Gold Coast

Well, I am now in Surfers Paradise, an hour and a half south of Brisbane. I have actually been here for three days now, after an 18 1/2 hour bus ride from Airlie Beach.

Surfers Paradise reminds me of pictures I've seen of Miami Beach; the buildings and skyscrapers come right to the edge of the sand. I'm staying in a backpackers about 500 m from the city centre, and to get there I walk along the beach which is just down the street. The beach is amazing: the sand is soft and white, the water is warm, the waves are big and my hostel rents boogie boards for free. The weather has been a little cloudy, but this has not kept me off the beach.

The centre of the city is filled with shopping, most in the form of bikinis, board shorts, and surfboards, with a Tiffany's or Louis Vuitton popping up unexpectedly. There are also a LOT of restaurants to choose from, and I have had some really good Thai and Indian while here, but the little sandwich shops and cafes are good, too. No wonder I weigh 3000 pounds!

There is a big Christmas tree up in the centre of the pedestrian area, and it has seashells on it as well as more traditional ornaments. There are white faerie lights strung up everywhere, too, but it's weird to try and get into the holiday spirit when everyone is coming off the beach in their swimmers and heading straight for the air-conditioning.

Not to say that it's really hot here; it's actually been pleasantly hovering around the upper 70s lower 80s (I think... my Celsius to Fahrenheit conversions are still lacking, although I can pretty easily think in terms of Celsius at this point). This is awesome considering Cairns and Airlie Beach regularly reached into the 90s and had the added bonus of humidity.

So I have pretty much just been enjoying myself on the beach and shopping around here. No big tours, hikes, or adventurous activities for me. I *am* going to Dreamworld soon, one of the Gold Coast's many amusement parks. So I will end up getting my adrenaline in this trip, but afterwards I look forward to coming back and sitting in a chair at a local restaurant called 'Sushi Train', where the sushi actually comes to visit you on a conveyor belt and you choose which one you want. Sounds good to me.