Saturday, November 12, 2005

From Coolangatta to Cape York...

It's only two days 'till I leave for home and I'm already missing everything. I began to miss Canberra and Sydney before I'd even left them. And now, leaving behind the miles and miles of Gold Coast beach is a very difficult prospect to face. But I will be glad to be home - as much as I'm adoring this place, I still feel as though I'm not really in the heart of things. I'm not sure about Brisbane's population, but the actual Melbourne cityscape would have to be around ten times larger than this city. Somehow, even when visiting the city, I still feel like I'm in a country town. But that's certainly not a negative thing. In fact, Brisbane was a pleasant surprise. So many people have told me that Brisbane is boring and Surfer's Paradise is where it's at. I can understand that, particularly if I'm talking to a young person. But Brisbane is quite gorgeous. It's much more like Melbourne than Sydney or Canberra; it is more down to earth and not quite so shallow or glitzy. In any case, I'm very much enjoying my trip. I think it might be best for me to just wait 'till I get home before I put up some more pictures and videos, because I haven't really had the time to sit down and resize things and upload stuff. Anyway, on to the comments. Solo: Yeah, this trip has given me even more appreciation for my home. It really is a paradise here. Shinji: Thank you! I hope you enjoy the others that I put up soon. Some of the stuff I have here is really very cool (especially a couple of videos). Alexus: Oh yeah, a friend told me about that. Sounds good. DDG: Don't worry, I understand how you feel. All I can say is that when you do visit one in the future, you will be very impressed. Airports are a lot of fun, especially when you're in Coolangatta and giant planes are flying only metres over your head (and deafening you in the process). John: Oh you just wait, there's a lot more than just the bridge and the Opera House to keep you slippery. ~_^ Actually I would like to visit America one day. I think a big road trip would be fun. There are several cities and towns over there that I'd love to see. Aaryanna: Ahh, thank you. There are some brilliant old threads on OB - I'm happy to see that Enter the Net is still going. It's one of my favourites on there. Sara: Australia is full of odd/funny place names. I should keep a list of the places I visit up here, just so that I can share some of the weird names with you. I've always thought that having a city called "Surfer's Paradise" was awesome. meteoragurl392: Besides WV? I'm not really sure what you mean. lol Baronness: Oh yes, Gold Coast is definitely our version of Florida...but much, much prettier. Sydney is one of those things where I think people appreciate it more as they get older. This is also true of Canberra. A lot of young people don't like it because it isn't much of an entertainment destination, but I'm glad I went at my current age, where I can really appreciate many aspects of it. But having said that, it really depends on the person. If I had to drive around in Sydney all day, I'd grow to dislike it. Sydney is all over the place compared to Melbourne. Where Sydney's roads start and finish at random intervals and go all over the place, Melbourne is a clean grid design with a ridiculously logical layout. But because I didn't need to drive in Sydney, I didn't have to worry. So I didn't experience any of that frustration, thankfully. And yes, I've heard great things about Singapore! I would love to visit it. One of my friends told me that it's highly impressive. Alan-chan: I like Surfer's Paradise, but I like the beach down here at Currumbin a lot more. That's probably because it's quieter down this end and it's less plasticky. However, Surfer's Paradise is quite nice to walk around in at night...especially in the beautiful weather we're having now. As far as the beach itself, Victoria and NSW have several beaches that are just as nice. The main problem is that many of those beaches are not adjacent to a big commercial/residential centre. So with Surfer's, you are right in the heart of the city even while you're on the beach. But in Victoria or NSW, you usually have to travel a little further out to reach the nice beaches. So I'd rate Surfer's higher largely for convenience. As far as the Miami thing goes, I can only say that driving around Surfer's is very much like driving around in GTA: Vice City. It makes me feel like stealing cars or something. lol And that isn't to mention the fact that this area even has its own Palm Beach and Miami suburbs, haha. But yes, it has the beach and the towers, it has the resorts, it has the neon, it has the slightly tacky overtones and it is full of identical golden people. So it has a very movie-set kind of feel in some ways. But that gives it its charm, for sure. The only thing is that, while all the golden bodies and blonde hair is nice, it doesn't make for much variety. I may have mentioned that before, but I have noticed it since I've been here...it really stands out that there's so little variety among the people here (physically speaking). I kind of oogle when I see a person with black hair (who isn't Japanese), because it's just so rare. Melbourne, by comparison, is incredibly varied. You get your golden people just like here, but you also get a wide variety of oddities - almost to the point where some people seem to be dressed in costume. If you come to Melbourne, it will probably seem very obvious, anyway. But yeah, I shall stop now, because it's very late and I'm going to Dreamworld again tommorrow. Thank god for those second day passes! I think tomorrow will involve the Tower of Terror and more sunbaking. ~_^

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