Contiki – Wildlife Sanctuary, Surfers Paradise – part 1

Jan 18, 2011:

After a really excellent breakfast at Mojo surf camp “Spot X”, we went further towards Surfers Paradise, but before, , but we made a stop at noon in Byron Bay.

In Byron, we (2 German girls + one New Yorker and I) had a chilled-afternoon and ate a really delicous meal for lunch, while some other tour mates went to the beach.

Then we went to Australia’s most eastern point, Cape Byron. The quasi-mandatory photographing time just went by and we sat in the bus again. Let’s go to Surfers Paradise.

Surfers Paradise is the Miami of Australia. Surfing, beach, shopping, partying and much more can you expect here. Surfers Paradise is part of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. On the Gold Coast many TV series and feature films are produced. Even one of my favorite former children’s series was produced on the Gold Coast.

Wildlife Sanctuary - Kangaroo
Wildlife Sanctuary - Kangaroo

Wildlife Sanctuary

But before we traveled to Surfers Paradise, we made a brief stop at the Wildlife Sanctuary, Queensland.

Wildlife Sanctuary - Crocodile
Wildlife Sanctuary - Crocodile

Here we had the opportunity to stroke kangaroos ,to see crocodiles and carry a koala bear on the shoulder (of course with high-priced photo;-)).

Contrary to the claims, the koalas do not stink. So much for rumors. Hehe! I got a koala placed on me and someone took a photo. Koalas are really cute animals.

 

Surfers Paradise – Day 1

Surfers Paradise! Welcome to the party paradise of Australia. I set myself some years ago the goal to come to this place. Surfers Paradise is a part of the Gold Coast and is also a part of several famous movie and television series. Even the famous Australian children’s TV series “H2O – Just Add Water” was filmed here. Some people say that Surfers Paradise is the Miami of Australia. We traveled across the famous Gold Coast Hv. to our hotel, the “Australis Sovereign Surfers Paradise” – a 4.5 star hotel.

Australis Sovereign Surfers Paradise

The hotel has a spacious lobby. Let’s see how the rooms are …

I shared the room again with my tour mates from the surf camp. The “room” consisted of a living room with a kitchen and a sofa convert to bed. The bedroom had a spacious king-size bed and one single bed, a closet provides plenty of storage space. The large balcony can be reached from the living room and bedroom. The bathroom was clean and has a bathtub with shower. The living room has a small flat-screen TV. In the rooms although is WiFi available, but as the Internet at the Internet terminals in the lobby, it’s not for free.

We got a voucher for breakfast from Contiki. Since we stayed for 3 days at this hotel, It was necessary to organize another breakfast.

Since we arrived relatively late on the first day, we had several hours free time to make us fresh and to select a styling for this evening. Our tour guide had already announced that we would now go into the night club “Sin City” – VIP Access Included! I went off earlier to explore the city.

The night – Sin City Club in Surfers Paradise

I arrived first in front of the club and asked my , whether the other tour mates

Surfers Paradise at night
Surfers Paradise at night

were already inside. A few minutes later, I answered my question. The first tour mates arrived. When all were there, Justine(tour guide) accompanied us to the VIP wait line and we went in after passport check. My first Australian nightclub. The atmosphere felt like one the large night clubs in Munich, just a bit more “cozy”. 🙂