Surfer's Paradise

Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive. May was full of doing all the work I didn't do in March or April. Presentations, papers, labs and assignments, and then went on vacation immediately after.

June 4th was my last day of classes, and it was pretty exciting. Weerona had an end of session party (as did all the dorms), and it was a fairytale and fantasy party. I went as a pirate but people ranged from Harry Potter to Tinkerbell. And then I went to the Gold Coast in Queensland. It seemed like a tourist hotspot, and I was right.

We got off our plane and took a bus to our hostel in a city called Surfer's Paradise. Yeah, that was the name of the city. And man was it awesome. Coming from 60 degree weather to 80 felt great even though I love colder weather. The beach was fantastic although it wasn't as good as the Kangaroo Island ones. A few things about Surfer's Paradise. The city itself is pretty small, but it has a ton of stuff near it like amusement parks and SEAWORLD. We didn't get to go to seaworld though. And their meter maids are girls dressed in golden bikinis. I shit you not. They're sponsored by the city government and all.

Anyway while there we did fun things like play minigolf, go zorbing (they put you in a gigantic plastic ball and you roll down a hill), whale and dolphin watching and even an amusement park named Movieland. Movieland was decently sized and had some good roller coasters. Their Superman coaster wasn't working that day which was supposed to be their best one, but we still got to go on other ones like the Lethal Weapon coaster and the indoor dark Scooby-Doo coaster. The nightlife in Surfer's Paradise lacked a certain allure to it, but i guess that's because we were there during the week and not weekend.

And then there was Infinity (http://www.infinitygc.com.au/about-infinity.html). The pictures don't do it justice. It was basically a giant maze with each room having something interesting about it. One room had mirrors on the walls, ceiling and floor, and had small lights on the walls that reflected off the entirely mirrored room so it looked like you were walking through a star field. We got to a box shaped room with dim white lights and just lied down for 10 minutes or so and stared into the infinite reflections. They had tons of lasers too, and even a room with bouncy balls and seizure-inducing strobe lights. I'd say it was the best experience of the Gold Coast trip.

Well we're back to boring Wollongong and now i'm preparing for exams, and staying up really late to see the World Cup games. By the way, LOL Britain. I also went to Manly Beach yesterday. It's a half an hour ferry ride away from Sydney but it was a nice place to walk through. Great beach, even had volleyball nets set up. I even got a shirt that says MANLY on it. Just 'cause.

Now to study for exams...well, after Tequila Taco Tuesdays at Amigo's, an overpriced Mexican restaurant (except on Tuesdays). I have two, both are back to back on the 21 and 22. Not really worried for them but I'll give it my best. I can't believe I only have two weeks left!