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Published: April 6th 2008
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Surfers Paradise
The gang from Monash: Antonio, Elsie, Me, Lior, Sandra, and Josh Last week, in honor of the Easter holidays, the university closed from Good Friday (21 March) until the following Sunday (30 March), to celebrate Easter and mid semester break. Because we had so long, a group of friends and I decided to travel to Queensland, the touristy-east coast beach towns of Australia!! We spent time at the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, and Fraser Island.
We arrived around 8am on Sunday 23 March. After navigating through the very efficient public transport, we checked into our hostel, the Islander Backpacker Resort (super nice hostel!). From there, we decided to explore the sites of Surfers Paradise. Surfers Paradise is one of the best known landmarks of Queensland, and often referred to as the "Miami Beach" of Australia. This is due, in large part, to the commercialization of the beach and the plethora of business and commerce that populate the beach area. There were blocks and blocks of shopping centres, food outlets, surf shops, etc. We spent the day eating, shopping, and baking on the beach (baking ourselves in the sun!!)...oh the good life!! One of the coolest things about Surfers Paradise is that it's exactly its name: a HUGE place for surfers!
Our Hotel!
Islander Backpacker Resort...best backpacking hostel ever! It was so fun getting out into the water, as the waves were so massive and the water was ten times WARMER than in Melbourne! There were also designated stretches of ocean where the waders and casual swimmers were allowed to stay, because certain parts of the beach were specifically for surfers. So in addition to laying out on the beach, we were able to watch some really awesome surfing at the same time!
Monday morning, we made our way to one of the most famous theme parks in Australia, Warner Bros.' Movie World. We spent the day riding some really fun roller coasters, going through some 3D simulated rides, and even getting to meet the likes of Shrek and Fiona; Batman and Catwoman; Bugs Bunny; and Austin Powers!! Now, don't get me wrong, it was no Six Flags over GA, or Kings Island (OH), but it was still a fantastic time!! After we came back from the theme park, we walked around in the evening and even went to a place known as Infinity, which described itself as "a mind-blowing journey into spectacular, futuristic maze like worlds of wonder-an extraordinary series of around 20 multi-sensual environments filled with
Hungry anyone?
We found this awesome pancake restaurant as soon as we arrived at Surfers Paradise! unique special effects, atmospheric and sound fields, ultra groovy music, and illusions that appear to go all the way to INFINITY!" (taken from their website)...it was actually really really fun!
Tuesday, we hired a "people mover" (Toyota Tarago--similar to a Nissan Quest) and drove 5 hours north, through Brisbane, to get to the Sunshine Coast. From there, we began our preparation to travel on a 3 day-2 night self guided tour of Fraser Island. Regarded as a World Heritage Site, Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island in the world! Aussies have kept it very well preserved, by keeping its natural beauty and denying much structural damage to the land. In addition to the wonderful sand dune formations all around the island, there are some of the most beautiful freshwater lakes found on Fraser Island. It's truly an amazing site!
We spent our days driving in our 4WD on the beaches, and traveling to different national parks, swimming in the freshwater and colourful lakes, and hiking up some of the rock formations throughout the island. In the evenings, we set up camp on the beach the first night and on official campgrounds the second night. This was
Surfers Paradise
Ah yes, the beach! It was so warm and clean!! so much fun for me because it was my first time EVER camping!! Unfortunately, the torch the camping company provided did not work, so we had to use the headlights of our vehicle, and then attempt to walk down the beach in the dark! It was definitely a great time!!
We traveled in carloads of 11 people and there were 3 cars caravaning together. In our car, we had the six of us from Monash, three best friends from Italy, and a couple from Norway. It was so great to meet people from other parts of the world and hear about their adventures around the world! Many of the people on our trip were just visiting Australia for brief periods of time, so it was great to hear about their impressions of Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Sydney.
When we returned from camping, I spent the last day of holidays back at the Gold Coast exploring the other beaches and even visiting the famous Versace Hotel!! It was so funny because as I walked in, dressed in casual beachwear, the hotel guests were so fancy, in ballroom gowns, long white gloves, and dressed to the nines! I felt
Surfers
My next venture is to learn how to surf...it looks so cool! like such a tourist, with my backpack and camera!! 😊
It's been one week since we've been back from our holiday trip, and I admit, it's been a hard adjustment back into schoolwork!! But we had a great time and definitely saw some wonderful views of East Coast Australia!
-Cindy
P.S. I hope everyone is doing well and your transition to Spring is making you nice and warm!! We are transitioning into WINTER here and the winds/temps have been getting colder each day! Drop me a line sometime and let me know how you are all doing! cyoussef07@gmail.com
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Adam
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Uggh!
I'm so jealous you got to go to WB World!