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We flew to the Gold Coast (Coolengatta) on Feb 6th.
Completely changed our plans but that didnt matter...we were now on the job hunt! We had 7 weeks or so till my parents arrived so we thought we'd settle here by the beach, good weather and enjoy the lifestyle!
We travelled about 20 miles north from the airport to Surfers Paradise, a big town with huge skyscrapers along the coast....the view is pretty awesome.
The sun was shining (yey) so we thought we could like it here!!!!!
Our hostel was 20m from the huge interuppted beach that follows the coast all the down to Tweed Heads (the most southern point of Queensland) and pretty much up to Brisbane northbound. Its amazing! The colour of the ocean isnt quite Perth but it was lush! They dont call it Surfers Paradise for nothing....the waves were pretty big! You cant really go for a leisurely swim in the ocean! And the lifeguards wont let you be adventurous either...Daz got told off for going out too far or for not being inbetween the flags! They dirve their 4x4 down to the waters edge, get their loud speaker out and shout 'hey dude....the tall one in the blue shorts'!!!!! I found it amusing from the sand reading my book....I was a good girl!!!!
Back in October last year a great white got tangled up in the shark nets out at sea and we have seen the photo of it washed up on the beach a few hundred metres from where we are....it was massive! There are nets but apparently they dont go all the way down to the bottom. I thought the risk of sharks would of stopped me going in the water but I just havn't thought about it. Loads of people are in the water and aslong as my feet touch the ground I feel relatively safe! Its my hubby I have to worry about.....he'll go out and play for ages and I have no idea where he is sometimes!!! He's pretty much fearless in the ocean!!
So yeah....being right on the beach on the Gold Coast is fantastic.
Surfers is definately a young peoples place, the best place I can describe it as is a richer Benidorm with all the big buildings. About 200m inland is a beautiful river that mansions have as their back garden with boats bigger than our homes! Its crazy! One day we took a walk to a more resedential area and was just blown away with the mere size of the houses, some with a traditional edge and others with a modern twist......one day we said!!!!! We found a plot of land that obviously used to have a house so we were albe to get to the river and the house we were next to had a huge cruiser moored up and amazing views of the city! Definately not short of a bob to two!!!!!
So yes....to the serious note! Work. We started looking for work pretty much straight away. Handing in our CV's to a few places that were looking and asked almost everywhere. We were really optimistic the first week and we moved into a beachfront apartment with Zoe and Simon (an Oz/NZ couple). Zoe is from Gold Coast and they rent out their 2nd bedroom to travellers for a few months at a time, so we thought we were really lucky!
Great spacious apartment....had our own bathroom, there was a pool, hot tube, sauna and gym and we were right on the beach! Perfect!
But the job opportunities just were not there!!! And there were so many other travellers doing exactly the same as us. People were asking how long we were here for and we'd lie and say till December....maybe they have heard the same stories all the time and most probablty knew we were lying. We thought we had more of a chance now that we had a permenant residence but nope. I did a trial shift in a coffee shop just clearing tables and being the dishwasher.....he kept askng me if I was definately here till Dec, maybe he saw through me! He paid me and I never heard from him again.
Darren had a few phone calls and one guy said if your a travller im not hiring you and another said they needed long term employees! And this is for micky mouse jobs!!!! Daz even applied for Burger King and didnt get a response!!!!
We bled Surfers dry....we went to the two big shopping malls out of town and still nothing!
So after a week being quite miserable, trying not to spend too much money, quite a lot of rain and rent due we decided that we'd have to move on!!!!! We gave Zoe and Simon a week's notice and planned on heading up to Brisbane.
At first we discussed doing fruit picking at a farm north of Brisbane but then after lots of talking and only 4 weeks till my Mum and Dad arrived we decided to drop the working option and go camping up the Sunshine Coast for 3 weeks. (Coast north of Brisbane)
So yes, thats where we are up to now!!!!
We are leaving Surfers today, spending a few days in Brisbane and then straddle the coastline for 3 weeks as far as Fraser Island with a bit of camping and hostels. We're going to spend a little as possible and just enjoy being with nature!!!!!
We have really enjoyed Surfers, we managed to go to Sea World and a waterpark this week after making our decision. We were less stressed and have been able to enjoy it a bit more. A first we just felt we were existing and not doing anything especially when we had 3 full days a rain. There wasnt much to do when it rained (but we did get to see a few movies!)
We played a bit of Pictionary with Zoe and Simon which was hilarious and enjoyed jogging along the beach. There is definately an outdoor lifestyle here that we have seen more than in other cities.
We also caught the bus to Coolengatta down the coast. A pretty little town, much quieter than Surfers but the beach was big and had beautiful puffy white sand. Some of the coastal walks are so picturesque and it was fun spotting lizards and brush turkeys!!!!
I have always thought I could live on the Gold Coast as they have mild temperatures all year round. Some of the towns outside Surfers are very nice and have a more residential feel to them, where as Surfers is a playground for the young and lots of holiday tourists here!!!
We had a great last few days when Jen and her friend Vicky arrived. Jen was in the outback with us. We had a BBQ and on our last night we went out for a meal and a few drinks. It was definately the highlight of our 2 half weeks here!!!! Was lovely to catch up and have familiar company. They also head to Brisbane in a few days so I'm sure we'll be catching up there before we set off with our tent!!!!!
So yes.....2 half weeks job hunting in Surfers has been stressful and hard work, but the other elements Surfers have been good, especially when the sun has been shining and we've definately made the most of the beach and the pool!!!!
We're excited to get our rucsacks back on our backs and live like travllers again! something we never thought we'd be eager to do so soon!!!!!
Tilll next time!!! xxx
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