Surfers Paradise

I've been surfing this weekend! Five of my classmates were going to the coast to swim and party, and Kristina and I found out that we wanted to go too, very spontaneously. So we packed our bags after class on Friday and ran to the train station. It's an hour by train and 15 minutes by bus to the tourist/backpacker city Surfers Paradise. A great place for families with kids, but an eldorado for party people and surfers too. Only 18.000 people live there permanently. The skyscrapers are mainly hotels and holiday apartments. From Wikipedia: "Surfers Paradise is the Gold Coast's entertainment and tourism centre and the precinct's high-rise buildings are the best known feature of the city's skyline. Surfers Paradise is also one of Australia's iconic coastal tourist destinations." So it wasn't really a place for me, that's what I found out. But when the weather isn't good enough for swimming and most people disappear I enjoyed taking a walk on the beach:

The others had already booked beds in a hostel, but Kristina and I still didn't know where to go. Most hostels were full, but we were lucky and got a great six bed dorm, girls only, for 18 $ per person per night. Lovely! We ate at Hard Rock Café and went to the beach to watch the beautiful waves at night. Simply a stunning view! The beach looks more mystical when it's dark. Guess it's because you can't see what's out there. The waves come out of a pure, black darkness. We enjoyed it a lot and allowed ourselves to be a bit sentimental:

The next morning started with breakfast from Subway and a two hour surf lesson at 10 am. Kristina has surfed a little before, but I knew absolutely nothing, so I went to the beginners class, obviously. Started with the basics on the beach. How to catch a good wave, how to slide on the board, how to go faster, how to turn right or left. And then we had to try it in the water afterwards. In the beginnning it was easy, but it got more advanced when we had to stand up on the board. Didn't feel like I was able to stand up at all, but the photographer was lucky and got at least three shots of me where I was standing, or something like it. Didn't buy the pics, though. I don't want pics for 20$ of a concentrated me, half standing, half sitting or falling or whatever. Besides, I look ridiculous in a wetsuit. But it was a cool experience!

Here's the same surf lesson at 2 pm:

Kristina went to another beach to skate on her own, and I went to take a nap in the hostel. I got exhausted from fighting my way through the waves for two hours! My body was aching for days! Wanted to meet the others to go for a swim in the afternoon, but they had left the beach before I came, because it got cold and cloudy. Well, not cold like in Norway, but too cold to wear a bikini. It started raining, so I went back to the hostel to write postcards. Got some new roommates from France and Sweden, so we sat down to get to know each other. I still haven't met anyone who's here for a short holiday. Australia is too far away from everything to just go here for a week or two and then go back. All the young non-Australian people I've met are either studying here or trying to find a job with some travelling inbetween. The Swedish girls wanted to see the whole east coast, but were out of money, so they wanted to find a job in Surfers Paradise for a month or so. Nothing I would do! Then I'd rather go back to Bourke and work on a lime farm or something.

Look what I found, thought they didn't exist anymore!: