A weekend at the hostel
Lauren, Gena, and I drove to Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast last Friday morning. It’s only about 45 minutes away from Brisbane (pronounced Briz-ben) where Lauren’s house is. We stayed in a hostel about three blocks from the beach through Sunday. As far as the town and beach go, it actually reminds me of a mix between Miami and Va Beach. Miami just b/c of the numerous condo buildings and hotels – not the people. For that it’s more like Va Beach – just a basic beach town with lots of surf shops, regular shops, and cool beach houses all along the coast and in the hills. We explored a few of the other beaches looking for waves, but it was blown out all weekend. While I did catch some surf, it was nothing worth writing home about. Regardless, it’s a beautiful place and I could live there for sure.
So have you ever stayed in a hostel? I’m not so sure all of my friends could do it…although it is really just like camping. Instead of tents, it’s just an old motel with anywhere from 2-6 beds in a room with a bathroom (I’ve stayed in less accommodating hostels before). There’s a communal kitchen where you can keep and prepare your food. Most of the residents are foreign backpackers of all ages.
The first night the hostel hosted a club night at this new place called Bedroom. We caught a bunch of free taxis with about 30 people, although we ended up only keeping up with a couple. One of our roommates, Patrick (pronounced Pat-treeek with a rolling R), was French and spoke little English. We ended up drinking with him all night long our first night and that got really interesting. Drunken conversation in two languages starts to get a bit ridiculous, particularly when only Gena knew some French. It really just involves a lot of laughing I guess, and probably not accomplishing much other than having a good time and mimicking the other person’s accents. Patrick was really friendly and on a 3 month holiday traveling through Australia and sleeping in hostels. We also met a Welsh kid – pretty young, but really funny acting. Every picture we took with him involved this strange blank look. At the start of the night I just thought I had caught him off guard, but then I noticed that he was actually posing that way.
Dinner - chicken and rolls...mmmm
Sandals all day and all night long
A dirty game of kings. it was Lauren's idea to purchase the nudist playing cards. She figures it's a good "souvenir."
Patrick & Lauren
Gena and Lauren
A flash photo before going to Bedroom
The hostel
Can you spot the welsh kid I mentioned??
The taxi to the club.
Patrick enjoyed giving bunny ears in all his pictures...I didn't know that until looking at these.
This is when I figured out he was actually making that face on purpose.
Surfing banners and signs are everywhere. It's more of a way of life around here - I love it.
Late night eats
Andy Irons
For George...the pic below was tough b/c we couldn't help the reflection.
...and more bunny ears
Schoolies??!!
On Saturday we went to the beach all day. By the afternoon, the entire beach scene had changed. By 6pm, it literally became a festival of 17 year olds. It’s like beach week, but it’s called “Schoolies” and it’s when all the seniors spend their first week of summer at the beach. I kid you not, there were thousands upon thousands of 17 year olds roaming the streets wasted. There were free concerts, dj’s, events, and sectioned off areas of the beach just for them (we couldn’t even get in). I’ve never seen anything like it, but apparently this is considered their “Right of Passage” before beginning Uni (pronounced Yoo-knee and short for University). It’s strangely legal, and even permitted by the parents. In fact, the parents drive them all down and drop them off for the week. The balconies are littered with kids screaming from one hotel to another and into the streets. Honestly, it’s like one big sex, drug, and underage drinking extravaganza, or so it appears. It’s also on the local news every single night in all the cities away from the beach.
So we went out to a beer garden, saw a live band and dj, and made our way back to the hostel amongst all these…kids.
Sunday morning we woke up and headed straight to this pretty sick water park. I wish I brought the camera in b/c some of the rides were awesome. Due to the long lines, the coolest part of the park was the kids area with tons of tiny fast water slides, water hoses, and even a gigantic bucket of water that tipped over everyone about every 20 seconds onto your head, almost creating a permanent part of the hair.
Sunday night we met with Lauren’s friend Manda – who I met in London a year earlier – to celebrate her 21st birthday. It was a great night in this really posh outdoor bar called Elysium. One of the guys I met, Shane, is trying to take a day trip to Byron Bay about 2 hours south this Sunday night and Monday – apparently the surf is pretty amazing down there and the place is overall really tight. Not sure if I’m going to be able to make the trip yet.
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I have yet to post my blog about Mon-Wed this week. I went to a place called Moreton Island and stayed in a Villa. This is one of the top 3 places I've ever visited in the world, no joke. Some of the most amazing pics yet will be posted soon.
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