the road abroad.: So it turns out Canadians aren't so bad...

SURFER'S PARADISE and BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA

Surfer's Paradise

An afternoon bus brought Lena and me through Brisbane and then to Surfer’s Paradise. I had heard that this town was total cheeseball and it was. In attempts to imitate Miami, the town had a flashy nightlife and high rises built on the shoreline. I think it more resembled the Jersey Shore. Lena and I took a walk down the beach and I realized where the Gold Coast gets its name. The water resembled champagne as it swept across the shoreline and left a gold sparkle as it receded back to the ocean. All beaches are made up of the same things so it shouldn’t have been so shocking…but somehow it was different here. It was stunning. Later we went to Burleigh Heads via bus and walked the nature path that overlooked the surfers. I only had one day to explore Surfer’s Paradise and I was satisfied overall.

I decided to part ways with Lena and head for Byron Bay. I had heard amazing things about this beachtown and was ready to explore it. I hired (rented) a bike from my hostel and pedaled up to the gorgeous lighthouse on the hill. There were spectacular lookouts over the town and ocean so I decided to hike them all. I spotted some dolphins in the water, which was really cool. It’s so much better when you can naturally spot wildlife and not go on a tour where the areas are baited and you're expecting to see them.

I went to the Beachie Hotel to watch the hockey game the next morning and was severely outnumbered. The Canadians were everywhere! The place erupted when the Cannucks scored with 18 seconds left. I wanted to crawl under the table. After the game ended, I started chatting with some of them and made friends! Paige (Vancouver), Mike (Vancouver), Kevin (Toronto and a Bruins fan), Alex (Montreal) and Blair (Vancouver) were all living in Byron Bay and had jobs in cafes and kitchens. Paige was incredibly nice and invited me to their place that night for some drinks.

We went to the Beachie hotel and then to some other surfer bar called Woody's that only played reggae. It's so awful to watch white people dance to reggae. We went back to the apartment for some late night homemade sushi and a jam session featuring Alex and Kevin. I went back to my hostel and realized I should take them up on their offer to stay with them for the rest of my time in Byron.

So I moved my stuff into their sunroom the next morning and Paige and I hit the beach for some surfing! Paige gave me a great surf lesson in the morning and then we headed to Blair and his wife Mari’s place for some afternoon sunbathing. Life in Byron is so much fun when you have friends.

When the sun went down and all the boys got back from surfing, the temperature really cooled off. Their English roommate Clint was in rotation for making dinner for the group that night and I was so excited to be a part of the fun. I think they inadvertently competed with each other on recipes and dishes since they were all chefs. Really good chefs too! I learned so much about cooking in just a few days with them.

I must go out of my way to tell you that all of them were funny. And it felt SO good to be around funny people again! My friend Petey Sansone may be the funniest person I have ever met but Paige’s boyfriend, Mike, was the funniest person I met in Australia. I can only imagine how excited he’ll be that I made this declaration on my blog. Now the whole world knows that there is at least one Canadian that is funny.

These Canadians were solely responsible for my good time in Byron! I had started to feel homesick and wasn’t enjoying myself for a couple days…and then they came along and completely revived me. We played a couple great rounds of King’s Cup, Asshole (so different with bogus Canadian rules) and Smoke or Fire. Other highlights of the trip include the Byron markets where I ate a kangaroo burger! Yup, me. A whole kangaroo burger. It was gamey but I still ate the whole thing. Oh and another highlight would be latenight mudcake from Woolworth’s! Canadians are full of good $5 ideas! :)