Gold Coast Pt. 2 - Rain and No Internet

Day 15, MON AUG 23 - The second day in Surfer's Paradise was not any better because as usual, I brought the rain with me :(  I didn't see much to do in the town besides going to a casino, strip club, bowling, the beach or shopping...none of which appealed to me whatsoever.  I thought I'd catch up on the blog and perhaps edit some photos and post them on the web.  But strike 2...the Inn's internet was not working!  I was so tired of trying to get internet and pay a ridiculous amount for it and decided I would go into the city once the rain died down to see if I couldn't find a cheap pre-paid wireless internet card.  My roommates, Vincent from Denmark and Nikki from Germany, joined me too as they were going to town to use a cheap internet cafe.  After going into several shops, I quickly found out that wireless internet cards were  $50+ dollars for 2GB worth of internet.  Insane!  I missed the free fast wireless internet that was offered in the many of the cafes back in the US...something I will no longer take for granted.  After hassling with the research of wireless internet, I couldn't be bothered with paying that much money so I met up with the new roommates, stopped by the grocery store for lunch and headed back to Sleeper's Inn.  On the menu was a cheap frozen Hawaiian Pizza and Aussie's version of Ramen noodles.  Strike 3...the pizza was terrible and the back up plan of Ramen noodles wasn't great either.   Oh the joy of being a broke back packer...hahaha.  All three of us ended up watching movies on Vincent's laptop for the rest of this grim and grey day.  As the day ended, I was ready for a change.  Tomorrow, I was heading to Byron Bay to meet up with Katerina :)

Gold Coast

DAY 14, SUN AUG 22 – After having seen enough of Brisvegas, I decided it was time to see what the Gold Coast was all about.  I was in search for waves of course.  Put a surfer out of the water for a week and we start to get withdrawals.  I was certain I’d find some waves in Surfers Paradise and booked my chartered bus ride yesterday afternoon. But later that evening before departing on a 2-hour bus ride, a recent visitor named Kate informed me the city’s name is very misleading.  I had already booked my bus and hostel so I thought I’d find out for myself. 

Buut…she was right.  It was far from paradise.  As the bus began to enter the surfer town, it instantly reminded me of the break back home, Virginia Beach, but smaller and dirtier.  It had tall hotel buildings, blocks of bars and restaurants along the coast, and people walking around in colorful bikinis and board shorts.  It was a clear and warm day at the beach and despite the city’s appearance, I was ready to soak in the sun in my bikini.

 The only cool thing in Surfer's Paradise

 Welcome to Surfer's Paradise Marquee

I quickly checked into this typical beach hostel named the Sleeper's Inn which reminded me of the Melrose Place, though not as fabulous.  There was a small swimming pool located near the entrance and the building structure surrounded it.  Luckily my room was around the corner, on the first floor and had it’s own little kitchen.  My bunk bed was located in a private room with 2 bunks.  The others had to sleep in the hallway towards the kitchen and bathroom.  I can’t imagine that anyone could sleep that well in such a high traffic area, but then again most people can sleep through a hurricane and not budge.  But regardless of my surroundings, I dropped my bags, changed into my shorts and bikini, said hello to the British girls staying in the room and started to make my way towards the beach. 

Katerina decided to join me for the afternoon to have our usual Sunday sesh before she had to see her friend’s performance later that evening.  Luckily our different chartered buses arrived closely at the same time so we could enjoy the sun together.  The winter sun in Australia quickly runs out of steam as soon as 3 or 4 o’clock hits, so it was a limited beach day as Katerina and I both arrived around 1pm.  We met half way and made a pit stop at McDonald’s because I was craving an M&M McFlurry.  I took the first bite of that delicious treat and instantly felt I was in a familiar place; home…on the corner of 21^st Street and Pacific Avenue.  There were many people on the beach, many of which were backpackers.  I knew instantly because a large group was squatted on the sands with their bulky backpacks.  It was as if bums were living on the beach…hmmm sounds familiar.  Brazilians were playing sand soccer, girls in the tiniest bikini’s, a few people playing catch, and even fewer surfers in the water.  It was chilly with the Arctic wind blowing from the coast and waves were small and choppy.  I was definitely in Virginia Beach.

After soaking in the UV rays, Katerina and I made our way back to my hostel to change for evening festivities.  Before leaving we asked the reception desk to see which restaurant was best for dinner and a good place to go for Sunday Sesh.  We walked towards Billy’s Beach Bar and Grill as suggested to us, but decided it was too early to go there.  We ended up at an Irish pub, similar to the one back in Sydney and repeated the Sunday Sesh tradition.  We ordered a pint of beer, our meals, and paid for it at the bar.  I find it quite convenient that most places in Australia requires you to order and pay first so you don't have to deal with waiting for the bill to come.  Tips or Gifts and Services Tax (GST) is always included so you don't have to calculate a tip either.  Although convenient, customer service is limited to say the least.  Katerina enjoyed a large meal of fish and chips as I decided on a burger.  I’ve had many burgers, but this one takes the cake on the largest or at least the tallest stacked one I’d ever come across.  I stared at it for a moment and debated whether I could even fit the thing in my tiny little mouth.  I even took a picture just to prove how big this sucker was.  (SN: and no…that’s not what she said!) But I was hungry and thought why not, doesn’t hurt to try right?  I cut it in half first thinking it'd be more manageable but it really wasn't.  I could barely take my first bite.  As soon as the tiny bite hit my mouth, a rush of rich flavor filled my mouth…it was so delicious.  Enjoying our meal, an older man began to set up on the stage beside us and began to play cover songs with his guitar while the melody of the song played low in the background.  His first song was Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” and I knew then it was going to be a good night.

 Sunset view of the beach from the Pub

 BIG BURGER!!

We left after devouring our meals and walked over to give the Billy’s Beach Bar a try.  It was still early as only a handful of people were in the bar, but we went in anyway before Katerina had to catch the last bus back to Brisvegas.  We sat outside near a heat lamp and ordered drinks by the pool.  This was the life, I could only imagine what this place looked like in the summer as the pool was heated and a large truss system hovered the empty pool.  As we finished our round of drinks, a few Irish men decided to come talk to us.  We quickly got bored with their conversations and hoped they’d leave us alone, but one was persistent even though his friends had left him stranded.  We were too nice to say no and although Katerina was hinting at leaving, I failed to read between the lines.  That was a big mistake! This one began to tell us his life story and how he gambled for a living.  Even worse Katerina had to suddenly leave, as she had to catch the last bus.  I thought oh no…do not leave me with this guy!!!  Luckily, I got rid of him quickly and safely made my way back to the hostel.  Other hostel guests were headed back to this same bar later in the evening around 10pm, but I was not sticking around for the late night crowd.  After the creepo, all I wanted to do was call it a night.  As the other travelers in my room headed out to the bar, all I heard was silence and went to bed peacefully.  Tomorrow would be another day in Surfer’s Dump.

Slow Down

Hello to my fellow followers.  I apologize again for the lengthy break in between these blogs.  I find that blogging is more difficult than I imagined.  I've been traveling so much I've barely had time to take a breather.  But finally things are slowing down.  I have yet to tell you about the rest of my adventures in OZ and my recent trip to New Zealand.  Besides having limited access to internet, the number of pictures to filter through is just an undertaking I haven't had the urge to tackle.  Now that I have 3 days off of work and the Thanksgiving/Christmas season coming I'm sure I'll be able to fit in a few sessions of quiet time to sit down and write about my adventures.  Keep your eyes peeled for the next blog by the end of the week :)

Love and Blessings to you all!

P.S. Here's a peek of one of the places I stayed at in Surfer's Paradise.  Hilarious advertisement if you ask me.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

DAY 13, SAT AUG 21 – No not really lions, tigers and bears, but sounds exciting right?  Exploring and taking in the nightlife, culture, and city got old fast so today I thought it was time to really see what Australia has to offer…their magnificent wild life!  In the afternoon I headed for Lone Pine…The worlds first and largest Koala Sanctuary. I was excited to see these cute little creatures.  I read in the brochure that there were other wildlife to see like kangaroos (aka joeys), emus, wombats, birds, dingoes, and gators.  It was going to be an action packed day. 

The bus ride took about half an hour or so but after this visit it was well worth it.  I quickly made my way to the entrance to get a closer look at the koalas and hopefully get to hold them.  Sadly I missed the koala talk, BUT not the feeding time.  Rangers were placing fresh eucalyptus branches for the koalas to eat.  Boy, did they get excited.  They climbed and hopped around, quickly making their way to the nearest branch.  While I took photographs as they ate, some of them winked at me a few times.  SO cute!  If they could talk, I imagined they were saying…oh yea that’s the stuff.  And after eating said…that hit the spot.   And although they probably winked because they were finally relieved to eat, I’d still like to think they were winking at me and saying hello.  I walked over to see if I could hold one, but when I read a sign it cost $39 to hold one and take a picture, plus the cost of a photo package.  I later found out that it only cost $15 to hold one and take the picture.  So sad I missed this experience.  But no worries, I won’t leave this country until I get to hold one!  Also I find it interesting to know that eating the eucalyptus leaves places the koalas in a sedated state…equivalent to being high on marijuana I suppose.  Funny association, but that’s what someone told me.  The leaves are the only things the koalas can eat because their bodies require the nutrients available only from the eucalyptus plant.  Despite this fact, I thought that this is the life…eat, sleep, and be merry.  No stress, work, or drama.  Oh wait…that’s what I’m doing J I know it won’t last too much longer but I’m going to make the most of it for as long as I can. 

After taking a lot of pictures, I walked over to the kangaroo area.  I walked around observing them in their own element and soon found out that you can feed them.  Oh lord…now this is going to be a real treat!  Not only do I get to see them up close, I can actually come up to pet and feed them.  I was SOO stoked but nervous too.  I heard that joeys kick and that’s a little intimidating because they have really strong legs.  But as I slowly came up to them they were nice enough to let me pet them, but some also ran off.  Hahaha. BUT a few were hungry enough to eat straight from the palm of my hand.  They’re tongues were a bit slimy but didn’t leave too much of their slobber behind. Lol.  I couldn’t believe I was in Australia feeding these joeys! 

Besides all the roos there were Emus too.  But before I began to feed them, a small boy warned me that they would knock the bag from my hand so hold on tight or hide the bag.  I didn’t believe it, but they were aggressive and were not scared or shameful of coming up and pecking at my hand.  Although it was fun to feed them, their swift pecks began to hurt my hand.  I quickly ran away from them before they could eat all my feed or my hand for that matter.  I made my way to the other side of the park to feed the rest to the red joeys.  There were so many hopping up to me and were more willing to eat the feed because they hadn’t eaten yet.  SO fun!

Once all the feed was gone I walked over to the parakeet park.  There were certainly A LOT of them.  They were going nuts during the feeding time, chirping loudly and flying swiftly past me in the air.  Many guests were holding the feeding wands while the birds landed on their shoulders and on the wand.  It was a bit scary for me, as I’ve been attacked by a bird before.  But I braved my fear and came very close to the feeding area to take photos of their colorful feathers. I tried to get up the nerve to hold one of the wands but they made me too nervous, even though I knew they wouldn’t attack me.

Next, I visited the other areas of the park where more birds were located (thankfully in cages though ironically I don’t like animals in cages.  But like I mentioned I’m a bit scared of birds flying over my head), a gator, huge lizards, farm animals and the Tasmanian devil.  The Tasmanian devil definitely didn’t look like TAZ the cartoon character, but still great to see one in person.  Lastly, I was completely surprised when I saw a sign for a platypus tank.  I never thought I’d actually see this creature in person, much less all the other ones I did get to see.  It was really cool to see the platypus swim in the murky looking water.  I definitely felt blessed to be in the presence of such beautiful and unique wildlife.  It’ll be an experience I’ll always remember.

Valentino

DAY 12, FRI AUG 20 – Surprise, Surprise…RAIN!! It seems to follow me wherever I go.  I’m finding that these kinds of days call for a visit to a museum of some sort.  Fortunately, my hostel was close to all the good museums in Brisbane and had quite a bit to offer as far as the exhibits were concerned.  Katerina and I thought it would be great to go to the Modern Art Gallery to check out the VALENTINO Exhibit.  What a show it was and worth the $20 entry fee.  The amount of detail and craftsmanship into each of his pieces were incredible.  I thought wow…I wonder if he actually sewed all these pieces.  Turns out he just designed most of them and collaborated with his seamstresses.  Still…the man is brilliant.  I wish we could have taken pictures inside of the exhibit, but unfortunately like all great exhibitions photography is prohibited. 

We later treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a restaurant.  We ended up eating at an outdoor restaurant around the corner from my hostel called Pig and Whistle.  Great name for a restaurant, huh?  Well we thought it would be cheap bc of the name but surprise, surprise everything on the menu was kind of expensive.  I enjoyed a nice spicy chilli sauce & cheese nachos.  It was surprisingly delicious.  The sauce closely represented spaghetti sauce…it was quite interesting.

After dinner we explored what Brisbane had to offer for its nightlife.  We ended up at this hole in the wall bar called Fat Louie’s which took us some time to find.  We had a few rounds to make it worth the effort.  They had pool tables and young people who barely looked like they could drink legally.  It reminded me of a rundown college bar.  Next, we walked another several blocks to head to bar called Friday’s, a restaurant located near the docks on the second floor.  It had an expansive deck overlooking the water as well as an indoor dance floor.  Of course that’s where we headed ;p  And the best part…I finally found a bar that carried Captain Morgan’s Spice Rum.  I could finally relish in a proper rum and coke with lime.  It made my night!  We danced the night away until it was time for me to catch a cab back to the hostel. 

Good Night to another great day in Brisvegas!

BrisVegas!

DAY 11, AUG 19 – After all the drama of missing the flight, I arrived in Brisbane nice and safe.  But of course I had to take the shuttle to the hostel…another $15.  I arrived at the airport at 7:30ish, but didn’t get to the hostel til 9ish.  I swear you get the fastest service from these airport shuttles…NOT! Anyway, when I arrived at the hostel I couldn’t check in until 2pm so I put all my things into the storage room and decided to explore the city.  After walking around, I was quite hungry and stopped in a small sushi cafe to have breakfast/lunch…which by the way it is the cheapest thing in Australia.  Two rolls for about $6 or less…so great!  I finished it off with a delicious banana honey smoothie from Boost.

Later, I met up with Katerina and we explored South Bank.  It was by far the warmest day I’ve experienced in OZ…a whopping 24 degrees (Celsius of course).  We decided to sit around and enjoy the weather at a fake beach/lagoon in South Bank.  Katerina also showed me a unique ceramic exhibit in the art gallery close by.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Most of the pieces were larger than life but also included smaller intricate pieces.  It’s too bad the artist didn’t have a website, but luckily the museum did have postcard size advertisements for her exhibit (which I grabbed on the way out).  After the beach and gallery, we met up with her friend Florence to have lunch at a cute little café in the hip part of town.  It reminded me a bit of Colley Ave ;)  I wasn’t too hungry and everything was a bit expensive so I enjoyed another smoothie, mango strawberry flavored this time around.  The café had amazing food, which I’d probably return to if I get a chance.  Florence had this English style hash potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, etc that was very tasty.

 

After lunch all I could think of was a nice long hot shower and a nap.  I walked back to the hostel while they left to explore more of the city.  The hostel room was nice, clean, roomy, and included a drawer locker under the bed.  One of the girls was friendly enough to say hello though we had a bit of a language barrier.  She was Korean and didn’t understand English very well.  We made it work with a bit of sign language involved.   So after meeting the roomies I headed for the showers.  I must say their shower facilities were cleanlier than the last hostel I stayed and conveniently located beside my room.  Following a luxurious shower or at least as luxurious as it can get in a hostel, I walked around to get familiar with the hostel’s amenities. Base Brisbane Embassy had a huge kitchen and entertainment room, 2 large deck/balcony areas, and large laundry facility. I was impressed…especially for $22 a night for an 8 bed dorm.  Even better was the fact that they upgrade me to a 6 bed dorm for free.  

While waiting to meet up with Katerina and John for our evening outing, I went downstairs to watch TV in the entertainment room.  I met a nice Irish guy named Stephen.   I chatted him up for places he’d traveled in OZ and any suggestions he may have for where to stay, things to do, etc in those places.  Shortly after, I met Katerina downstairs in the bar for a drink until John showed up, our Canadian friend we made while @ the Blue Parrot.  We had a few there because drinks were decently priced.  Upon Stephen’s recommendation, I suggested this place called Victory.  We tried to find it, but no luck with a lack of directions given by Stephen.  So we just walked up the street to see what else this city had to offer.  We eventually made our way up to the balcony of Beaches which was blasting decent music.  After ordering a round we quickly found out that by 12 o’clock they were closing.   A bar closing at 12 on a Thursday night…weak.  But it’s okay I was pretty tired, Katerina had to make it for the last train to town and John had to get up early to check out. I passed out quickly despise the loud rowdy boys in the hall.

Welcome to BRISVEGAS…as the locals would call it.

Beginning Traveler's Mistake

DAY 10, WED AUG 18 – I am leaving Sydney today heading North for Brisbane in hopes of warmer weather.  It seemed like a normal day.  I’d pack, get ready, and say bye to all the new friends I had made.  My flight was supposed to leave at 15:10 or 4:10pm…or so I thought.  Clearly 15:10 is 3pm NOT 4pm.  I had scheduled the shuttle about 2 hours before departure since an hour was all that was needed to board a domestic flight.  In Australia, shuttle buses wait or they go around picking up as many people before heading to the final destination of the airport.  After an hour of driving around the city, I get to the airport…lugging 3 bags of heavy equipment and 2-3 seasons worth of clothing.  I wished I had packed MUCH less, but being here for 2-3 seasons required such necessities.  I’d say for a girl…that was exceptional.  Especially considering the fact that half the weight was the laptop, camera, and all the things that go along with it like chargers, external drive, tripod, etc. I would have borrowed a cart to lug all these bags, but they charge for everything here and a cart was $4.   No thanks!  I slowly dragged my way up to the check-in desk, ready to unload the bulge of what seemed like a large boulder fastened to my back. 

“Hi, I’m here to check in.”

What does the flight attendant say…”I’m sorry but your flight is closed.” 

A blank and confused look on my face, “Ah hem, perdon a me!?  WHAT!?  My flight doesn’t leave until 4pm”, I replied. 

“Well all flights require at least half an hour to board the flight, your flight was actually at 3:10pm.”

I looked at the clock, looked at my printed boarding pass and sure enough it was. 

FIASCO is what came next!  I asked if there was another flight that would depart later.

“Sorry, NOPE that one is closed.  The next one is not until 6am.   Oh and by the way it costs an extra $80 to change your flight now that you missed yours.  Your other option is to wait on stand by on a flight that will depart at 6pm to the Gold Coast.  You will have to catch a train or bus that will take you into Brisbane.”

Of course I would, because I had already booked a hostel right before leaving Sydney.  GREAT!  I called Stephany to see if there was a train that was scheduled to leave the Gold Coast around 8 o’clock.  Before she could call back with a reply, I decided that it would be too late to figure out how I would get to the hostel from the train stop.  Plus it would be dark and super late before I arrived into an unknown city. Guess it would be another night at the Blue Parrot. 

Stephany had offered me her free night on her bed since she was leaving by 8pm for her overnight bus trip to Melbourne.  So I paid another $15 to take a shuttle back to the hostel, which took another hour or so to repeat the process of filling the bus until it drove to the city.  I didn’t arrive back at the hostel until 5-6pm!  Fun stuff I tell ya.  I go to check in to see if I could take Stephany’s bed for free…but no! The owner of the Blue Parrot wouldn’t allow it, even though I had stayed there over a week and would only be there until 4am to leave for my flight the next morning.  LAME!  I frantically tried to cancel the hostel before I left the airport but the number was disconnected.  Finally after searching for half an hour for another number that might work (which didn’t), I called a branch of the same hostel which gave me the same phone number I dialed.  GREAT!  But thankfully she made the changes to my reservations and didn’t suffer the consequences of paying for that evening.  After settling a bit from the fiasco, I watched a bit of TV until it was bedtime.  The only thing that made my night was that, it was the best sleep I’ve had since I’ve been in Sydney, despite the fact it was only 4 hours because of my early flight.  There was no partying downstairs in the kitchen, no loud roommates entering the room late, and finally NO snorers in the room.  It was a quiet night ☺ 

I woke up early and thought about catching another shuttle or even the train, but didn’t want to take any chances so I hailed for a taxi to the airport.  He was a really nice New Zealander that I had an interesting and informative conversation with unlike the mute driver I had when I first got into the city.  He gave me good suggestions on where to visit in New Zealand along with other things and I guess that alone made it worth the $35 it took to pay for the fare.   I walked over to check my bags…only to find out that they were too heavy (only 2 bags, not weighing over 10kg together were allowed as carry ons) and paid an extra $40 for a 8kg bag.  UGH! 

So FINALLY after all the shuttle rides, taxi, the switching of flights, extra night @ the Blue Parrot and the extra luggage costs…the 1 hour mistake cost a total of $232 and a massive amount of stress. 

Note to self/Lesson Learned: Check and RECHECK when your flight leaves and ARRIVE 2 hours before it leaves no matter if it’s international or domestic.