Gold Coast and 21st!

The trip to the Gold Coast was a bit of a whirlwind, but it was our first planned trip where we planned for some downtime we could spend at the beach. I was happy to get out of Wollongong, especially because I had just finished some heavy duty work at school.  We arrived on Thursday night to many high rises and excitement of a very lit-up city.  Young people were everywhere, and the area we stayed in, at the Islander Backpacker (a high rise hostel + hotel), was a very busy place. Outside our balcony we could see the ocean far off (3 blocks away), and many the many high rises that surrounded the area.  I was pretty surprised; this is the first heavily developed place I have been in Australia (when I say heavily developed, I mean American style, with high-rises, and condo units, and neon lights- like Florida). Cairns was developed, but most of the hotels seemed to be smaller 3-4 story type places, and Airlie was sort of the same way.  Surfer’s Paradise, however, had it’s own Vegas style casino resort, hotels with penthouses, and luxury beachfront apartment buildings.

On Friday we spent the day on the beach.  We haven’t been able to get much sun lately in Wollongong, so we took full advantage of our time in Surfers to maintain our brown tans we got on the big Spring break trip.  The guys at the Gold Coast are also more American or Miami looking than those we have seen other places.  A lot of them even looked like guys on Jersey Shore, buff with big muscles (besides here, Australian guys are typically pretty scrawny). The beach was lined with mostly young people, and along the beach a boardwalk ran all the way down.  One cool thing about this area is the prominent Surf Lifesaver’s Club; surf lifesaving is an important aspect of the Australian beach lifestyle, and the club in Surfer’s Paradise is the central building on the beach.  While I was grabbing lunch some of the girls even saw a team of the lifesavers do a training demonstration down on the beach.

Three more girls arrived in the evening, and we all went and grabbed dinner down by the shore. There were A LOT of restaurants along the beach area, and their prices were really great.  For dinner we grabbed $5 fish and chips and sat by the water; the weather was so great, and eating outside listening to the waves was the perfect end to a such relaxing day.

During the day Saturday we sort of did the same thing; the weather was even better than before so we spent our time on the beach again.  It was even busier than before, and hard to find a great spot.  We left pretty early because we had booked all the girls to go on a ‘Wicked’ bar crawl to ring in my 21^st ; we decided to do a crawl because bars in Surfer’s Paradise usually charge a cover, so by doing the tour we would only pay one fee and then get entry for the rest of our trip.  The crawl started around 5pm, with free drinks and dinner at the first bar and at each after.  I was also able to tell the bartenders it was my birthday to get free drinks. We danced the night away at clubs such as Vanity, Sin City and the Beach house. It was such a great girls night; I think everyone had a wonderful time, and we really got some good pictures. By 2am though we were worn out!

On Sunday morning I wanted to get crepes with ice cream for my birthday at a little breakfast place near our hostel.  Laura surprised me by ordering chocolate cake with a birthday candle on top, too, and they sang me happy birthday.  After breakfast we headed to a wildlife sanctuary just outside of town. Unfortunately, we didn’t find out til we got there that the sanctuary was having a special event: locals $5 entry for Mother’s Day.  It was an absolute MADHOUSE; there were screaming children, more people in attendance than the park was ever made for, and no specials for tourists.  There were so many people there that when you tried to feed one of the (at least) 40 kangaroos in the kangaroo area none would eat because they were all so full.  We did get a picture holding a koala, though, and that was really why we wanted to go. The koala handlers tell you to stand in a specific place, put your hands down by your belly button, and not to move at all.  Then they simply set the koala on you.  I was so happy to be holding a koala, though, I started bouncing it like a baby, and the handler got pretty upset.  Needless to say, she was very quick to take it from me, so I didn’t get a good picture on MY camera.  My professional picture turned out ok, though.  Maybe I should have told her it was my birthday, haha…

For the evening we rushed back to Surfer’s Paradise to take a $15 sunset cruise I had found a brochure for. Laura brought me some champagne to drink during the cruise, and I put my legs out over the side and enjoyed the wind in my hair.  The canals around Surfer’s Paradise are lined with Palm Beach style mansions, so riding up and down admiring the beautiful homes and estates was totally entertaining. A family ran the cruise boat, and when the captain’s wife found out it was my birthday she announced it to the whole boat, and everyone proceeded to sing me happy birthday.  The cruise was the ABSOLUTE PERFECT way to see the sun set on my birthday, and was probably my favorite part about Gold Coast.  Being on a boat renews my spirits, and from the water is a great viewpoint for seeing the sights.

After the cruise we headed to a Mexican restaurant nearby (where I received another free drink), and then to a bar close to our backpackers where Keri and Kaitlyn had visited earlier to arrange a birthday treatment.  The bartender took absolutely amazing care of our group! I wore a pretty white dress and a boa, and as soon as I got there he made me a huge fishbowl drink and poured all the girls champagne.  He also made us two rounds of shots, and another fishbowl when we finished my first one.  I was in no rush to drink a lot, and wanted to just enjoy the evening, but some of the girls took full advantage of the opportunity and got really drunk.  He continued to refill our champagne glasses, and eventually I handed my fishbowl off to more keen drinkers.  My day had been pretty great without an insane drunken evening, and I was pretty tired, so we eventually went to bed when the party girls had gotten their fill. I am so glad we went out, though, especially to Melbas, because we were all treated like royalty because it was my birthday!

On Monday it rained, and our flight out was around 2pm so we couldn’t do much around town.  We ended up holing up at the hostel with movies and popcorn, and watched ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral.’  A bunch of people were sitting around in the tv room, so it was a pretty relaxed movie day that we could all enjoy. I was ready to get back to Wollongong, though, and sleep in my own bed.