Gold Coast

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After my rainy week in Brisbane, Seanna, a friend of a friend, offered her place to me for a few days. Seanna totally had the hook-up on the Gold Coast! It was nice to stay in an actual apartment for a change. It was so much more peaceful and relaxing than most of the hostels. And it was clean! It was also nice to be around someone who understands things from back home. At times I feel very isolated here since there aren’t that many American travelers. There are a few Canadians and that is reassuring sometimes. Plus Seanna and I got along really well. It was really great to have someone to pal around with for a few days.


It was Friday morning when she picked me up in Brisbane and drove me down the coast. It was nice that I didn’t have to take the bus for once. She had to work the rest of the day so I just hung out for the afternoon. It was still threatening rain and raining off and on a bit. Eventually I was bored and decided to walk to the beach anyway. Since it was only about 10 minutes away if it was really looking rainy I could just book it back to her place.


Everything started off fine at the beach but not long after I got there a huge dark grey rain cloud appeared over the ocean. I was hoping that it would blow up or down the coast and not bother me. But it kept inching closer and closer and it was guaranteed to be raining by the time it reached land. So I headed back to Seanna’s. I thought though that I might have time to enjoy a few minutes in the hot tub there. But as soon as I stepped in and breathed a sigh of relief the rain started. So I hurried to the apartment before the rain really started coming down.


By night time the rain had stopped but the evening retained that rainy day feel. We had tacos for dinner and then went to see Alice in Wonderland. Seanna is an entertainment writer for a news paper on the Gold Coast so she gets all kinds of entertainment related things free - like movies! The film was pretty good but I was expecting a bit more out of it actually. Parts of it were really strange, but then again it is a Tim Burton film.


On Saturday it was kind of sunny in the morning so we decided to drive down the coast to Coolangatta to see a bit of the Roxy Pro Surf Competition. The men’s competition was Friday so we were only able to see the women. It was down to the final two surfers by the time we got there, which we were really surprised by since it was only about 9:30. Anyway it was down to a local girl and a girl from Hawaii. I really wanted the American to win for obvious reasons but I was also kind of rooting for the local surf champ. Anyway the local girl ended up winning.


After the surf competition we decided to head inland a bit to Mt. Tambourine. We were a bit doubtful about the weather on the mountain because a lot of the inlands looked pretty rainy from the beach that morning. Alas we braved the rain on the mountain. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see much of the surroundings from the mountain. But we did tour some local breweries, wineries, and even a distillery. Mt. Tambourine is similar to all kinds of little artsy, touristy towns. It reminded me a bit of Nashville, IN, only smaller. We also ate lunch on the mountain and sampled some of the creative fudge flavors such as Chili Chocolate, and Lemon Myrtle Macadamia. It was a pretty quiet night again and we decided it would be just fine to eat left over tacos and drink our beers from the brewery. Such an American thing to do. The guys at the Brewery were laughing at us for the thought of tacos and beer. They just don’t know what they’re missing.


On Sunday it was sunny! We decided to take a drive up the coast a bit so that I can see Surfers Paradise. Which it turns out is not actually the best place for surfing since there is nothing for the waves to break on. Surfers Paradise is dominated by high rise apartments of office buildings. It is also a well known party spot. Anyway we drove out to a spit of land and Seanna showed me where she goes diving sometimes. Then we walked out to a dog beach. So many happy dogs! It made me happy to see so many dogs looking so happy but it also made me miss Delta. Anyway we dozed on the beach for a bit, took a stroll down it and then went to meet her friend for a bit. After that we walked around Surfers Paradise for a bit browsing at all the shops there. They ranged from the tacky shops which all sell the same stuff to high end shops like Gucci, Ugg, and Louis Vuitton.


On Monday Seanna had to work again so I went for a run on the beach since I hadn’t been very active the past week or so. It was raining off and on again on Monday plus I had some stuff to do online. Like try to figure out with is going on with my job situation. So frustrating. Anyway Monday night her co-worker held an Oscar party. All the food there was inspired by a movie up for an Oscar. For example we brought District 9 Layered Dip. There was also Avi-tarts, Inglorious Custards, and The Blind Side-dishes.


I figured Seanna and her roommates were very generous for letting me stay there for 4 nights so Tuesday it was time for me to continue my journey. Plus I did have to keep going since I have to be in Melbourne on the 21st and still had a lot of ground to travel. Tuesday it was really sunny and nice out so it was perfect to hit the beach, without a threat of rain, for a while before heading back inland to the mountains.

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Photos

Roxy Pro
Local surfer, Stephanie Gilmore, won the women's Roxy Pro Surf Competition held in Kirra/Coolangatta.

Surfers Paradise
A view of Surfers Paradise, renowned party city, from the north.

Nobby Beach
Finally a bit of sun on Nobby Beach, located just across the street from Seanna's place.