Gold Coast: Surfer's Paradise

For our first exploration in Australia, we visited the Gold Coast and stayed near Surfer's Paradise. Is it really a surfer's paradise? Didn't get the chance to catch some waves, but here are a few photos. The water was a bit cold. Upon coming up to the beach, you're greeted with a large sign so you know exactly what beach you're on. Gold Coast, like Sunshine Coast, has a few beaches. There's a really long sidewalk along the beach for running or walking or biking. We woke up for a morning jog and it was nice. You'll see a lot of people here throughout the day.

 

If you take a close look, you'll notice all the hotels along the beach. During the evening, they can cast shadows...not the most ideal. That's the good thing about Noosa. They have building restrictions for these sorts of things.

 

This surprised us quite a bit. It's Linsanity making its way into Australia!

Surfer's Paradise sign in the dark. They seem to like the whole LED night lighting thing. We saw this at Noosa as well.

 

A few interesting stores from the outside. We didn't go inside the first one...at least we have no recollection of it. :P The British Lolly Shop has a wide selection of candies. Kinda made me think of Honeydukes, probably only because it's British.

The australian sea gull? There's a lot of these walking around, but they don't go mine, mine, mine like in finding nemo. Those we saw at Noosa and Caloundra...they were staring in packs...

This ride was running all day outside our hotel. It's called "The Vomatron." Yeah....

 

We were surprised to find quite a variety of foods here, even korean soon tofu. Yumm...haven't had this in a while.

 

This gourmet pizza place was delish as well.

and these falafels. First time having a falafel. They taste very healthy but tasty.

 
and these money bags. Yup, that's what they're called. It's thai and basically tastes like an eggroll in a wonton like crust dipped in a sweet and sour sauce. This restaurant is great, conveniently located downstairs our hotel. Our hotel was pretty nice too, 1 bedroom apartment style with kitchen and living room which seems to be standard here.

This green curry was very coconuty and slightly sweet. A very light, pleasant flavor. Still not sure of the difference between red and green curry. They taste similar.

 

We also did a bit of grocery shopping here and there. It's easy to find a Coles or Woolsworth here within walking distance (unlike the Sunshine Coast). It's basically the australian version of Von's or Ralphs. Spoiled ourselves with lots of desserts: caramel custard, raspberry panicotti, oreo cupcakes, bavarian cream, ice cream, frozen yogurt, sodas...yum... There's a drink called lemon lime and bitters. It actually tastes a lot like coke. Why is this spinach located in the ice cream and frozen dessert section? Hmm....

We also visited the beaches more south of gold coast. This beach was very pretty and clean, and not as crowded as you can see. The water was very clean. Someone tried bottling the water to test it and it was really clear. I have a video of this, but I will refrain from posting. :P Be careful when you walk along this beach. You can be surprised by the large green jelly masses you might find in the sand. Poor jelly fishies.