Blogs from Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 5

18.1.12 Bus to Surfers Paradise, our first impresions were totally different to that of Byron Bay. There was high risers for a start, which was a shock. It was like a small city. The hostel was nice but as we were staying for 5 nights we got put into the workers dorms. It was right on the beach and there was a small pool aswell. There was a backpackers night out organised which we decided to go on. It was $30 and you got entry to 4 bars and a free drink. We had a good night and got to know a lot of people in the hostel. We decided that the spirits were watered down as we were near enough sober on the walk home. 19.1.12 Hooray its sunny! We took full advantage of this ... read more

What better way to spend a mid-December day than walking the full length of the beach from Mariners to Surfers, into a headwind but in broad sunshine? Emma's idea and it was brilliant - took us about 40 minutes but the views were beautiful - stunning waves crashing onto the shore as families enjoyed paddling and the seriously keen surfers and kite surfers showed off their talents in the deeper water. Once at Surfers, it all came flooding back - this place is full of high rise apartment and hotel blocks, all with gorgeous views of the ocean, but it's really like Torremolinos, just in Australia. There's a hell of a lot of money kicking about, which might just set it apart from its Costa cousin, but in essence it's a big holiday resort. We kicked ... read more

Day 26, 07/10/11 Was up at 7:30am again today and straight on the 9am bus to Sea World. Weather was brilliant today so we slapped on the sun cream and headed for the rides, shows and animals. Managed to do everything, same as yesterday. Highlights were the Jet Rescue Ride - a very fast rollercoaster and the Dolphin & Sea Lion Shows. In the evening I finished the bag of pasta with some chicken for dinner and then packed ready to move on tomorrow.... read more

Today started with sleeping in, which was a very welcome change. We caught a flight around noon from Cairns to Gold Coast. We have come to loath the Australian airlines and they have luggage requirements that are crazy as well as ridiculously expensive. So upon arrival to the counter, Kirsten instructed Chester to hide our backpacks as these along with our small roller carry-ons would put us over the weight limit and at $15/KG that can add up. All was looking good until Kirsten’s roller back was 3 KG over weight. So we had to get all of our bags and reorganize them to add more to the checked luggage and pay the difference. At this point we are not happy campers. We get everything switched around and had to throw out some stuff, like a ... read more

I left Byron Bay today and decided to take an adventure to Mt Tamborine however my new GPS decided not to work again. It did this to me on my first day to the Grampians so I had to detour on my 3rd day to Bendigo to rectify the situation. Instead of making it to my planned destination today, I arrived here in Burleigh Heads to again fix the GPS. My drive took me through the townships of Tweed Heads, Coolangatta, Palm Beach and finally Burleigh. This relatively short drive from Byron, taking 2.5hrs, including time spent lost and searching for a shopping centre, was nice enough, however much of the north coast of NSW and south coast of QLD are rife with towns, barely further than 15km apart, so it felt alot like driving through ... read more