East Coast Trip

A short one hour bus took me to my next destination. As I mentioned in my last post, I booked this trip quite late. I naively thought I would have been able to plan as I go, but a sharp lesson was learned!

As a result, I used a travel agency, who were incredibly helpful in getting me sorted. I didn’t leave myself much time to put thought into my route however, and had I done that, I wouldn’t have stopped in Surfers Paradise. That being said, there were lovely parts to my few days here!

Surfers Paradise is a seaside resort on the Gold Coast. It’s a popular Australian tourist destination, well catered for families but also particularly known for its nightlife. For me it resembled a Spanish town popular for 6th year holidays, so not the most picturesque place I have seen. I did take a stroll along its 3 kilometre beach though.

I stayed in ‘Backpackers in Paradise Hostel’ which was also an experience! I was placed in a 14 bed mixed dorm with one toilet and one shower (not ideal!) There were also no curtains on the floor to ceiling windows next to my bed! One German traveller slept outside the room each night as he was too tall for the bed. 😂

On a more positive note, it was in this hostel that I met four English girls who I travelled with for the next while -Sophie, Amelia, Beth and Sam. We decided to ditch the town on the second day and headed for Burleigh Heads, about a 30 minute drive south of the city.

This coastal town was immediately more up our street! As we approached the beach, we discovered that the first of the yearly Surf Competitions was taking place. So we were in for a true Aussie experience here!

Huge crowds perched up with enough supplies to enjoy the competition for the day. We didn’t have a clue about surfing so thankfully locals were willing to explain the rules to us!

Before sitting down to watch the competition, we decided to take a short walk to Tallebudgera Creek.

It was a real scorcher that day, so after the walk we perched ourselves on a free spot of grass and spent most of the day there.

There isn’t much else to say about Surfers Paradise really. 2 nights was definitely enough! That being said, on my last evening, this sunset caught me by surprise!

Next stop, Brisbane.