battered...not quite what I expected from my first ever ride in a limo!!
My first impression of Surfers was not great. Lots of skyscrapers, very busy and very much like a city!! It wasn't the paradise that the name suggests that's for sure!! There were neon lights and the whole place had a slightly tacky feel to it....rather like a rich mans Blackpool!! It was weird to find myself in this environment especially after spending a week in the cute coastal town of Byron Bay!!
We arrived at 'Sleeping Inn' (our new hostel) not long after
pickup. It seemed ok. We were in an apartment type block....8 of us altogether. There were supposed to be 2 rooms with bunks in and then a kitchen and living area. Instead there was one separate room and then our beds were in the living area. Still...it meant that we could watch tv from our beds so all was not lost!! Dave - a Canadian guy in our room - had a newspaper that showed yet another shark attack in Queensland. That means that there had been about 8 shark attacks in New South Wales and Queensland in the past week. Not good especially as we had been swimming and boarding in areas very close to the attacks. I would certainly be more wary in the sea from now on!!
Once settled, we went for a wander into town to do some shopping for tea. Weird because when we came out of the Supermarket at 7.30pm it was dark......Queensland don't have daylight saving!!! Silly State!!! Once back at the hostel we cooked up a treat of Spaghetti Bolognaise and then chilled out watching Top Gear and a film (Double Jeopardy). There was not much air in the room and
it was pretty hot. The fan we had didn't do much and I was reminded of our near death experience in the campervan!!!
13th January 2008 - WET 'N' WILD!!!
We woke up early this morning. Once one person is up the rest of the house kind of has to be we were packed in that tight. I was awake with the heat anyway...far too hot during the night!! I felt much better though after a good shower and breakfast!!
We decided to have a day at a nearby theme park and as it was so hot we chose Wet 'n' Wild which is a big water park. We bought our tickets from the hostel reception at a discount and then caught the bus from town to the park. The bus was pretty busy as was the queue when we arrived. Luckily as we already had our tickets we bypassed it and went straight in....sweet!!!
We were in the park by 10.30am and once sorted with a locker and sun cream we were off. Loads of slides but pretty busy and we did spend a lot of the day queuing. We did get on every ride that
we wanted to though including the Surfboard Rollercoaster - 'arguably the biggest wave in the world', the blackhole, 3 man slides and my favourite.....the Tornado!! We had a splash in the wave pool, raced down the speed coaster on mats and had lunch there. We spent a good few hours there and left at about 5pm to catch the bus back to Surfers Paradise. I had a wicked day and would recommend it!!
Once back at the hostel we showered, ate tea and chilled out. A couple of new guys had moved into our block during the day and they introduced themselves and then went to the shop for us for some Goon....white soft and fruity!! A lot of the people at the hostel seemed sound and we all decided to go out together that night. The hostel had arranged a night out for us starting at 10pm and so before that time we chilled outside playing cards and drinking games. I loved one game where you all stick a card on your forehead and look stupid. Thankfully I didn't do too badly and by the time 10pm came I felt ok.
We met in reception at 10pm,
got stamped and then set off to Melbas where you get free entry and cheaper drinks with the stamp. Melbas was ok but not really my sort of music. Drinks were very expensive too so Hatty and I bought a bottle of wine to try and get some value. We only realised the next morning that we cold have got it half price if we had shown our stamp....oh well!!! After a little drink and lots of dancing we (Nat, Hat and I) headed back to the hostel. We were all tired and the atmosphere was a little strained. Hopefully sleep would cure it!!
14th January 2008 - A DAY AT BURLEIGH HEADS!!!
Oh my god...everyone from our block was up at the crack of dawn this morning....6.30am after a night drinking!! Far too early for me!!! I stayed in bed and dozed on and off for a good couple of hours until around 9am. I then forced myself to get out of bed as I didn't want to waste a day!!
We decided to take a bus ride away from Surfers Paradise again to Burleigh Heads. It apparently hosted the best fish and chips in Australia!! Rich
and Alex from our block asked if they could tag along for the day....the more the merrier!!! The bus ride was about 20 minutes but it was worth it. The beach was not surrounded by skyscrapers and the view of Surfers Paradise in the distance was awesome!! Worth going for!!
Once on the beach I lasted for about 5 minutes before going to join Hatty on the grass in the shade!! There had been no breeze on the beach and I was far too hot!! Slowly but surely Nat, Rich and Alex came to join us on the grass and we spent the day there snoozing, chilling out and playing games. Hatty made up her own version of Boules where you throw a stone to hit a target...it passed some time as did games of Uno and cards. I also went for a paddle in the sea but I didn't go too far out with all this shark business!! Scary stuff especially as another attack had been reported nearby by a Great White!!
I had a lovely day. Really relaxing though a little too hot!! The fish from the fish shop was very tasty too though the chips
left something to be desired as they were all battered.........I hope the bin enjoyed them!!! By 6pm we were all tired and we headed on the bus back to the Surfers. Off the bus Nat and I spent half hour on the net before heading back to the hostel for a shower, small tea and a bit of tv before falling asleep. I was fast on by 9pm even with all the noise around me......I must have been very tired!!!
15th January 2008 - GOODBYE SURFERS!!!
Time to check out this morning and catch the bus to Brisbane. The bus was at 11.45am and so once checked out I went for a walk on the beach and then met the others in the internet shop for half and hour or so. I was glad that I had visited Surfers Paradise despite it not being quite what I expected. 2 full days were long enough to spend there and I was glad to be moving on to a new place. Time is going very quickly and I was very excited about the rest of my time in Oz!!!
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