Surfers Paradise - my first days in Australia

I stayed in Surfers Paradise for 9 days. I had planned to stay for 8 days, as I had to book the hostel (Couple O´Days Backpackers) for at least 7 nights from Germany, but I extended my stay last minute because it was so relaxed there. I chose the hostel because it wasn't a party hostel and I wanted to arrive in peace.

Day 1 (13.04.2018)

On the day of my arrival, I stored my backpack and then it was all about the Commonwealth Games, as I had already mentioned in the previous post.

Day 2 (14.04.2018)

On the second day, I slept a lot because I didn't get much sleep the previous days and on the overnight flight. After my body had recovered and rested, I had breakfast. Thanks to my favorite travel companion Julia, I had Porridge To Go with me and didn't have to go hungry. After that, I went shopping and stocked up on everything I needed for the next few days. The prices in supermarkets here are similar to what we have in Germany. Some things are more expensive, especially fruits and vegetables, which is strange because they grow almost everything themselves. Meat is extremely cheap here and of good quality. The only thing that's a bit difficult for me is the bread situation. I know this is something typically German, but I like bread and I absolutely can't understand how other countries, including Australia, can get by with just toast and white bread. Fortunately, I have oatmeal as my breakfast alternative. Otherwise, it's like in Germany, that it's much cheaper if you buy everything in bulk, which is not ideal when you only have a backpack and don't stay in one place for long. I can never have enough fruits and vegetables, so in this case, big packages are not wasted on me. I returned to the hostel fully loaded and stored everything safely. Then I cooked directly because I had to try the good food. The kitchen in my hostel was well-maintained. You had to get dishes and everything else at the reception and return them clean after use. The system worked great. I was used to very different hostels on my travels. Later, I went to the beach and continued exploring the festival.

A series of films about the history of the Commonwealth Games was shown, and then there was live music from various musicians from the region. I sat in the sand with chips and was totally excited =)

The next day, the marathon took place on the Gold Coast.

Day 4 (16.04.2018)

The next morning, I went to the Community Celebration at the beach. There, I had the chance to meet Australian athletes.

The entire games were summarized, and we could watch the highlights on the screen. There were even more people at the beach than the previous evening. Masses of people flocked there to celebrate the Australian athletes and maybe get an autograph and a photo.

After the event, Caroline and I went to ALDI. I had previously researched SIM cards and found out that Telstra has the most widespread network in Australia (similar to Telekom in Germany). That means that you have reception in the majority of Australia. Other, cheaper providers only have good reception in the big cities. ALDI offers SIM cards that use the Telstra network but are much cheaper than the provider itself. ALDI was a bit of a distance away, but since I had nothing else to do, I decided to walk there. On the way, I realized that I was still wearing my flip-flops, which was probably not a good idea. By the time I arrived, my feet were already hurting, and I dreaded the way back. Walking barefoot was not an option either, as the ground was hot and rocky. So I gritted my teeth and went for it. Back at the hostel, I had rubbed the skin between my toes so badly that I couldn't wear flip-flops until it healed. I then checked how far I had actually walked as it felt like forever. And yes, it was. I walked about 15 km, and then I knew why my feet hurt so much. I hope the SIM card is worth the effort :)

Day 5 (17.04.2018)

The next few days, I decided to be more social and talk to the people in my hostel. Until now, I had either been out all day or asleep :)

I went to the beach with 2 Swedish girls and an English girl and tried to get some color.

The wind at the beach is very pleasant because it keeps it from being too hot, but it is quite annoying when you constantly have sand all over you. Thanks to the sunscreen, everything sticks to you, so it takes forever to wash it off. We got fed up with the wind relatively quickly and went back to the hostel. There, we sat around and talked.

Day 6 (18.04.2018)

The next day, I woke up in the morning, dug out my running shoes, and went jogging for the first time in a while.

I started on the promenade and ran along the beach on the way back. At the beginning, I thought it was going well and was highly motivated. However, that quickly faded as I was so unfit and soon couldn't go on anymore. On the way back, I had only headwind and could barely make progress. The other runners did everything right as they all came towards me and used the beach for the way back. I crawled along slowly and had to walk at times. After 35 minutes, I gave up and jumped into the water.

Completely exhausted, I returned to the hostel and had breakfast. After I had acclimated again, I strolled around with Caroline (a really nice Danish girl). Besides the beach and the high-rises along the coast, Surfers Paradise doesn't have much to offer.

So, to be honest, there wasn't much to see. In the end, we ended up in Starbucks and sat there for ages, observing people and chatting. In the evenings, we wanted to go to an Irish pub for a beer. The others didn't want to come along, so we went alone. I really wanted to drink a Guinness, but $10 was a bit too much for a glass. So we went for the cheapest beer for $5. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. We had to show our IDs to buy beer, which apparently is normal here. Later in the evening, everyone who wanted to go into the pub had their ID scanned, and a photo taken. This is how they secure themselves in case something happens. There was live music in the Irish pub, so we ordered another beer. It didn't take long, and we weren't alone anymore. A group of Australian police officers gathered around us and created a great atmosphere. We spent the whole evening with them and definitely drank more than 2 beers when we finally returned to the hostel in the morning. Despite the extremely high prices, we only spent $10. So, the evening went well :)

Day 7 (19.04.2018)

I woke up the next morning feeling pretty hungover because the other girls were so loud. I eventually got up and had breakfast. After that, Caroline and I went to the beach. When it started raining, we passed the time at Starbucks, observing people.

Afterwards, for a change, I did something productive and went to the bank. I had previously informed myself which bank is the most widespread and has the best conditions. In the end, I chose Westpac because it has the most ATMs, also in the outback, and you don't have to pay account fees for 12 months. I waited forever in the bank until someone finally came to help me. I got a personal advisor. She introduced herself as Tina ... and was completely surprised and excited when I mentioned that I have the same name. She had never met anyone with the same name before. That immediately connected us, and we got along great right away. Tina explained everything to me and filled out all the necessary documents with me. Afterwards, she sent me an email and asked for my next address so she could send my bank card there. Since I didn't know exactly when I would be there, it was difficult for me to give her a clear answer. We kept each other up to date over the next few days so that I could eventually receive the card. I could withdraw money from the ATM with the help of a password, even without the card. It all sounded great, but first, I had to get money transferred to my newly opened account in order to use it. I transferred money from my German account and then had to wait.

Back at the hostel, I decided to stay one more night and then go to Brisbane with Caroline. After that, I went to the beach with Caroline and another Caroline (from Germany). Next to us was a guy who had about 20 seagulls around him. They were everywhere and circling him.

We saw that he was feeding them. Well, if he had fun, then okay. It was rather creepy for us. To end the day, we went to Vapiano and treated ourselves to delicious pasta. As a crowning glory, we had Nutella pizza, which tastes much better than it sounds :)

The next day, the two Carolines and I got up before 6 am for a change and went to the beach to watch the sunrise.

Afterwards, we did some yoga exercises, and I went jogging as well.

We spent the rest of the day at the beach, Starbucks, and at the hostel. Caroline and I did laundry together and booked our hostel for Brisbane. In the evening, the two of them went jogging, and then we did squats together. For those who like to torture themselves or want to treat their thighs to something nice, I recommend the Bring Sally Up Squat Challenge (https://youtu.be/bql6sIU2A7k).

Day 9 (21.04.2018)

On my last day in Surfers Paradise, I packed my things in the morning and stored my backpack at the reception. We had to check out by 10 am and leave our sheets and keys at the reception. Then I went to the beach with the girls and, as expected, to Starbucks.

In the afternoon, we said goodbye to the girls at the beach and went back to the hostel to get our backpacks. At 2 pm, we took the Greyhound bus to Brisbane. The system works like long-distance buses in Germany and is very convenient because there is a toilet, power outlet, and Wi-Fi on the bus. The bus was even on time, so it was time to say goodbye to Surfers Paradise.

The weather hadn't been great the past few days due to a lot of rain, so I wasn't particularly sad about it. Besides, it was time for something new!

All in all, Surfers Paradise was a good start. It wasn't overcrowded and not too touristy for me. However, besides the high-rises and the beach, there isn't much to see. It's a nice view of the buildings from the beach, but I still wouldn't want to live there. Other than that, you can go partying every evening. Promoters try to sell you new offers every day. Apparently, it's very popular because many people come to Surfers just to party. It was less appealing to me. The contrast to all the athletes who get up at 6 am in the morning, probably even before work, to go jogging or do gymnastics and strength training outside is striking. It is said that you see many surfers and sunny boys there. That's almost true. You don't see many surfers there, but the people are super active, regardless of their age. I thought that was great and it motivated me to start running again. Otherwise, it was the perfect start to arrive and get oriented in peace.