Day 35 - Surfers Paradise: Beautifuls

I left Moonee Beach at about 9am and took the Pacific Freeway North for about 5 hours to what is known as Surfers Paradise. Surfers Paradise was known, and still is, for it’s good surfing, good nightlife and hippie lifestyle. Sadly, the latter of the three have now made way to the concrete high rises. There are more hotels along the cost here, than the equivalent distance in Rio. It is packed will restaurants and bars and clubs and surf shops. That’s pretty much it. There is the beach then a small promenade, maybe 40 feet across, then a road, with parking, and then the hotels. It is always busy and is one of the highlights of the Gold Coast south of Brisbane. The highlight of the strip is the Meter Maids who patrol up and down the promenade feeding meters so that drivers never get tickets. It used to be paid for by the restaurants and hotels along the promenade, but now they have their own merchandise which pays for itself. In 2006, government officials said that they would no longer be sending traffic wardens down to the area, and true to their word, removed all meters from the 8 mile stretch. The Meter Maids now walk up and down only to attract paying customers to their shop. The government really can be spoil sports can’t they.

I stopped here for an hour or so and sat on the beach. I’ve never been to LA, but this is what I imagine it to be like. I’m never really sure if beautiful and pretty people attract each other, or whether ugly people are repelled by the prettiness. Either way, everyone here is perfect. There isn’t a hair out of place, a muffin top to be seen, and everyone, and I mean that exclusively is wearing thongs.

I should remind you at this point that Australians call flip flops thongs. Don’t ask me why, and don’t ask me what thongs are called if thongs are thongs. The sound of ‘thong thong’ (no, it doesn’t work does it Australia, just call them flip flops) is only drowned out by the music that the bars blast onto the street constantly. There is a real party atmosphere and it strikes me as ‘the place to be seen’. The Palazzo Versace is by no means the largest hotel on the strip, but it is the most impressive. IT was designed by Gianni Versace shortly before he was brutally murdered. His sister Donatella completed the hotel and there is a tiny museum next to the hotel car park dedicated to the entire hotel. It’s a very odd place. The furniture isn’t luxurious, but instead comfortable. Despite this, you can tell it’s expensive as fuck. I didn’t dare touch anything.

Trekked back to Matilda and saw I didn’t have a parking ticket (lovely) and drove to the nearest shopping centre to get some food. Aussie’s don’t do shopping centres like us. Instead of having loads of little shops all basically selling the same thing (for example, the Highcross) they have huge shops all selling one item. For example, there is a male clothing shop, and a female clothing shop. One shoe store, a hairdressers, a Boots type shop, a bakery and a butchers. Most centres either have a Coles, Woolworths or Aldi as well, but rarely anything more.

I stopped at the butchers and bought some meatballs and a steak mainly because it was cheaper than Woolworths, but also because the butcher boy was gorgeous. There is something about a beautiful man with a sleeveless t-shirt and blood all over his hands and arms. His name was Brook and he winked when I said have a good day. I wanted to giggle like a little girl but just smiled and walked off.

Got plenty of food (might have gone overboard) and headed to the campsite to pitch up. Broadwater Caravan site is massive. It has over 300 camp sites, and then loads of cabins and fields for camping. Despite this, it’s across the water from Sea World and pretty much in the middle of Southport. Southport is a five minute drive from Surfers Paradise (which isn’t a town, so much a part of a long stretch of places that have merged together over the years). IT was very idyllic and just as I sat down to dinner, it started raining. I wasn’t sure where the clouds had suddenly appeared from, but it rained all night. I didn’t mind it so much, the noise on the camper roof is quite relaxing. 

So until tomorrow, if I’m not too damp, see you then!