Gold Coast: Surfer’s Paradise

By a surfboard at surfer’s paradise.

I opted for a quieter weekend this week both as a break from all the traveling I did over the holidays and with the hope that I would get a jump start on the many papers I have coming due at the end of the semester (just a mere 3 weeks away for most of my classes – yikes!). The productivity of the weekend may be debatable — I didn’t get as much as I would have liked to done, but then my goals might have been a bit unrealistic, but I can now at least say I have started most of my assessments.

Surfer’s Paradise

In order to spice up the weekend a bit (and knowing there was no way I could do homework for three days straight ) I decided to use my Friday to visit the beach. Brisbane is about 20 minutes (guessing here) from the coast but there isn’t really any beach there. There are, however, beaches nearby, including the Sunshine Coast (to the north) and the Gold Coast (to the south). The Sunshine Coast (which I visited earlier in the year with my family) is regarded as the more natural beach – lots of national parks and such – whereas the Gold Coast is a bit more commercial and is where a lot of the big theme parks – like seaworld – are located. Since I haven’t been to the Gold Coast yet I decided it was time to check it out. My friend Amanda (UK) and I hopped on a train/bus in the morning for the two hour trip to Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast.

The Beach

The beach was much like many Australian Beaches I’ve been to: soft sand, crystal clear water and coast that seems to stretch forever. Unlike other beaches I’ve been to during my time abroad it was actually warm enough to be in a swimsuit and the water was warm enough to swim in (at least in combination with the sun)! It was the middle of the spring holiday for public schools in the area so the beach was pretty busy, especially in between the flags signifying where you can swim (because it is safest and lifeguards are on duty).

Swim Between the Flags!

Needless to say it was a fun day. We both had a book along and spent the day hanging out on the beach reading and enjoying the waves. And now I can say I have swam on both sides of the Pacific Ocean!