Advertisement
Published: August 20th 2010
Edit Blog Post
“I don't want to do this anymore” was what I said to one of my kitchen staff not long ago. About one week later I found out that I was no longer employed as of Sunday with these guys. My replacement was hired and they were not willing to pay two head chefs. I wasn't angry, I expected little of these characters from the start. So on the Monday I found myself walking around Melbourne with a hunch to book a flight somewhere. The only problem is that I know very little about Australia. I went into the a Flight Centre and questioned the guy about the Gold Coast. Firstly, like where it actually was and secondly, what is the temperature this time of year. Once my questions were answered I was purchasing a flight due to leave in less than 40 hours.
I had an eight day vacation to go enjoy in a place I knew nothing about. I borrowed a friends guidebook for a bit of research. I learned that the Gold Coast is a 35km long beach south of Brisbane. The guidebook claims that Surfers Paradise is like a Aussie Miami. It's flash, its busy, its developed
and its warmer then Melbourne. I decided that Surfer's Paradise seemed the right place to start my vacation. Due to the early hour of my flight I had to set off on public transport at around midnight. I found myself at the airport at about 1am playing my guitar passing the time. Sometime before my flight was due to depart, I found myself shaken, anxious and nervous. I used to be a nervous plane passenger but thought I had overcame all that. Maybe it was due to the early hour of the morning or the fact that I haven't been on a plane in about 6 months, whatever it was I was nervous. So I popped a couple pills and when I boarded the plane I was ready for sleepy time. The screaming children that were placed all around me didn't phase me much. It was a 2 hour flight and I slept the first hour and a half, only to be woken by the feeling of the plane shaking in some turbulence. But we had a safe and smooth touchdown at the Gold Coast Airport.
I took the shuttle into Surfers Paradise. The drive to Surfers from
Coolangatta is about 25 km of road, lined with high rises, surf shops, hotels and restaurants, stretched along the waterfront. I walked the streets directionless, expecting to find a hostel. What I found where people trying to sell me tickets for a club crawl. They told me some places to stay and in no time I was asleep in my dorm room with the balcony in a pink building. I awoke later that afternoon and hit the streets. My first impression is that it feels like Florida. Yeah I have never been to Florida but I've seen it on television many times. The guidebook I had looked at says the same thing and so did the girl from Florida that I met. Surfers Paradise consists of loads of high rises, shops, palm tree lined streets and beaches. It's flashy, busy and a little on the pretentious side.
That night I went on the club crawl. I met loads of good people and we all shared drinks and laughter all night. The next day I started my daily routine that I had in Surfers. Listen to music on the balcony with a lovely view of downtown. Then down to a
nearby coffee stall, then down to the beach to watch people surf in the morning light. Enjoy the sunshine for a couple hours, grab some food, take an afternoon nap, have a few beers on the balcony, maybe some guitar, then out for the night. It was a comfortable routine. The weather was a big improvement over the winter winds of Melbourne. The weather was consistently 20 to 25 while I was in Surfers, though the evenings cooled down quickly.
Come Friday Surfers streets get busier with the addition of more families here to enjoy the nearby theme parks and the beaches and the party people, here for a couple days of debauchery. Limousines seem to appear in packs, groups of people chant and sing on the streets till the wee hours of the morning. Friday night was a night off for me. I went to see the night market held on the esplanade. It held many stalls of handmade jewellery, crafts, souvenirs, clocks, a massage stall, a women reading tarot cards, artists painting and other random things. I found myself in bed early and was awoken many time by the sounds of drunks celebrating in the streets, taunting
me for not participating.
There are some talked about people walking the streets of Surfers. The lovely Meter Maids. The Meter Maids are beautiful women dressed in gold bikinis and hats that walk the streets and put coins into peoples parking meters to prevent them form getting tickets. They were originally introduced to remove the negative publicity of when parking meters were introduced to the streets of the town. They walk around talking to people, get their pictures taken and just hang out.
I made some realizations while I was enjoying sunshine on the beach watching surfers of all levels doing their thing. Firstly, that I think that surfers are a group of people that I think I am jealous of. It must be really nice to drag your board down to the beach in the am, work on the tan and talk about waves with beautiful women. Maybe I have a glamorized vision of what the lifestyle might be like. Secondly, that the Pearl Jam Ten album is great to listen to on the beach while watching surfers, it was a favourite of mine while being on the beach.
Due to my limited baggage (carry on
baggage only) I found myself washing clothing in the sink at the hotel with shampoo and hanging them out on the balcony to dry. I found that this neutralized my clothing smell, it didn't smell clean but it didn't smell dirty either. As this was a short trip my goal was to not have to pay to do laundry and I was willing to maybe be the smelly guy if I had too.
After 4 days in Surfers Paradise I had some colour on my face and body (can we call it a tan?) more freckles and I even lost some weight due to the less frequent meals (Subway sandwiches and Bondi Burgers at Oporto).
It took about 48 hours for me to be fully into vacation mode. I stopped checking my email, put my phone away and found ways to enjoy the moments that passed. I was in need of a change from how things were in Melbourne. I needed to get sunshine, read a book, meet some new people, and see some new scenery. Here's a quote from my travel book from day 3 of this trip “I can't believe I will go back to Melbourne,
it seems so long ago”. I think that sums up my way of thinking at the time. Four days of sunshine, beach, afternoon naps and beers. Just what I needed. On Sunday in the midday day heat I boarded a Greyhound bus, destination Byron Bay.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.061s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0391s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb