No issues on the bus today thankfully. It was a reasonably short trip to Surfers paradise, just under two hours, so I had barely drifted of with my head bobbing around like a nodding dog in a car window and we were suddenly there. I had a low opinion of Surfers paradise from what people had told me in the past. I had heard that it was just an over-populated, tourist trap with hundreds of hotels and skyscrapers taking over the skyline. And when I got there I realised all of it was true. Buy absolutely incredible for it. Yes there are skyscrapers and yes it's touristy but then coming from bangkok and Singapore it was a lot less overwhelming to me. And everyone I had spoken to had forgot o mention one very important aspect - the beach. Miles and miles of soft white sand peering out onto the completely clear blue sky and greeting the powerful waves which were, of course, perfectly formed for surfing. It was exactly what it says on the tin - Surfers Paradise. Liams going to have a fit when he sees this, I thought.
The girls were with me again so we decided to stay in a place called surf n' sun beachside hostel, ideal name when I realised it was a stones throw away from the beach. We got picked up by the free bus and settled ourselves in. It had all the usual good stuff- swimming pool, BBQ and pub crawls but it had other benefits such as tvs in our rooms and free bodyboards to use on the beach. I was originally going to just stay here for two nights, but after taking in the beautiful surroundings and lovely hostel, I decided to stay for three.
We chilled out for most of the day and took a walk into town where there was all sorts of tacky shops, including one called Condoms. I had another moment of spending without thinking and bought a beautiful pair of havaianas and dinner for that evening - pasta, again. The over chirpy girl on the desk told us about free entry into a club called Vanity, the hippest and coolest club around...apparently. We got a free drink when we got there too, and with that the deal was sealed. So with that we met with a girl also called Katie in our room and the drinking games commenced! The swedes also joined us, just as promised which made graces smiled even bigger!
We headed out around 10 and got straight into the club which, in fairness, was pretty good. It was an underground club and had everything you would want - a big dance floor, more than one bar, and even Internet, free perfume and a make up lady in the toilets. It was brilliant to just let loose and had a good boogie with the girls. I was also pretty drunk from the drinking games so I didn't need to spend a penny all night. We also found out that Rihanna was coming to the club as part of her after party from a gig in Brisbane. Another reason to get totally hyped up. One of the best nights I had in a club in a long time. We found out later that Rihanna didn't make it to Surfers paradise after all but that didn't change the amazing atmosphere. Climbed into bed at four with chewing gum all over my beautiful new flip flops but I didn't care.
The next few days were pretty chilled out really. We met up with Liz and rachel a few times who have both got a job and a flat since we left them at hervey bay. Most of the time was spent on the beach or relaxing with a good film at the hostel. We saw all sorts of new and classics, from the new Robin Hood to Ace Venturer.
The morning before I caught the greyhound to Byron bay I had a private surf lesson with a self-loving surf dude called Scott. He was a bit older, maybe in his late 30s, but had all the confidence and ego of a teenage jock. He spent the whole lesson telling e how amazing he is at surfing, his girlfriend is at the oscars, he was in Home and Away, blah blah blah. As it was, I really enjoyed it once I was able to get the jist of it even the board itself was as big as a battleship. He also took some pretty amazing photos which proved that I did stand up on the board! At 11 i was sat on the bus and I was ready to be a Byron bay surfer champion. Well...we'll see.