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Got up and packed my last few things then headed to the bus ready to go to Surfers Paradise. Jonty, Dean and Mike were on the bus too - wondered if they'd make it after their no show the day before! Took a couple of hours to get get to Surfers Paradise. We had to put our clocks back an hour as we left New South Wales and entered Queensland. Surfers Paradise is said to be a love it or hate it place. It's pretty built up and busy, with theme parks and shops for the day and lots of clubs at night (so my kind of place!). It's famous for schoolies week in November when thousands of 17 and 18 year olds who have just finished school head down and have a week long party on the beach - it's basically like the Newquay of Aus. When we arrived it was pouring down with rain which sucked, but I still knew I'd like it here. Was jut like Florida, funky buildings, lots of palm trees and it was really clean! I imagined it to be a bit run down and tacky but it all looked brand new. Very modern so really different from Byron Bay, can see why some people might not like it but I loved my stay here. When we arrived I said bye to Jonty, Dean and Mike as they were going to stay with a friend. I had booked into the Island Backpackers resort - I didn't know too much about it but had bumped into Sophia, Phil, Yaleesa and Ferry from New Zealand and thats where they said they were staying so thought I may as well go there. The hostel was right next to the drop off point which was super handy, I was the only person off my bus going there so felt a bit nervous but checked in at the backpackers recpetion with no problems. Went through the arcade and up to the main recpetion which was the hotel reception - the Island is basically a hotel with lots of the rooms converted into dorms. But the reception was just like a hotel, really nice, leading out to the pool which was lovely and there was a hotel restaraunt, intenet lounges, tennis courts... just like being on holiday! Didn't feel like a hostel at all. It was a high rise building with most the rooms in the main bit, but i was really lucky and got put in a building just off from the pool, there were only 8 rooms and the front door lead in just off reception and th back door backe onto a little garden area with some chairs which then lead to the pool area. Perfect location!!Got in my room and it was just like a (very basic) hotel room. A little en-suite with toilet, shower and sink, wardrobes and cupboards, a big mirror and.... a tv! Only had 4 channels but that was good enough for me! It was like a twin room but the beds were bunk beds so it could fit 4 people. Two girls were already in there, alseep. Didn't really have any plans fo what to do, was still feeling I should have stuck around an extra day so I could have come own with Lauren, Zach and Jamie, but decided to just have a bit of a chilled out day. I would have very happily chilled out by the pool but couldn't because the weather :-( But I went on the computer then went to the sauna which was absoultely pants so left prety soon after. When I got back to the room the girls were up - 2 Canadian girls. Got chatting to them, they seemed nice. This was there last night and they said they'd loved it here so that was good. They went out for lunch and I got thinking about which theme parks I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do some because I love theme parks but there were 2 deals and I couldn't decide which package to get! Such a difficult decision! You coud either do Dreamworld and White Water World for $69 or Movie World, Wet and Wild and Seaworld for $99. Wet and Wild was a better water park than White Water World but I coudln't work out whether Movie World would be better than Dreamworld. Obviously everyone has different opinions but I jus wante big rides etc!! I was texting everyone finding out what they thought they'd do, as I especially wanted to have to the same pass as Lauren so we could go together. Was desperate to make a decision as was considering going to one of the parks that day but as it got later I decided it wasn't really worth it, and if I waited till Lauren got here we could have a big think then decide together. So I stopped stressing out about that (I was only excited haha) and decided to go for an explore. Spoke to a girl at reception about where we were and the location of the hotel really was perfect. Right by the transit center and bus stops to get to the theme parks, right next to the shopping mall and one street away from the beach! And the street one across was where all the clubs were! Came out the hotel and infront of me was the Hard Rock Cafe! Went down the road which was really tylish, lots of shops and random fountains and scupltures etc, and stopped at Subway for some lunch. The tables were all taken but I asked a guy who was sitting on his own if I could sit across from him. The food was yummy, and I got chatting to the guy who was called Glen. He was 19 too and had lived near Surfer's all his life. He'd finished work and was just mooching around so he gave me a little tour of Surfers which was brilliant!! Showed me the beach (which would have looked gorgeous in the sunshine), the mall, an absolutely massive arcade with bumper cars, a bowling alley etc, showed me where all the clubs were and basically gave me advise on what to do in Surfers. Was really glad I had bumped into him as it was a good little tour :-) Said bye bye and headed back to the hotel around half 3 where I got in and washed my hair. The girls were going on a club crawl that night which started at 5.30 and they were already getting ready when I got in! Chatted to them a bit and watched tv, was going to wait till they left o dry my hair etc, I kept drifting off though I was soo sleepy! They had asked if I wanted to come out with them, I was really tempted but thought I could really do with a night off to recover as I hadn't had a decent sleep in along time. I said I would think about it and maybe join them later, they were going to pop back at some point anyway. When they left I dried my hair and tidied my bag etc, then the girls came back at maybe about 7 with some guys to have a few drinks. They said they'd be popping back again later so if I wanted to come out I should get ready then go out with them again, I said I would think about it and when the left I made the decision to go. Got ready really quickly though and wished I had gone with them there and then. As I laid down on my bed waiting for them to come back I realzed it wouldn't be for at least a couple of hours. Stated to watch Castaway and the buzz I'd had about going out faded way as I was super sleepy again and couldn't keep my eyes open... probably all for the best as they didn't actually come back till 3! Thought I was just saying I might come out to be polite so didn't bother coming back (undersandable, I had been in my PJ's!) so it's a good job I had made the decision not to go out and not waited up for them! They only woke me up a bit when they came in but I fell quickly back to sleep :-)
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