DAY ONE
We arrived from Brisbane and didn't really know where our hostel was but when we arrived at the bus station we saw it right next door! Very helpful!!
The resort catered for backpackers and it was a hotel. Pool, hot tub, tennis court, squash court and a sauna! We were gonna be happy here!
We were staying in a 6 bed dorm which was nice, spacious and it even had a balcony!
We did our hand washing and put that straight on the balcony. We didn't think it would dry too soon though as it was very cloudy!
We were scared to have too hot a shower due to this sign!
After sorting our bags, we went for a walk around and ended up at the tallest building in Surfers (I think) and saw what we could potentially do!
You have two options. You can either go up to the observation deck or do a sky climb. After having a chat we really had to urge to do it all and do the open air climb!
The observation deck was on the 77th floor and at 240 meters up that was impressive enough. But the sky climb let you go a further 40 meter up, consisting of 298 steps and it was all open air, just attached via a harness. And you got a full 360 degree view of the beautiful area of Surfers Paradise.
We asked a few questions and thought about it over a $4 subway meal...with a free cookie as had voucher. Before we knew we had a kitchen we were contemplating eating a subway everyday!! Cheapest meal around!!
We went back to 'Mission Control' to ask what we had to wear and we had a break down in communication. She said 'you need to wear joggers that cover your feet'. We thought joggers?? How long are peoples joggers here?? She could tell we were confused so she made her colleague show her feet and said 'these' - pointing at her trainers! We said 'oh trainers!' So there you go they say joggers for trainers and thongs for flip flops! It made us all laugh!
Once that was cleared up and we knew we didn't have to buy some very long joggers we went ahead and booked it!
We were booked in for tomorrow and were very excited but a bit nervous!
We headed back to the hostel and it then started raining! We prayed it would be better tomorrow, we really wanted clear skies for fab views! When it was raining and cloudy it did actually remind me of Blackpool especially with the trams going by!! Not so Surfers Paradise at that point!
Eating out every night would be so expensive so we were thankful this hostel had a kitchen.
We popped over the road to Woolworth's and got a few bits of shopping.
We were totally thinking about it on a budget instead of just putting things in the basket. 'What can we have tomorrow, day after', 'what could we use twice'. We were very good!
We then got set up making dinner in our kitchen. Ravioli was on the menu tonight!
It's so expensive so this will save us loads!! It was $17 each and that's just over a price of a single meal in a restaurant here! We were set up for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days so we were very happy! That night we enjoyed ravioli and 2 slices of bread. Yummy!
DAY TWO
Big day today so we needed a hearty breakfast....we enjoyed toast with just jam! :S who needs butter! That's a luxury! Ha ha!
We then set off wearing our 'joggers' and we were ready to conquer the building!
We checked in, signed our life away if anything happened and collected our free hat!! We did our climb at 11.40am! (Pictures below are from another climb as we weren't allowed our cameras but it helps you see what we did).
We sat outside in the waiting area feeling a little nervous. It's quite high :S
We went through a briefing, took off all our jewellery and attached our glasses/sunglasses and hats to our outfit. We strapped ourselves in the harnesses - we thought we were starring in Ghostbusters! We were all strapped in and had our 'traveller' attached and were ready to go!
We were soon up on the 77th floor. The lift goes up about 4 floors a second! We got our 'traveller' attached to the metal railing that will take us all the way around and keep us safe.
All together there were 10 of us which is the maximum number of people they allow per group. This is nice because it's a small gathering and you can take it all in and enjoy it. We were all in order - once your strapped in you can't change places! Included in the price is a free group picture and Rach and I had planned to go at the end so we could crop people out of our photo but somehow we ended up in the middle!! We soon found ourselves at the bottom of the ladders ready to climb up trusting the traveller to keep us safe!
We had 149 steps between us and the very top level of the building!
Along the way you could do things to test you confidence. The first one was to lean over the side to take in just how high you are. I can confirm....yes very high!! Also when you lean over you can feel the breeze hit your face.
Once we were near the top there was a lean back bit where you could rest your feet back and lean backwards over the building. The biggest challenge is trusting your harness and raising both your hands in the air! We passed with flying colours! Rachael's hands were a little wider and higher than mine! Ha ha. It felt very strange but we soon thought WOW, this is great!!
We reached the top and my goodness what a view!!! You could see for SOOO far about 70km, all the way to Brisbane right in the distance and a ride on a theme park which was far away! The beach looked amazing and we chose such a lovely day to do it too! The sun was shining - lovely blue sky, fabulous! Much better than yesterday!
We had two group pictures done - shown below - just to prove that we did it! :)
We loved it and would highly recommend doing it if you're visiting for the day!
We were hungry after that adventure so headed back to the hostel to have soup and then hit the beach!
It was crazy looking up thinking wow we have just been up there!!
Included in the price of the climb, was a chance to go up to the observation deck so we decided to go at sunset. We saw people doing the twilight climb which made us very jealous. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what we did.
The view of sunset was lovely and it was great slowly seeing all the lights coming on and the nightlife coming to the surface. Also it had wifi so we took full advantage! haha
On the way back to the hostel we enjoyed walking along a stream of stalls at a market they have on twice a week on the beachfront. You could buy all sorts and even have your hand waxed.
I bought a hand painted magnet which is lovely. We saw a stall selling cakes and biscuits so we tried the testers and he informed us he had another stall further along so we ventured further and tried all their tasters! No need for pudding that night! Ha ha!
DAY THREE
Today we made use of the tennis court and had a little game. We had lots of fun trying to do rallies but I won't beat Andy Murray in a hurry! After that we deserved a rest so headed to the beach!!
We had never experienced such a strong current before but wow when you see the signs warning you of a current - keep safe! We had to swim inbetween the flags the lifeguards had put out, indicating the safe area. We went in at one end and sooooon ended up at the other flag! We kept getting told 'look at your position guys! Keep inbetween the flags!' It was quite a work out trying to get back in the area but we did it!!
We enjoyed jumping and going through the waves once we had the current under control! :)
We headed back and after dinner we called into a casino and Rach had some practice at the slot machines ready for winning the jackpot in Vegas!
We then enjoyed a walk down the beach. We did a few messages in the sand as you do!
We spotted a couple of rides. One was called Vommittrom and the other was the famous slingshot. We did think about going on them but we soon had second thoughts as we got closer! Was good enough seeing other people scream their heads off!
We made a new parrot friend called Trixie who supposedly could talk. We couldn't hear her say anything. I think they just want to laugh at people saying 'hello', 'how you doing' and 'give us a kiss' to a parrot! Ha ha :)
We walked about looking at people on the rides and Trixie was casually walking around - random!
On the way back we ventured in this interesting shop....
We then got back, packed and got ready to leave tomorrow. We didn't have too far to go, the bus station is only round the corner! Good planning! We were ready to adventure Byron Bay!!
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