Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

This past week I left New Zealand for a bit. I applied for an Australian Visa and jumped on a 3-hour flight to the Gold Coast for fall break. I had expected Australia and New Zealand to be similar, however I was very wrong. Australia was just as gorgeous but the atmosphere, people and vibe was much different. Although I was in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, which is like a mini Vegas on a beach, so I cant, say all of Australia was the same. The beaches were gorgeous soft white sand beaches but they were filled with Aussies everywhere who were ready to have a good time. Though not to fret there was still plenty of room for Kelley and I to get our tans on… well at least to get more freckles. It was so warm out almost too warm for being the middle of fall. It was between 85-90 the entire week!

The people were all very nice though not as genuine as the people we have met in New Zealand.

Kelley and I spent our week being tourists and relaxing on the beach. When we first arrived we spent most the day exploring the city and shopping. We found a cute little art market selling lots of cute tapestry’s, jewelry and foods. Of course we couldn’t help our selves that we ended up at that art market 3 separate nights (shopping for our moms). After shopping we grabbed dinner at a cute pizzeria on the water over looking the coast.

We spent our first full day out relaxing by the beach and swimming in the ocean. The water was a beautiful clear aquamarine color you couldn’t help but splash into it, not to mention it was so warm. Though the waves were huge and at points the lifeguards would only allow you to be in the water where you could stand grounded with both feet. Honestly it was often a workout just standing in the water the waves were so big at points, but the photos of waves hitting us on my GoPro are hilarious.

Following our relaxing beach day we ran into a Californian guy who has been living and working in Australia for a few years now and he convinced us to go out clubbing on a “Club Crawl” (same as a pub crawl but with clubs). After a bit of a debate we decided to go. We started our night out at a bowling alley where we got free drinks and free bowling. We met several Australians there who we spent much of the remainder of our night with. After our bowling we went to three more clubs as VIP’s, meaning we got free drinks at every club we went to. The clubs were interesting, one of them was called the bedroom and had a dozen king size beds through out the club…and in the woman’s bathroom so that was one of the stranger things I have seen. We met many Australian guys, all of which are always amused by our “ American “ accents… and always have to ask if were American, as if they didn’t already clearly know that. Although we did end up becoming good friends with a group of Aussie guys who were having a bachelor’s party at the time. Overall it was a fun night, and a one of a kind experience with great people watching ( Australians dance a lot different then Americans in clubs).

The day following our night adventures we headed to the Crummbin’ Wildlife Sanctuary about 25 minutes from Surfers Paradise. We took an Uber to get there and had the most interesting Uber driver. He was clearly a retired surfer or probably still a surfer. He was probably in his late 60s with shoulder length bleach blond hair. He seemed to be friends with the owner of Billabong; and Rip Curl, so he showed us where their homes were. He also gave us a tour of the towns we passed through the entire way to the sanctuary. Once we reached the sanctuary our first stop were the Koalas. I have learned about Koalas in school and seen pictures my whole life but we don’t have them in our Zoos, I didn’t know what to expect. However needless to say they are by far, for sure my new favorite animals. They’re the most adorable, huggable fluffy creatures. I know they are dangerous but I NEED one as a pet. After looking at them in their eucalyptus trees it took Kelley and I all of five second to willingly pay $25 to go hold one and get a professional photo taken. We got to hold Yorkie, he was a lot heavier then I expected but so unbelievably soft and just latches on to you and hugs you. I did not want to give him back to the wild life lady. After our amazing indescribable koala encounter we headed to the crocodile show. At this show they fed crocodiles that were 5 meters long. Their goal of the show was to make us less afraid of crocodiles in the wild as there apparently is a plethora of them living in West Australia. However I would say I am just as terrified of them as I was before the show. However they are magnificent creatures. We then went to the bird show. This show was truly amazing however I have an irrational fear of birds (thanks mom). The birds were beautiful and would fly centimeters over our heads up to the front of the stage (really would have appreciated the birds from a distance much more then skimming the top of my head). After the bird show we headed to the Kangaroos, which are up there in the running with my new found love for Koalas. The Kangaroos were in a big grassy open area that you could just walk around in. You could walk up and pet and feed and hug the kangaroos as much as you wanted. These kangaroos were some of the laziest creatures ever but they really enjoyed being pet, so we had a lot of fun playing with all of them! To end our trip at the sanctuary we went to an Aborigine dance show. This show was a very unique fun show to watch. It was really interesting seeing part of their culture. I still remember learning about the culture of the Aborigines in my 2nd grade class at Monarch.

I have to say my day at the Wild Life Sanctuary was one of the better days I have ever in my lifetime experienced.

On our last day in Surfers Paradise Kelley and I went surfing. I mean how could we not we just spent a week in Surfer’s Paradise… Having never been surfing before we decided we better take a lesson. Our surf Instructors name was James he was an incredible instructor. I thought surfing would be super hard and he had us standing up on the boards on our first try! We had our own private lesson with James on a completely empty beach! We spent a couple of hours learning and getting the hang of it that it just became addicting to keep running out into the water trying to catch another wave. I definitely would like to live on a beach and keep surfing someday!

Our trip to Australia was short but definitely one to remember with so many firsts. However I am glad to be back in New Zealand with a few days to relax before going back to school.