Monday meant it was Labour Day in Queensland. Many chose to drink the day away. Will chose to get up and go to work to find out no one was in the office. (In may own defense, my work confirmation said start Monday). I chose to sleep in! Either way, by the time Will got home I was awake and ready for our next adventure; Surfer's Paradise.
Now Surfer's Paradise does have surf - good or great is up to you - and some might think it is paradise, but the name was not chosen due to the beguiling location. Apparently sometime in the '30s or '40s they* were looking for a way to market that area to tourists. The town looked no farther than the Surfer's Paradise Hotel where all the backpackers and surf bums hung out for their inspiration. A tourist trap was born!
* { They = the anonymous few who control the universe } 
Nowadays, Surfer's Paradise looks more like a Miami, Florida wanna be. Imagine huge skyscrapers perched on the edge where sand and wave meet, following the coast for miles. For those trivia buffs, there is a Miami Australia just down the road from Surfers Paradise. The trip took nearly two hours by train and bus, but it was worth it! With a bit more planning, the trip should only take about an hour and half.
High rolling surf pounds the beach while the squeals of young and old fill the air as they frolic and dance about the waves. Surfers and boarders eagerly paddling their way out, looking for the next thrill. The smells of salt, greasy food, and sugar hang in the air like a 747; just hanging there, thumbing its nose at the laws of physics. The air is thick with smells and sounds, so dense you think every molecule of air should fall to the ground, and so big it hits you square between the eyes (In my own writing defence, do you think I'd put references to planes or physics in a blog?). You just can't duplicate that.
We went for a walk down the boardwalk, and Will couldn't resist playing in the sand for a while. After, we walked down the streets looking at all of the shops. Surfer's Paradise has something to offer all budgets. From the Rusty, Billabong and Quiksilver shops to Prada, Gucci and Hermes at the Galleria, you could be fooled into thinking Surfer's Paradise was the capital city of Queensland, not Brisbane.
It was loud, noisy and perhaps we shouldn't have investigated on a holiday, but we're both glad we went. It was something new, and for two who are chained to destinations reachable by foot, it was a welcome vacation. The Gold Coast region has a lot to explore and now with "winter" on it's way, perhaps we can explore it more freely now that it's the off-season.
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