A Day at the Races!

Surfers Paradise sticks to the formula of most resort towns, but on a bigger, flasher scale. Our arrival coincided with the Melbourne Cup. This is the biggest race day in Australia and we decided to use this as an excuse to get dressed up and spend the day drinking champagne at the Surfers Paradise Turf Club. Goon o'clock came early that day when we whipped it out at 11am. It was at this point that Erin Gillham loftily told two boys in our hostel kitchen, "its a bit early to be eating pizza isn't it?" with cup of dry white in hand. Kettle, pot, black. With our gladrags on we crammed like sardines onto an already over-full bus. There was no hiding the fact that everyone was already shamelessly checking out each other's attire, as would continue throughout the day. Although we looked the part we didn't stray far from our backpacker roots as on arrival we quickly polished off our stash of goon.

Niaby, Erin, Murph, Tay, Colly & Penny at the races

We then discovered the deal of the century, $16.50 bottles of Angas Brut bubbly, which was to be our drink of choice for the day. We were the last of the big spenders with our bets, as none of us placed more than $5 on a horse, mainly due to the fact that not one of us has a clue about racing. We gathered round a monitor to watch the Melbourne Cup race, eagerly clutching our tickets. Whilst Murph's horse Activation appeared to not even be in the race, Penny's was leading most of the way, but in the end it was neck and neck between Erin and Tay's Pop Rock and Colly's Delta Blues. It came down to a photo finish and Colly found herself with the winning ticket and smugly pocketed 55 bucks. After the race excitement, we headed for the live band and danced like idiots in the afternoon sunshine until it was time to catch our bus outta there.

Melbourne Cup day at Surfers Paradise

We landed on our feet when our free bus dropped us at Shooters Bar where we were given complimentary champagne and canopes. The most surreal part of the day came when we arrived home to discover it was only 7pm and therefore Home and Away time which we sat and watched whilst roaring drunk, thus perplexing the other hostel guests. The night continued in Melba's but the day caught up with us and we were tucked up in bed by midnight.

Tay, Kurty Wurty Flurty Murty and Penny

Having heard how amazing Byron Bay is from other travellers, we were disappointed when once again the weather let us down. Lifting our spirits was the fact that Adrian and Kurt were there to greet us. The main attraction in Byron is the lighthouse which one can enjoy a pleasant coastal stroll to. Having made it half way across the beach, a huge rainstorm began which left us dashing for cover to a nearby beach shack and opting for a taxi home.

Murph, Colly, Erin and Adrian at Cheeky Monkeys

We sampled the delights of the well known Cheeky Monkeys nightclub where tables serve as a dancefloor but we spent most of the night arm wrestling for no apparent reason. We bid Byron Bay farewell, but have plans to return on our way back up the coast.

Having passed through Sydney Airport twice, it was finally time to stop there. Arriving at 6.30am after an overnight bus was not an ideal start, especially as we then waited for 4 hours in a hostel lobby only to be told there were no beds. We moved on to the backpacker/ red light district of Kings Cross where the only available hostel was the skanky Mates Place. We spent a considerable amount of time wandering the city streets, saw the major sights and discovered one of the biggest lies of the modern world- the Sydney Opera House is not the sparkling white it appears in photos, but a yellowish baby vomit colour. Darling Harbour did live up to expectations though, and we took the time out to enjoy a drink in a harbourside bar, whilst watching the world go by.

Scruffy Murphys

We met up with the cockney boys from Cairns, Michael and Mark along with their Sydney friends. We went for a night out in Oxford Street, and to our unbelievable joy discovered that these boys revel in the 'stand in a circle whilst someone comedy dances in the middle,' as much as we do. Result. The major purpose of our brief stay in Sydney was a desperate search for accommodation over new year. After an initial panic that we'd end up in Mates Place for $70 a night, we stumbled across a guest house with an eccentric landlord. His one condition of stay was that we could, "roll a good spliff." We'd better get practising. Good job done, we're looking forward to returning for new year and partying hard!

A Day at the Races!

Surfers Paradise, Australia